nents fear sleepless
nights, discord in Dundarave

Katharine Hame
News Reporter khamer@nsnews.com

A public hearing on whether to allow a pub in
Dundarave cclipsed all other council] matters in
West Vancouver Monday night.

The council chamber at municipal hall was full to overtlowing,
with people spilling out into the hallway and a speakers list sever-
al paves long.

Municipal clerk Margaret Warwick read the names of over
300 fetter-writers into the council record.

Many of the submissions were form letters, in which corre-
spondents had simply signed their names and completed the sen-
tence, “IT am opposed to the establishment of'a pub in Dundarave
because

The form letters also state thar “a pub in Dundara
tically alter the ambience of the tor the worst (

The debate over whether to allow rezoning w hich would
transform Dundarave Cafe into a neighbourhood pub (with of F
premise beer and wine sale sis one that has wed for aver a vear.

Dundarave Cafe proprictor John Wiechold, in partnership
with Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub owners Ron Slinger and
Dave Raht, hopes council will approve the rezoning.

The scheme has been met with fierce opposition from some
area residents.

Concerns were raised about noise, illegal parking, and the
cafe’s proximity to Irwin Park elementary school.

here are three very good reasons why this pub is a bad
idea,” said Haywood Avenue resident Lesley Hallewell, “wrong
location, wrong location, wreng focation.”

“The words ‘neighbourhood* and ‘pub’ do not go together,”
said Fran Neville, w' ‘ho expressed fears that the establishment ofa
neighbourhood pub would ruin her chances of getting any sleep.

As first speaker at the podium, Ron Slinger attempted to
smooth some ruffled feathers.

“You won’t find, as some will tell you, bikers and bumis in the
pub,” he said. “You will find locals — and it will always be chat
way.

Slinger said that neighbourhood pubs “promote responsible

ial drinki discos or nightclubs jammed with
young people and loud music.

“I personally have never lived by a pub,” confessed Erwen
Smith, president of the Friends of Dundarave Improvement
Society (FDIS), “so I can’t speak first-hand about what goes on
there. (But) I've heard about it and read about it.”

Smith said that a straw poll he had conducted amongst zesi-
dents and business owners in neighbourhoods such as Deep Cove
suggested a local pub would be noisy and disruptive.

“Pve heard about the vomit and the smell of urine,” he
declared, cliciting gasps of horror from several members of the
audience.

A recent survey conducted by MarkTrend Research suggested
that 82% of residents within 100 metres of the cafe opposed the
pub venture. At the time the survey results were released, John
Wiechold said they were tainted by an anti-pub campaign con-
ducted by FDIS.

“Because of the actions of Erwen Smith and his cronies, the
survey was rendered a complete fiasco,” said Wiechold.

“Ive been to the Black Bear,” said Michaci Pound, a non-
drinker in favour of the pub, at Monday night’s meeting.

“It's a clean establishment. The vomiting, the stories ve
heard are totally unfounded.”

Pound was one of several speakers who asked council to con-
sider the needs of younger West Vancouver residents.

Publican’s daughter and former West Vancouver councillor
Liz Byrd added her voice to the debate with a letter describing
her dismay at the lack of sucial activity in West Vancouver.

“In Dundarave,” she wrote, “one can roll a bowling ball down
the sidewalks and not hit a single person.”

Council adjourned the public hearing until its April 3 meet-
ing, when it will consider the matter further and hear additional
comments.

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

AN anxious crowd, unable to fit into council chambers, waited in the hallway at West Vancouver District Hall
Monday night during a public hearing on a Dundarave pub application.

and-sa

Marcie Good
Contributing Writer

A plan to develop district-
owned land was resurrected on
Monday night when council
agreed to have staff look at the
pian’s potential.

Whether selling land is a way to lower
taxes and to build better roads, sports
facilides and community centres was the
subject of debate.

“Personally, | don't think district resi-
dents want to see more scars in the moun-
tain side,” said Coun. Ernie Crist, who,
along with Coun. Lisa Muri and Coun.
Janice Harris, opposed the motion. “We
will have more roads, more overcrowding,
more noise and more congestion.”

But Coun. Bill Deaault, who brought
forward the motion to request a report
from staff, argued that the program
would be a way to see the district’s assets
used “in a more productive and beneficial
manner.

“I’m not suggesting this is a ‘come-
and-get-it”? to all developers who make,

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quote unquote, monster houses,” he said.
“This is a Nolid, effective, extremely con-
servative plan.”

A land development plan, first
approved in 1986, operated until three
years ago. Proceeds from the land’s sale
and lease were put into the district’s
Heritage Fund, whose interest could be
used for capital projects such as infrastruc-
ture, community centres and sports facili-
ties.

After much discussion about p.eserv-
ing the natural environment of North
Vancouver and keeping density and
growth under control, the previous coun-
cil decided to change its direction. In early
1997, council voted to scrap the land
development plan.

In a report to council, Denault out-
lined how the previous program in one
year typically included a residential subdi-
vision, a multi-family site and a commer-
cial site. Revenues ranged from $2 million
to $20 million annually.

Pointing out that the current housing
stock in the district is about 28,000 units,
he argued that adding 25 units per year
for the next diree years would be “mini-

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mal” growth: 0.1% per year while rev-
enues could exceed $4 million.

Bur even asking for information on the
subject is going too far, according to
those councillors who voted against the
motion.

Said Harris, “I'm not interested in
going back to a land development pro-
gram and J don’t think that’s the appetite
in the community.”

Rather than “encroaching on thie nat-
ural environment,” Harris said she would
rather look at other ways to raise money
for capital projects, such as better devel-
opment cost charges or public/private
partnerships.

To Muri, the idea of selling land to
finance capital projects is like “selling your
back yard to buy a new roof.”

¢ pointed out that taxes cannot be
lowered through the sale of land: accord-
ing to the Municipal Act, money from
land sales can only be used for capital pro-
jects.

As for the idea of extra revenue for the

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