WD
and
bank
is big
bucks

From page 1

Blueridge. Another 900 units
are planned for Cove Forest
above Deep Cove.

Dykeman went on to say
that the area did need study
and that council needed to
hear from the community but
added, ‘We are talking about
a potential $150 million
property: that belongs to all
the citizens in this communi-
ty.”

He suggested that any
change of this magnitude to
the district’s land’ develop-
ment plans warranted a refer-
endum.

Crist compared the ques-
tion of redesignating the

Seymour lands to the storm . |

of controversy ignited by a
district proposal to develop
housing in an area that many
residents believed to be part
of Lynn Canyon Park.

That issue became one of
the major ‘Municipal election
’ platforms i in 199}.

Seymour residents have
become increasingly vocal
over the fast six months about
the potential loss ‘of natural
habitat and trails ‘as’ the

impact of the Northlands golf . f

“course - and surrounding
' development sinks in.

‘. News that the district has
moved up the timelines for
developing the urban reserves
_and has already tendered con-
tracts © ‘for “reconnaissance
surveys” of Mountain and
Cove ‘Forests has strength-

vened support in the Seymour *
urea for GUARD (The Group . §

United Around Responsible
Development). 3
'-.“The:policy' of selling

valuable land to compensate

for. financial shortfalls has

-only; short-term benefits and. 9:

will; deprive. future genera-

tions of valuable and accessi-° #
land,” . . said '

ble; : forest
é Blueridge, residents Cas. and

“Margaret Bohlken after
“attending a GUARD meeting.

' Many residents told coun- ,

§ cil Tuesday that the natural
‘forested areas of Seymour
- was the reason they chose to
“live in the district.

“Are you going to change
this into 2° little Hong Kong
‘with houses everywhere? We
‘don’t know what we have
"here. It is so: Precious,” said
30- ayear. immigrant Sam
Chong.

: responded to questions by
Coun. Pam Goldsmith-Jones
by warning that if the district
’ adheres to its share of GVRD
‘(Greater Vancouver Regional
District). population ‘targets

Fractional deal
comes with

some protection

TENANTS AT a Lytton Street
apartment complex worried
about losing their apartments
now have more cause for con-
cern.

By lan Noble
News Reporter

said.

Their homes have gone on sale
under the controversial fractional
interest plan.

But there could also be good
news for tenants.

The provincial government said
tenants are protected under the
Residential Tenancy Act. Canada
Mortgage and Housing
Corporation's policies also protect
tenants.

The real estate agent, Remax Realty, said any
tenant not wanting to purchase an apartment has
the option of a “secure tenancy” to December
1996.

The tenants of the | !4-unit Seymour Village
Garden Apariments brought their fears to the
media’s attention when they discovered owners
of the complex had registered the apartment in

fractional interests.

By doing so, owners gave themselves the
option of marketing the units through.d fraction-
al interest plan —- an option they informed ten-
ants had been exercised April 18.

Through that sales plan, sellers don’t need
municipal approval and don’t have to update the
building to current building standards.

FRACTIONAL FUNDAMENTALS

FOUR APARTMENT complexes in North Vancouver City have been
registered as fractional interests but have not yet gone on the market.
City planner Richard White said the city shares the same concerns
others have expressed about such transactions.
He said North Vancouver City worries that the fractional interest
scheme will deprive the city of rental housing.
The majority of the city’s residents live in rental accommodation, he

A second “fundamental” concern the city has with the scheme is
that properties do not require upgrading before being sold.
North Vancouver City has asked that the province stop granting reg-
istrations of fractional interests with the Land Title Office.
In that endeavor, the city has asked for the support of other B.C.
municipalities.
The city also wants the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to
Stop guaranteeing high-ratio mortgages for purchasers of fractional
interest properties, White said.
The four properties are 125 and 136 East 5th street and 157 and 160
East 20th Street.
A fifth property, at 2701 Westview Dr.. is now being sold as frac-
tional interests.

North Shore’s rental stock.

They add that under a fractional interest con-
version, purchasers buy a share of the building
instead of an individual unit.

Tenant Gyoung Jordsvar said she can’t afford
the $132,900 price tag sellers have place on her
three-bedroom, $900-a-month apartment.

She said buying into the building would be
risky because there are no guarantees the build-
ing meets new building code standards. .

Jordsvar also questions under what condi-’

tions she will be allowed to stay in the apart-
ment, and at what rent.

Earlier. she pointed to a housing crunch for
renters when she told the News she did not know
where her family members would end up if they
lost their home.

Friday, April 21, 1995 - North Shore News - 3

North Vancouver-Lonsdale
MLA David Schreck has appealed
to Finance Minister Elizabeth Cull
to introduce legislation to protect
potential purchasers and tenants in
buildings sold as fractional inter-
ests.

And he wants the legislation to
be retroactive.

Schreck said legislation “is sit-
ting there,” but that does not mean
it will be introduced.

The Residential Tenancy Act
does provide some protection for
tenants, said housing minister Joan
Smallwood.

If a person does not have over
51% interest in a complex, they
cannot take occupancy, she said.

Also, the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation, which pro-
vides insurance for mortgages of
more than 75% of the purchase
price, provides some protection for
tenants and purchasers.

Nelson Merizzi, the CMHC’s

principal B.C. underwriter, said his
Crown corporation will not provide insurance
on fractional interest conversions unless tenants
are guaranteed two years of protection, the
majority of units are presold, and the building
has “decent health, safety and structural sound-
ness.” ;
He said three other North Shore buildings
sold by fractional interests, including the con-
tentious Bellevue in West Vancouver, all met
those standards.

’ Merizzi notes mortgages can be as long as 25
years, so the CMHC wants a building that will
Jast as long as the mortgage.

_While he sympathizes with renters. Merizzi
said there is also a demand for affordable
homes. The CMHC’s: mandate calls for the cor-

‘But planner Jim ‘Masterton a

Critics point out that such sales threaten the

FUTURE
PROVINCIAL PARK

Headwaters
Regional
Park

l. “Mount

H _
DISTRICT OF A Seymour

Provincial

| NORTH VANCOUVER {Pax

C] Private Land

Hy Future Provincial Park

Future Regional Park
@® Futere Municipal Park

J
aK

(VANCOUVER -

NEWS graphic

THE LOWER Mainland Nature Legacy will increase the 21,000
hectares (51,870 acres) of parkfand in the Lower Mainland by

- more than 60,000 hectares (149,200 acres), said a joint provin-

cial: government and ‘Greater Vancouver Regional District
news release.

Sauces eAaTOIER PRT IET RRR

‘

poration to provide access to affordable housing.

Lowe er Mainland Nature Legacy

A NEW provincial park. sur-
rounding Indian Arm will see

an area equivalent: to more
than .20 Stanley Parks set
aside;as parkland.

By lan Noble.

‘News Reporter

The Indian Arm park. was intro-
duced Thursday as the first step in
what is being billed as the Lower
Mainland Nature Legacy.

That project will increase the

} 21,000 hectares (51.870 acres) of

parkland in the Lower Mainland
by more than 60,000 hectares
(149,200 acres), said a joint
provincial government and Greater
Vancouver Regional District news
telease.

Speaking about the Indian Arm
park, Environment, Lands and
Parks’ Minister Moe. Sihota said,
“Through a combination of private
acquisitions, partnership contribu-
tions by the: GVRD and the
District of North Vancouver, and
Crown land transfers, more than
9,300 hectares (22.971 acres) of
one of the world’s most spectacu-
lar inlets will soon be designated

ASAT SRN TS

as a provincial park.” .
Environment ministry commu-
nications officer Mark Stefangon
said the park will be named with
public input and should {be
approved within two months. |

The public: will also be asked
what they want to see in the park in
terms of access, trail development ;
and facilities ‘during a ‘master’
plan” process, he said. .

North Vancouver's Cates Park
and Belcarra Regional Park will
also be enlarged. : :

‘The District .of North;
Vancouver -has contributed 1,405.
hectares (3,470 acres) of land.
between Indian Arm and Mount
Seymour Provincial Park.

In return, Mayor Murray
Dykeman said. the district will
receive land that has development
potential from the province.

Discussions on the land transfer
are ongoing, said Dykeman..

The district also picked up half
the $1.5-million tab to purchase a
one-hectare (2.47-acre) parcei of
land to be added to the municipal
Cates Park.

Dykeman called for extending
Baden Powell Trail into the Indian
Arm park. ;

ARIEU PLAY ITER |