6 - Wednesday, March HH, 1987 ~ North Shore News |News Viewpoint Moving questions he Greater Vancouver Regional District pro- J posal to develop the area between Lonsdale Quay and Park Royal over the next 10 years as a regional town centre should be approached with cau- tion by the three North Shore councils. THE wore or NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER ‘nor th: Shore \ SUNDAY © WEDNESDAY © FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 §8,287 (average, Wednesday . Frday & Sueday) Display Advertising Classitied Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Matin Shore News, SDA DIVIGI h. 980-0511 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 Publisher: Editoz-in-Chief Managing Editor Advertising Director Peler Speck Noel Wright Barrett Fisher Linda Stewart Ente contenis « 1987 North Shore Free Press Lid. All fighls masened The plan—which envisages major additions to commercial and office space, and higher housing den- sities in the area—has some obvious economic merits [P \ ° hee ite fond over the long term. New businesses would be en- if couraged to open, and others fo locate here from over we town, supported by an increased residential popula- tion. The process could generate a significant: number of new jobs and possibly ease the homeowaer’s tax burden as a result of the broadened commercial tax base. By definition, however, a regional town centre in- evitably means a much greater daily influx of outsiders into the community. Present North Shore transit ser- vices and traffic arteries (especially the two overloaded bridges) prove frequently inadequate already, even for today’s needs. At very leesi, the GVRD concept would require the North Shore to have its own rapid transit system serv- ing North and West Van business districts along the Marine Drive-Third Street corridor. No fess vital would be increased Inlet crossing facilities—a third bridge and/or expanded SeaBus service. A_ sensitive issue would be the impact on Indian reserve lands of the Low Level Road, which weuld need to be com- pleted and widened to four or more lanes. Until niuch more light can be shed on how to move vastly:more people around, North Shore councils must tread very warily. ‘ Noel Wright @ wednesday world @ CANADA'S WEALTHIEST community will hold its nose even higher this weekend at the kickoff of its 75th birthday bash. It’s get- ting a Jong coveted gift. All the best families and cities have one. Now, it’s Tidaiycove's ‘turn to officially join che upper - crust. The occasion is the ceremonial presentation of West Van’s new coat-of-arms, a project launched four years ago by then mayor Der- rick Humphreys and his council. humbly sought. Then the proposed design must be approved by the Earl Marshal, the Queen's super- visor of matters armorial, who can be exceedingly picky. After that, the painstaking hand drawing for If you're wondering where the .- ‘thing has been since then, the answer is that you can’t have a ge- nuine coat-of-arms delivered like a take-out pizza dinner. For Commonwealth countries the only firm in the business is located in London, England — a centuries-old, wholly owned sub- sidiary of Her Majesty called The College of Arms. It moves at an appropriately dignified pace, with none of this gotta-have-it-today nonsense. First, permission coat-of-arms at all to have a has to be HOLLY BURNING (a quiet little heraldic joke!) and cougars with pine-cone necklaces representing Joca) fauna and flora are featured in West Van’s new coat-of-arms. LETTER OF THE DAY Uncoordinated Corridor buses “Inexcusable’ the finished design on parchment may take up to 18 months. They like to get things right first time, even if it takes years. That's the beauty of having no competi- tion. Our picture — alas, without the colors — shows the product to be finally delivered Sunday by Cor- rad Swan, York Herald of Arms {that being one af the quaint titles bestowed on senior execs in the armorial business). A native of B.C., Dr. Swan has the distinction of being the only Canadian ever appointed to the College of Arms. -As per the prescribed pecking order, he’ll present West Van's coat-of-arms to the Queen’s repre- sentative, Lt.-Gov. Bob Rogers, It’s the latter;who’ll actually hand it over to the customer in the per- son of Mayor Don Lanskail. It all happens Sunday (March 15), starting at 2:15 p.m., in West Van Secondary School. Definitely an occasion to tell your grandchil- dren about! / eet NAME, GAME--starting with the Above-and-Beyond Dept. West Van council has officially com- mended firefighters Glen Pedersen and Bob Davidson for ‘‘extreme bravery and disregard for personal safety” in. the drowning drama off Dundarave Pier the other week, Glen and Bob outran a passing BC Rail train to reach the pier but the yan pulling the rescue boat was cut off before it could cross the tracks, So the pair dived into the frigid water, swam out to the elderly woman, brought her ashore and had her whisked to LGH. Good to Dear Editor: With all of the attention focused on Lower Mainland public transit systems these days I find myself, as a North Shore resident, baffled by the seeming indifference of the North Vancouver/West Vancouver bus authorities to gross inefficien- cies in our local transportation sit- uation. The most glaring and frustrating example of this is the Marine Drive retail corridor shared by both West and North Van- couver. Passengers travelling from either one of these contiguous areas to the other are forced to disembark at Park Royal shopping centre and await a bus from the destination municipality to complete their know West Van's public safety services are manned by types like Glen and Bob! ... A smart salute, please, for Captain Jim Happer of 6th Field Engineer Squadron — the North Shore’s very own army, quartered at the Lt.-Col J.P. Fell Armoury on Forbes in North Van. Last month Jim was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration — a very well earned honor ... the same again for Private Brant Campioni, son of Jos and Gail Campioni of North Van, who's just graduated from the Canadian Forces Recruit School at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Brant also won the Skill at Arms ‘ Trophy for the highest total score in rifle and sub-machine gun firing ... And in case you wondered, the B.C. Heart Foundation’s first ‘*Heart BalJ"’ Friday in the Four Seasons can’t have done any harm at all to its $4 million fund drive. Some 200 guests, honored amongst them being West Van's 63-year-old transplant wunderkind Daniel Iz- zard, enjoyed a great evening — at $200 a couple. Read the donor list (incl. the hote! and half a dozen li- ° quor firms) and reach for your calculator! Photo submitted TOP MARKSMAN ... graduating Private Brant Campioni (right) receives his trophy from Major C. J. Parslow (U.K.), officer comman- ding weapons training at Camp Gagetown, N.B. voyage. Despite the fact that this is a routine (or more accurately an ordeal) forced upon several thou- sand passengers daily, there is no attempt by the transit authorities concerned to establish coinciding arrivals and departures. So _ il- logical is this that what should be a relatively simple trip from the Third and Lonsdale area of North Vancouver to the 18th and Marine section of West Vancouver (a vir- tual straight-line voyage) can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. This is inexcusable, given the importance of this major retail corridor for residents and businesses of North and West Vancouver. There are at Jeast two possible solutions: 1) Maintain separate (municipal) jurisdictions but ensure that ar- rivals and departures are syn- chronized, 2) Establish a single, unified bus route (perhaps with shared costs/ revenues, etc.) whose sole function is a round-trip servicing of Marine Drive (and its Third Street exten- sion). I would heartily suggest that all public transit-using residents and business operators of West and North Vancouver apply pressure to the bus authorities and municipai councils concerned to ensure that immediate action is taken in this regard. : Richard M. Steele North Vancouver