AN OLDER apartment build- ing, appropriately named The Bellevue, stands at No. 2150 on that prestigious West Vancouver street. Its newish owner is «4 company called 85 Seabright Holdings. Its tenants got a bit of a jolt Thanksgiving weekend. They were tald on the Saturday that they had five days to decide if they wanted to buy their suites — starting at about $125,000. It seems the owners had shaped a plan unbeknownst to the tenants. And also unbeknownst to West Vancouver Council. Mayor Mark Sager and councillors first learned abeut it from complaining tenants. The owners, municipal officials say, implied in a letter to the tenants that the sale of the apartment units had been approved by council. But in fact, Mayor Sager declared, an employee of 85 Seabright Holdings had merely phoned his office for an appoint- ment. Somewhat short of an approval. . Hold on, you say. Surely any conversion und sale of apartment units kas to go through a municipali- ty’s approval process? Unsurely. What purchasers of a suite at 2150 wouid buy is not strata-title but a very different beast: a contractual interest in the suites and fractional interest in the title to the land. Confusing? Right. Open to being evor Lautens GARDEN OF BIASES misunderstood? Right again. In effect, each of the 40 pur- chasers would hold a one-fortieth title to the land. Each would also get a one-fortieth interest in the whole building, including his or her own suite. Each would enter into a contract with the other 39, requiring each to pay his ratable share of taxes, repairs, etc. The municipality’s interpretation: Each would be legally liable for any owner's failure to pay tax, and for tepairs, damage or injury in any part of the building. For example, if someone fell and was badly hurt in a suite, he could sue, as lawyers say, “everyone in sight” — the other 39 on the title. news viewpoint A further issue is mortgage. The entreprenewrs making the conversion are offering mortgages — through a company owned by one of them. But it's highly uncertain whether another mortgage company or bank would subsequently grant a mortgage for this kind of situation, Further warning note: There's no prospectus, as strata-title sales require, The scheme isn't unique. A group including (980s high-flyer Nelson Skalbania tried it out ona Vancouver development, but dropped the plan after vigorous opposition. The question arises: Why bother? Why not convert the suites to con- ventional strata-title? Maybe because that process is neither cheap nor fast. Nor is council approval guaranteed. For instance, there could be zoning considerations. Nete well, though: the route taken by 85 Seabright Holdings could be perfectly legal. That's why ‘West Vancouver, through municipal solicitor Paul Wilson, has taken pret- ty quick action. First, councit voted Monday to instruct the mayor to seek an imme- diate meeting with the ministers of housing and of consumer affairs. Urge them to check existing legisla- tion. If the laws can't prohibit such a scheme, change them. Council mulled the possibility of an injunction in the meantime. One obviously well-informed woman at council’s meeting even suggested that the one-fortieth share ebt date ‘{ APILANO-HOWE Sound MP Herb Grubel is asking the right question: When will the federal deficit be elimi- nated? a : : The trouble is that no clear answer is forthcoming from Liberal Finance Minister Paul Martin or any other federal Liberal There is only a promise of the govern- ment’s “ultimate goal’ being a balanced bud- get. A laudable goal, indeed, but without a definite target date it will remain only a goal. Martin deserves credit for sticking to pre- vious targets to reduce the deficit from last year’s record $42 billion to what he hopes will be $25 billion, or 3% of the couniry’s Gross Domestic Preduct, in 1997. But $25 billion is still a staggering sum and still unacceptable in a country laboring ‘beneath the weight of a total national debt of over $500 billion that will cost Canada $44 billion in interest payments this year alone and continues to sap the country’s life blood and its ability to compete internationally. Grubel advised Martin to stop tiptoeing around the issue and to make a commitment now to make major cuts in social program spending. Beleaguered Canadian taxpayers will echo that advice. For the financial well has run dry and the day is long gone when Canada can afford to live on the good graces of foreign investors who hold most of the country’s debt. In China, new tax laws have inspired the more emotional to attack and kill govern- ment tax collectors to avoid paying taxes. It’s an extreme grassroots message of which governments in the West should take careful note. is legally a stock, and therefore the plan violates the Securities Act. Second, council has written ten- ants of The Bellevue suggesting they contact the provincial government's residential tenancy branch regarding their rights. Third, council has written the federal government’s misleading advertising authorities. Fourth, the solicitor has written ll West Vancouver realtors pointing out that their clients should be appraised of the nature of the offer- ing. Councillor Allan Williams, a lawyer, remarked: “We've come a long way from caveat emptor, cer- tainly in regard to real property.” The other day, with no prior knowledge of the above, and always wishing to get richer, I checked out The Bellevue. A very slim, tall young woman, in a short black gar- ment and black knee-length boots and'some exposed flesh in between, grected me at the door, I filled out a form and went to the fifth-floor dis- play suites. They'd been well-lived in. One had a small, badly designed bed- room, a frankly worn stove, and some rust on the bottom of the fridge’s freezer. I was there 180 sec- onds, max. Qn the way down. my fellow departees and I noticed some rust on the exposed elevator ceiling. I was outta there, fast. The advertised price includes a renovation package. Hope it’s gener- talent Dear Editor: As a resident of the North Shore, 1 look forward to read- ing the Nerth Shore News three times cach week, However, in this past week, the News has managed to offend me cach time. The object of my disgust: your new Sunshine Girl format, Why is it the News, a newspaper whose forte is local events, feels it is worth- while to publish full-page, full-color photos of scantly clad women? Surely the News has enough smarts to realize how inuppropriate this format is in an otherwise respectable publication, Nevertheless, if the News feels it necessary to keep the Sunshine Girl feature, consid- er using (clothed) local talent (male and female) with local interests. After all, the News is a community-oriented paper and there's more than enough talent on the North Shore to (ahem) expose. Lis Hewalo North Vancouver Valecie Stephenson Trixi Agrios Display Manager Classified Manager Promotions Manager - 980-0511 (103) $88-6222 (202) 985-2131 (137) | Linda Stewart Sates & Marketing Director 980-0511 (319) Timothy Renshaw Peter Kvarnstrom Managing Editor 985.2131(116} Chris Johnson Comptroller Operations Manager $83-2131 (133) 985-2134 (141) Petor Speck Publisher SB5-2131 (101) Boug Foot + 3 & 9 THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER pers Ge ; er repre red 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. 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