iti-family IN AN EFFORT to meet its housing crisis, North Van- couver District Council took emergency ‘measures Monday night, calling for a one-year moratorium on demolition proposals for multi-family rental accommodations in the municipality. The text of the in-camera resolu- tion adopied in council states that “Council proceed with a section 290 declaration of an emergency and impose a one year moratorium on demolitions involving residen- tial rental accommodation, and that the director of development be instructed to identify the commer- cial residential accommodation stock in the district and report back on the zoning of the iden- tified units with an eye to their de- velopment potential.”’ A subsequent motion, proposed by Ald. Rick Buchols and adopted by council, clarified that the ‘foregoing motion refers to multi-family residential permits and does not apply to single-family zoned properties.”’ Section 290 of the provincial Municipal Act states that: ‘Where the powers conferred on a municipal council are inadequate to deal with an emergency, the council may, by bylaw, adopted by a vote of at least two thirds of the council members, declare that an emergency exists and exercise powers necessary to deal effective- ly with the emergency.” The Municipality of Victoria recently invoked section 290 in order to preserve heritage proper- ties from development and it suc- cessfully withstood a court challenge. Ald. Bill Rodgers proposed the moratorium. ‘District council has become aware of the need to preserve the existing stock of rental housing,” he said. ‘‘We’ve receiv- ed some applications from various developers to remove the stock of ’ housing, especially housing that is available for middle income peo- ple.” Once the district’s multi-family rental stock is identified, Rodgers says the mext step is to decide Auto......... 0c cece 28 Classified Ads..........33 Editorial Page.......... 6 Heme & Gardew.........13 Miailbox............08. 7 What's Going On........24 Friday, periods of rain and windy. Saturday, showers. Highs near 12°C. By MARTIN MILLERCHIP Contributing Writer whether the zoning bylaws should be changed. rental ‘*We are all concerned that we should be protecting housing that is affordable,’’ continued Rodgers. “*We’ve seen a number of pro- pusals come before council in the Ec'gemont Village area and along Edgemont Boulevard. We are also concerned that some other housing stock may be threatened by devel- opers who think that they can redevelop at a higher price : ange.”’ 3 - Friday, November 10, 1989 - North Shore News council imposes moratorium on Ald. Craig Clark was the only council member to vote against the moratorium proposal. (Ald. Joan Gadsby was absent.)He later char- acterized the resolution as a knee- jerk reaction and wished council would look at a broader picture. Clark agreed that the district’s rental inventory is insufficient, but went on to say that, ‘‘creating a moratorium is not the way to en- AFFORDABLE ACCOMMODATION Co-op housing urged for City THE NORTH SHORE’S affordable housing crisis could be eased by the development of housing co-operatives, North Vancouver City Council was told Monday. In a public presentation prior to the city council meeting, Doug Robinsagn and Elaine Duvall of The Cooperative Housing Alliance of B.C: described the municipal government’s options in assisting the co-operative movement. As part of the preseniation, council ‘learned that in Canada there are 60,000 units in 1,400 co- ops, yet, in response to a question from Ald. Stella Jo Dean, Duvall said that North Vancouver has on- ly three co-ops with approximately 220 units. The -North Shore has been short-changed when it comes to federal: funding for affordable housing, Duvall said. As well, senior levels of gov- ernment have decreased funding for affordable housing in recent years, City’ council can help by calling ‘on senior levels of government for assistance with the current housing crisis, making .North Shore hous- ing needs known to the provincial and federal levels of government and helping the co-op associations find affordable land, Duvall sug- gested, By PAMELA LANG Contributing Writer “The cost of land is increasing faster and faster,’’ she said, so finding affordable, accessible sites for co-ops is difficult. But, she said, the municipality could ease that difficulty by designating certain sites for non- profit nousivg or leasing municipal land to non-profit groups. Because of strict federal spend- ing guidelines, Robinson added, the ability of municipalities to lease co-ops often makes individu- al projects feasible. The need for more affordable housing was undisputed. As Duvall explained, the North Shore is deal- ing with displacement of tenants, loss of rental units, loss of affor- dability, as well as decreasing space for children and people with special needs. “Their options are reducing drastically,’’ she said. “Affordable housing is a bot- tomless pit’? Ald. Dean added, “One thousand to 2,000 units in North Vancouver would be a drop in the bucket’’ in terms of solving Band files legal action to block Kitsilano sale From page 2 peoples living on the Kitsilano reserve were persuaded to move from the property in 1912 follow- ing pressure from area residents and city officials who did not want an Indian reserve in the midst of what they envisioned as a thriving metropolis. The. Indian families, who were members of the Squamish Tribe, were transported from the reserve aboard'a barge after allegedly be- ing paid $£0,000 each. In its larger claim for the Kit- silano reserve, the band claims its: people were fraudulently removed from the reserve because they were forced to leave and subsequently told that the money they accepted when they moved constituted a mortgage, which could only be paid off by surrendering the Kit- silano reservation. - The band also maintains that the 1946 band vote surrendering the reserve to the federal government was induced by fraud and technically defective. CP decided to sell the disputed railway right-of-way properties earlier this year because the 10.6 acres were no longer being used for railway purposes. A small portion of the land (.008 of an acre) had previously been sold to Molson Brewery Ltd. But the federal government ini- tiated legal action against CP and Molson earlier this year to prevent the sale, claiming that if the land is indeed no longer needed for railway use it should revert to the Crown. Slade said the federal govern- ment has made no attempt to re- tain the property as reserve land for the Squamish Band. The band, he said, therefcre ini- tiated its lawsuit Wednesday to remove the current railway rights-of-way and ‘‘to ensure that the land be preserved as federal Crown land in order that it be available for the use and benefit of the band as Indian reserve.’” But CP spokesman Don Bower said the company bought the property from the federal govern- ment. “Our position is that we have absolute title to the land to do with as we wish,” he said. Bower added that CP took the property off the market in the spr- ing. He said he could not comment on the Squamish Band claim because he had not seen the B.C. Supreme Court suit. the city’s affordable housing re- quirements. That need continues to grow with older buildings going up for sale, sometimes displacing long- term tenants, added Robinson. Affordable housing is necessary not only for low-income families, but for seniors and the middie- income earners as weli. The Cooperative Housing Alli- ance is a support group for hous- ing co-ops in B.C., providing ex- pertise to people wishing to form associations. Non-profit, co-operative hous- ing developments are resident con- trolled and tend to build strong communities, a video presentation informed council and a_ full gallery. Co-op associations are formed with the help of resource groups, with all members buying shares. ‘This money helps to pay for the units, and residents pay a monthly fze to maintain the property. Co- o; homes are provided to the te- nuaats at cost. The units cannot be sold for profit. A departing resident will receive his share purchase price on- ly; no one takes equity out of the project. All co-ops are government funded in some way. | housing demolition courage development of rentals. Any site that has a potential for higher development, we should be encouraging that higher develop- ment. Encourage the retention of the rental, but encourage higher development because we've got a genuine housing shortage and that’s not just for people who are renting.” Clark said he believes council is dealing with symptoms rather than the problem. ‘‘We are now con- sidering putting a golf course in Northlands. We've already reduc- ed the density from 1,150 units to under 1,000. You don’t provide housing for people by providing so many restrictions.”’ “We have the Inter-River Area which plays another important position in the long-term require- ments for housing on the North Shore. We'll wait and see what the report brings over there, but there are a lot of very serious considera- tions,”’ Clark continued. Clark despaired at what he sees as poor financial use of land resources. ‘‘Council is having knee jerk reaction to things as opposed to planning things and ensuring that they financially can utilize the land that they have available for development in a wise way. They are leaving money on the table.”’ Clark said the moratorium was precipitated by discussion about a property that may come forward for development. ‘'I’m opposed to that,’’ he said. ‘‘The community should not be reacting to some- body coming to the counter in all good faith asking questions of the potential for property with an im- mediate reaction to change the zoning or create moratoriums.’’ Mayor Marilyn Baker denied that any one development proposal triggered the moratorium. ‘‘There have been inquiries, but the issue came, up on the agenda initially without any particular inquiries coming forward. There may well be applications in, but they would all be affected at the same time,”’ she said. NEWS photo Cindy Goodman THE CAPILANO Coilege Blues women’s basketbaii team (in black) posted a 73-57 victory over the University of Victoria at Delbrook fast Saturday afternoon. Leading the scoring for the Blues with 15 points was Allison Snelgrove and, with 14 points a piece, Shannon Hirvonen and Cheryl Kinton.