page 26, December 1 MEETING LAST WEEK of British Properties and Area Homeowners Association listens to guest speaker Ald. Don Lanskail {see story on page 1) ena BST MGC AR Se ten , 1976 - North Shore News An editorial in the Fall 1976 issue of TALLY HO, the official publication of the British Properties & Area Homeowners . Association, entitled. “IS _ Village drastically altered" It must be acknowledged, of. course, that West Van could house three, four or... Dear Editor: Now that .the municipal elections are over, I wish to. express my sincere apprecia- tion to the members of the. news media, the many people who: assisted me in— my campaign for re-election _and to the citizens who took the time to get. out and vote. While the’ percentage of | voters who exercised their | _ franchise could still. be better, it was an improve- ment over the apathy dis- played in recent years. srist SaYS I would like to thank all those who voted for me in last week’s Municipal Elec- tion in the District of North Vancouver, especially those who gave their time and hard-earned money towards my campaign. Although I was unsuccess- ful in winning a seat, I increased my vote by 70% over 1975. To strive for genuine reform is an uphill struggle and the results are not always visible on election night. I take the large number of. votes I received as a sign of confidence in the policies I During my first term as Alderman, 1 endeavored to serve in the best interests of both.private and corporate citizens and the whole of the municipality. This, 1 will continue to do. during my next two years on pn council. -Again, my sincere thanks to all who supported me. * James R. Ball Alderman District of North Vancouver projected. Needless to say I will continue to work in the interests of our community. I would also like to thank the North Shore Press for the fair and unbiased coverage I received and for their efforts to keep the public informed. In addition, I would also like to thank the Chamber of Commerce and the various organizations for giving me an opportunity to present my views to the voters at the meetings they organised. Ernie Crist North Vancouver More letters > 29 wo er ve tynca odes STS 3 393 emi PTT eer an Taree Cg ee Nw en ae tat ge SS ESTES HIS NE TS 5 Minutes &2 Fingers on 1 Gala nti Orga AND WE WILL HAVE You PLAYING THIS FINE INSTRUMENT. ; THERE A GROWTH CRISIS IN WEST VAN?” perhaps five times its pres- . -ent population if we built ‘Looking at our peaceful and “orderly “little enough condominiums, municipality on a sunny afternoon it is difficult to townhouses, high-rises. and cluster houses far enough up imagine it is really headed for a growth crisis. the mountainside and on every acre of available land.j But the term ‘‘crisis’’ is no exaggeration if one K 4 ponders the proposed population pressureson this ‘example fens wis toed narrow strip of land running between the Capilano beings can be crammed into River and Horseshoe Bay, confronted on the south 2 Small piece of land. But is by the sea and on the north by the heights of that what West Vancouver: Hollyburn Ridge. — Already the basic and unique character of our “‘village’’ has been drastic- ally altered by three things: development of highrises along the shoreline; reopen- ing of the B.C. Railway along the waterfront and comple- tion of the Upper Levels Highway from Taylor Way to Horseshoe Bay. : These,. of course, are irreversible How many more irreversible developments are ahead before traffic and population density overwhelms our ‘municipal services and des- troys the very quality. of | living that most of us came to . West Vancouver to enjoy? 10,000 MORE PEOPLE Presently we. have prop-. - osals for development on the Caulfield Plateau. and. on- large acreage west of British Properties and between the Upper Levels and the 1200- foot fJevel of Hollyburn. . Ridge. These housing prop- ' osals eventually can involve more than 10,000 new residents, roughly 25 per cent more people than we have now. And these are just two current . proposals. How many more can we comfort- ably accept? Anyone who tries to drive his way through Park Royal traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon (even before the larger shopping centre now being built on the South Mall is completed) may well wonder. developments... The danger of these ‘proposals for development is ' that, by themselves, they do- not constitute. a growth crisis. They are usually well . designed and conceived—the work of: professionals who take a pride. in: their work.: They provide for consider-— able residential density. But in. these high-priced times this is a fact of life. Less density. would mean_ prices higher than most families could afford. PIECE-BY-PIECE HORROR STORY Thus, in ‘isolation, | each “ development proposal does not. seem ‘a, serious threat. - :.But when the accumulated total of new residential population of- these and successive proposals is en- visioned, it becomes a horror story in ferms of residential ‘values we have come to treasure in West Vancouver. is sort of little-by-little growth | is deadly in_ its insidiousness. © Piece-by-plece . residential development of ‘West, Van. ° couver will become inevit- : ‘able unless growth is strictly regulated. If this alarming process of ‘piece-by-picce residential growth is allowed ~ to run its full course unimpeded, we should not blame the developers. Dev- clopment is their business. The only ones we have to blame would be ourselves. Retaining the character of. West Vancouver is OUR business. aw ' ADDED SERVICE COSTS TO COME. _ And how much more can they afford to pay in terms of additional services to new residential developments. _ Those proposed between the Upper Levels and. the 1200- foot ‘level' portend extremely high municipal snow removal. costs, particularly in the case of hardwinters.Also drainage problems among the homes south of new hillside devel- . opments that have been’ denuded of trees and under- growth may ‘be guessed at, despite the best planning of the engineers. Further; ‘the municipality is trying to retain as many ‘*preen spaces”’ as possible. Should forested slopes of Hollyburn be slowly gobbled up by new housing, retention of large treed areas on these slopes for future park pur- poses : becomes. an impossi- . bility. - aif West ; Vancouverites decide not to bestir.‘them- selves to. exert political pressure to ensure slow and orderly growth in. this little art of God's green acre, that | is their prerogative. But if: -[ this happens through default ° ‘by lack of public informa-: tion, by the. inertia such lack ‘of information engenders, or by short-sighted leadership —~it will indeed be: a crisis, And a tragedy for our municipality, We should not forget the ancient warning: ‘‘When there is no vision, the people perish.’’ Cascade Organ Centrers Christmas _ Special — $939, Check These Features © one finger auto. chord © automatic rhythm _ 2 keyboards ° full guarantee Free organ lessons. “no. obligation CASCADE ORGAN CENTRES Vancouver’ 3 oldest exclusive plano and organ dealer: ae ne eveceweoen BRENTWOOD MALL, BURNABY 294-2424 CAMBIE & 25TH, VANCOUVER 879-6501 SURREY PLACE. MALL ; , SURREY 588-1444 50” Christmas Coupon Bring this coupon In and save an additional $50. 00 on an x300 organ purchase. Tt eeeeeeeeeeeeeuseaeeeeauseceenteecereseecnsersensesteeeecencves * SST ONS BS AEN NS IE © wee mm ree ART LN RN Hey II YR me Yim t IEE twain © N.S.N.