See! ‘S property assess! Commercial properties would face hardship if increases go through, says report WEST VANCOUVER District Council is applying to the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs to have the assessments on local commercial properties frozen at 1992 levels. The average increase in com- mercial assessments is about 20%, but some ‘‘strip’’ properties in West Vancouver have experienced increases of up to 50%. Park Royal Shopping Centre’s north mall assessment increase of just 15% — 5% below the average -— indicates that there will be a significant shift of taxes from shopping centres to strip proper- ties. According to West Vancouver, Many commercial property assessment increases are not based By Maureen Curis Contributing Writer on real values, but on new con- struction in an area. Coun. Ron Wood said the pro- perties appeared to have been assessed on the basis of their redevelopment value. The B.C. Assessment Authority uses market values determined, in part, by looking at recent sales in commercial areas. The values are not linked to whether there are any plans for Canyon rescue MEMBERS OF the North Vancouver District Fire Department rescue team floated to safety 17- year-old Jean Suh after she fell from a cliff Friday while walking with her sister in Lynn Canyon Park. Suh was trapped in an area near 30-Foot Poo! for over an hour. She was treated at the scene and transported to Lions Gate Hospital. Thief plunders WV garden A SPRING-smitten thief with a fancy for flowers took snip- pers in hand, and some time overnight on Friday, March 19, carefully cut and took more than 200 daffodils from the garden of a 74-year-old West Vancouver woman. By Michael Becker News Reporter “It’s a done deal,” said Haywood Avenue resident Josephine Roberts. For the past 20 years, Roberts has filled her Dun- darave garden with hundreds of daffodils. But on Saturday morning she found the bright blooming wash of yellow enlivening her garden reduced to a stubby field of green. “They did a very tidy job, they ‘cut every one down beautifully. It had to be an adult. Youngsters wouldn’t have been that careful. It would have taken some time,’’ she said. : Added Roberts, ‘‘Somebody thought that maybe they picked them to sell them. It didn’t oc- cur to me. I thought that maybe somebody had a wed- ding going or something.” ‘When I first saw it, I was in shock that anybody would do a thing like that, but then ! said to myself, don’t get mad, don’t get angry. It’s just a waste of time, so J just looked at it philosophically. “Eventually they would die and I would put in annuals, but the sad part is that so ‘many people enjayed them walking by,’’ she said. Index @ Lifestyles §% North Shore Now TV. Listings What's Going On Weather Thursday, cloudy with sunny periods. High 10°C, low 2°C. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 0087238 DISTRICT COUNCIL redevelopment in an area. “The disparities that result are inequitable and unjust,’’ West Vancouver’s assistant director of finance Margaret Waller stated in her report to council. Waller warned that the shift in taxes could cause hardship to merchants who would not be able to pass the increases on in their prices, Retail sales are slow due to the recession and increased competi- tion, Waller pointed out. She said that large tax increases would lead to more vacant stores and commercial redevelopment rae NEWS photo Brad Lectwidge laplewood Farm that would ‘‘cause the loss of the village atmosphere that is so im- portant to the character of our community.’’ Because the Municipal Act does not allow for the freezing of assessed values, West Vancouver hopes to institute the freeze as an interim measure, buying time to find a permanent solution, such as an averaging formula. West Vancouver resident Roff Johansen asked if the same courtesy might be extended to res- idential assessments. Mayor Mark Sager said that West Vancouver is hoping to find a permanent way of achieving “fair and equitable’? taxation of both commercial and residential sectors. : “The assessment base drives the school tax formula and GVRD charges,’’ he said. According to Sager, West Van- couver residents will pay 100% more than residents in other Lower Mainland municipalities for exactly the same services. Sager assured Johansen that a freeze in commercial assessments would not have an effect on the municipal budget or on residential taxpayers, Residenis and commercial owners will provide the same share of the tax base as before. New construction in commercial areas, which wil! not be included in the freeze, will help make up the shortfall in taxes. WEST VANCOUVER POLICE Bizarre escape bid follows car check A 27-YEAR-OLD Van- couver man faces charges following a bizarre bid to escape when:he was stopped in his car by the West Van- couver Police early last Thursday morning. By Michael Becker News Reporter According to a West Vancouver Police spokesman, the driver was pulled over at about 3 a.ri. in the 1400-block of Bellevue Avenue when a police officer suspected him of being impaired, The driver admitted to alcohol and marijuana consumption. He was tested for impairment with a roadside screening device. The officer then advised the driver that he was being issued a 24-hour roadside driving suspen- sion, But as the police officer returned to his car to write out the ticket, the driver sped off east along the 600-block of Marine Drive. : The police lost the 1990 Honda CRX, but an investigating officer noticed debris between the Capilano River bridges on Marine Drive. The trail of wreckage led the police to an access road to a nearby. residential tower. The driver had failed to negotiate a curve. He had struck a median and left the road between the bridges. The Honda was found on its roof, Its driver had fled the scene, But soon after the car was located, the police received a tip from a coast guard employee at the Kapilano 100 building that an injured man was spotted in a phone booth nearby. The police later arrested man. He was transported to Lions Gate Hospital and treated for a fractured wrist and knee as well as facial lacerations. the Charges against him are pend- ing. lay Ist barn-raiser gets go-ahead Sterling Foundation coordinating unusual fundraiser MAPLEWOOD FARM will get its new livestock barn if the community is willing to pitch in. By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer North Vancouver District Council accepted the offer of the Sterling Foundation Monday night to coordinate the project subject to staff decisions and guidelines. As previously reported in the News, the Sterling Foudation had selected the Maplewood barn-rais- ing as one of its projects for in- ternational Community Service Day (ICSD) in May. The livestock barn at the popu- lar North Vancouver farm. was closed to visitors last year while bracing work was done to support one side of the structure. John Bremner, the district’s director of parks and enginecring services, told council that the long-term outlook for the barn was not good. The ICSD weekend has been a “NORTH VANCOUVER - DISTRICT COUNCIL tradition for the non-profit socie- ty since 1986 and is dedicated to recreating a sense of community spirit. But staff had worried about the capabilities of the organization to raise over $80,000. in a short period of time and to oversee the safety of many volunteers during the actual barn raising. But information supplied by Sterling Foundation executive director Gwen Tillman from Oakland, California, assured staff about financial management of the project as well as such matters as charitable registry, liability in- surance, site safety and waiver releases. The foundation deducts 10% of all cash donations received ‘‘to assist in funding its administrative work,’’ but takes nothing from goods or services donated. Bremner told council that the foundation is presently soliciting pledges, not cash. ‘*Two weeks prior to the May 1 weekend, if the fundraising has not been completed, we will not allow the project to go ahead. Obvicusly we don’t want the barn torn down without one to replace it,’’ said Bremner. Coun. Rick Buchols was the on- ly member of council to oppose the project. He said he was uncomfortable with another organization raising funds in the district’s name. “Iv’s with some difficulty one refuses an offer of a freebie, but this has an unrealistic feel to me. | don’t have a good feeiing about this,’’ said Buchols. Coun. Ernie Crist took the op- posite tack. “1 don’t think we should look in the gift horse’s mouth too far. An opportunity to save the tax- payers $80,000 is not to be sneez- ed at,”’ said Crist. Coun. Janice Harris later suc- ceeded with a motion that will ask the Heritage Committee to exam- ine whether any of the barn’s old timbers should be preserved.