with the tree removal.

Company ordered

IN WHAT is the third major court award in the past
seven months to North Shore residents for destroyed
trees, the B.C. Supreme Court has ordered a West Van-
couver development company and its principal to pay
$132,672 in damages to a group of Horseshoe Bay resi-
dents after approximately 25 trees were removed from
their Nelson Avenue properties to increase the value of

two neighboring properties.
By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
Managing Editor

In making the award, Mr.
West Vancouver businessman

Justice D.W. Shaw said ‘‘The

cutting of the trees was a blatant
Michael Deakin and Christopher
Dickenson, owner of Ralph’s In-

destruction of the amenities of
expensive Tree Work.

the neighboring property
owners.”

The defendants, he stated in
his reasons for judgment, knew
they could increase the price of But the suit against Deakin and
houses they proposed to build on Dickenson was dropped.

The trees, primarily mature
second-growth hemlock, maple,
fir and cedar, were removed from

properties along the 6600-block

the lots if they could provide

those lots with views of Horse-
of Nelson Avenue between Nov.
16, 1987 and Dec. 4, 1987 to

shoe Bay and beyond.
North Vancouver lawyer Gary
enhance the Horseshoe Bay views
of two properties being devel-

Baldwin, who acted for the
plaintiffs, said the judgmeit for

oped behind Nelson Avenue on
Wellington Avenue.

exemplary damages, which
totalled $100,000, was one of the
largest he has seen awarded in a
trespass case.
’ . ga.

**There was a moral issue at stake here. We felt it
was our responsibility to prevent it from happening
to other people.’’ ——-Laurel Burrowes

Damage done to the trees and
the value of timber lost was orig-
inally estimated at $21,000.

Landscape architect Philip
Tattersfield, who initially assess-
ed the damage to trees and sur-
rounding environment, said the
removal of the second growth
timber exposed the remaining
trees to wind blowdown and
would increase land erosion due
to runoff.

While lawyers for S.I.F. and
Khazei argued that there was no
evidence indicating that their
clients directed loggers to log the
neighboring properties, Justice
Shaw found that the trespass
logging was a ‘‘concerted effort

The removal of trees to in-
crease property values, he said,
‘tis becoming more of a prob-
lem...especially in North and
West Vancouver.”’

The suit was initiated by
Laurel Burrowes, James
Treslove, Annie Sparrow, Rae
Anne Figursky, Michael Figur-
sky, Norma Figursky and the
Horseshoe Bay Retirement Socie-
ty against S.1.F. Development
Corp. and its president, Iraj
Khazei, after hired loggers tres-
passed on the plaintiffs’ proper-
ties and cut a swath ranging up to
150 feet wide through treed areas
on their lots.

Also named as defendants were

| PICTURED in front of a view-window slashed through trees on Horseshoe Bay area properties are (left to
right) Edna Carroll, Avril Sandall and Laurel Burrowes. The B.C. Supreme Court recently ordered a West
Vancouver development company to pay $132,000 in damages to the owners of the properties in connection

$132,672 for tree cutting

= . . A
NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

to pay

by and on behalf of Mr. Khazei,
Mr. Deakin and S.1.F. for the
common purpose of gaining a
view...in order to enhance the
profit of their housing develop-
ment.””

The Wellington Avenue lots
were originally purchased for
$148,00 in 1987 by Orion Proper-
ties Ltd., a company controlled
by Deakin, and sold to SIF.

After the trees were removed
and the two houses were built on.
the properties they sold for a
total of $685,000.

Justice Shaw found that the
trespass on the plaintiffs’ proper-
ties was deliberate and without
warning.

The cutting of the trees, he
said, was ‘‘a deliberately
dishonest act.’’

In assessing general damages,
Justice Shaw noted that the
various properties were now sub-
ject to damage from such en-
vironmental factors as water
runoff and wind.

He described one property as
looking ‘‘like a field of devasta-
tion.”

Laure! Burrowes said the suit
was launched to ‘‘protect our
rights. There was a moral issue at
stake here. This could happen
again. We felt it was our respon-
sibility to prevent it from hap-
pening to other people.”’

Justice Shaw’s decision repre-
sents the third major court award
to North Shore residems after
trees were removed from proper-
ties without permission.

Last October a Vancouver
county court judge awarded
$71,300 to a West Vancouver
airline flight attendant after a
neighbor topped and thinned
hedges and trees on her property,
and in July 1989, a B.C. Supreme
Court judge ordered a West
Vancouver man to pay $60,000 to
a West Vancouver couple after [3
trees on their three-acre West
Vancouver estate were chopped
down,

Share your wedding tales

CALLING ALL married people! The North Shore News’
special Bridal feature is fast approaching, and as a special
attraction we would like to pass on your advice to those
couples just crossing the threshold into married life.

What was the best, the worst or
the funniest thing that happened at
your wedding? ;

Let us hear about your experi-

ences -
The Bridal feature will be
published on Sunday, Feb. 25, and

the deadline for your letters is .

Monday, Feb. 19. If you wish, you
can request anonymity, but your
name and telephone number must
be included in your letter to the
News. Please drop off or send
your letters to Wedding Wisdom,
North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale
Ave., North Vancouver, V7M
2H4.

North

3 - Friday, February 9, 1990 - North Shore News

Shore

hit hard by

Snowe

From Page 1
summer tread on. People just
weren't prepared for the amount
of snow that fell."’

An estimated 30 cm (12 inches)
of snow fell Wednesday on the
North Shore.

RCMP brought in auxiliary
members to manage traffic in the
numerous arcas where power lines
came down.

Meanwhile traffic moving west
along the Upper Levels was block-
ed at the cut east of Lonsdale for
about five hours when four trucks
failed to negotiate the steep hill.

Said Barry Drummond, presi-
dent of Capilano Highway Ser-
vices, the private contractor
responsible for highway
maintenance along the Upper
Levels and Squamish highways,
“The truckers are really critical of
us, but maybe when things get
bad, they can prepare too. At 6:30
a.m. everything was salted, bare
and wet and then wham, every-
where got hit.””

He estimates that eight to 15 in-
ches of snow blanketed the high-
ways.

Drummond said his company
had eight combination snowplow-
salt trucks working to clear the
route, and two more snowplow
trucks were brought in from
Mainroad Contracting. The Se-
cond Narrows Bridge remained
open Wednesday, but the centre
lane of Lions Gate Bridge was
closed for three hours during the
snow storm.

The three North Shore fire
departments responded to assist at
the scenes of numerous motor
vehicle accidents and in securing
areas where power lines had fallen.

The North Vancouver District
Fire Department alone handled 38
storm-related calls between 8 a.m.
and 7 p.m. Wednesday.

B.C. Hydro spokesman Verne
Prior said fallen trees and heavy
snow snapping power lines was the
major problem faced by Hydro
crews,

He said Deep Cove was the
hardest hit area in North Van-
couver.

Prior said a total of 5,350 B.C.
Hydro customers went without
power in North Vancouver for
various amounts of time Wednes-
day and early Thursday.

Power went out in Deep Cove at
about 1 p.m. on Wednesday and
all but the Woodlands area had its
power back by 3 a.m. on Thurs-
day. There were 2,500 people af-
fected by the power outage in Deep
Cove.

A 100-foot fir tree crashed down
across a power line and two
Caledonia Avenue residential lots
in Deep Cove Wednesday after-
noon.

Val and Keith Hunter were at
home sitting in the dark. They had
already lost power at | p.m.

Said Val, ‘‘We were just sitting
in the living room. There was a
rumbling sound — like the earth
moved, you know the Carole King
song? It was pretty scary. It’s a re-
ality test every time I look at that
tree out there. What is it doing
there? The cat freaks out every
time it walks by the tree.”’

Say I love you
LOVERS TAKE note.

Show your valentine that you
care with a North Shore News
Valentine Love Line. Published
in the Feb. 14 edition of the

News, a love line is the perfect
way to say ‘‘l love you.”

And the most original Love
Line advertisement will win a
romantic weekend for two at Le
Meridien.

Call the News Classifieds at
986-6222 to purchase your Love
Line. Deadline is Monday, Feb.
12.

storm

Other North Vancouver areas hit
by power outages included the area
east of the Capilano River where
2,500 people were affected from 1
p.m. to 4 p.m. and from around
5:30 p.m. Wednesday to just after
midnight, and the Sutherland area
where 350 people lost their power.

In West Vancouver the British
Properties area was hit hardest by
the snow storm as 2,300 people
went without power. The majority
of the power outages occurred in
the Upper British Properties where
1,800 people were forced to go
without power from 2 p.m. to 4:45
p.m. Wednesday, while 500 people
in the Lower British Properties lost
power from between | p.m. Wed-
nesday to 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Power went out in Lions Bay at
12:30 p.m. Wednesday and was
not restored until 9:30 p.m., affec-
ting about 350 people.

Prior said the heavy snowfall
made it difficult for Hydro crews
to reach some areas.

“The deep snow made it quite
rough for us. We couldn’t use our
helicopters because of the tack of
visibility,’’ said Prior. ‘‘It was a
pretty major storm in terms of the
area that was affected?"

North Vancouver District
municipal engineer John Bremner
said his crews experienced trouble
spots ‘‘everywhere’’ and added
“this is the worst conditions I've
seen here since coming here in

“The deep snow made
it quite rough for us.
We couldn’t use our
helicanters because of
the lack of visibility.”
—B.C. Hydro spokesman
Verne Prior

1978.”"

Bremner said ice was the biggest
problem faced by his crews, and
added that conditions were made
even worse for his crews when
people began to abandon their
vehicles in the middle of roads.

North Vancouver City public
works department spokesman
Serafino Fiorvento said his crews
“had no problems’’ with the
snowfall and worked on keeping
the main bus routes open on Wed-
nesday while tackling the second-
ary routes on Thursday.

West Vancouver public works
yard manager John Pollitt said
“there were trouble spots all over’’
and added his crews worked
around the clock with 14 snow
temoval vehicles on the roads.

The heavy snowfall also forced
the cancellation of classes at
Capilano College’s North Van-
couver and Squamish campuses on
Wednesday. College spokesman

Bev Greene said about 1,600 stu-
dents went without classes after 66
courses were cancelled.

Automotives......
Classified Ads...
What's Going On........22
Home & Garden.........13

WEATHER

Friday, rain and windy.
Saturday, periods of rain.
Highs near 9°C.

cond Class Registration Number 3885