| Adventures in pub land TODAY something a little more in keeping with the summer sea- son. A frosty lager at your favorite neighborhood pub perhaps? The trouble is the neigh- borhood pub business is far from neighborly. Recent pub applications in both North and West ’ Vancouver have, for example, “rallied the anti-neighborhood pub forces in both communi- ties. Our west, Dundarave Cafe owner John Wicchold wants to turn his Dundarave-area restaurant into a neighbor- hood pub. Seems a reasonable cnough idea. The change from restau- rant to pub in what is already a commercial area would seem fairly straightforward. Not so. Outrage is the order of the day. Fears of lager louts, bike panes: and other hooliganism ave since Spilled over on to jews pages. “ orth Vancouver, _m¢anwhile, proponents of a cant -» Drive have’ ‘stumbléd into the - pub survey quagmire at North Vaincouver City — home of the sient that couldn’t 2 A survey « done in. the sum- “mer of 1997 found 54.5% ‘of | the 1, 129: area ballots cast in, Drive pub. - “however, rules quently reeeted, But city : council gave the: Matine Drive ub proponents another kick :: the pub can. Arid the 850 . _ Story? An Greek war. A neighborhood pub licence campaign gone badly awry. Ask Nick about it — if you have a spare couple of hours. Itis a tale of red tape and frustration and the suffocation of entrepreneurial initiative — business as usual Canadian style. There is not space in this column to chronicle the whole campaign. Instead, a quick synopsis: Energetic Greek immigrant arrives in Vancouver in 1959 from his native Corfu. Moves to North Vancouver in 1971 and becomes a partner in Dino’s pizza and pasta house at 3 Lonsdale Ave. Buys out partmers in 1975. Turns Dino’s into Delo’s. Works like a Trojan. Makes a packet. Moves to the British Properties. In the early *80s, he secures the lease to North Vancouver City’s Emerald Park Lodge on east 3rd Street: Sinks a fortune into ‘the venture. Gets caught in the crash ‘of °83. Loses every- Renovated lodge gocs back to city. Greek retires to lick ° _business wounds. End of ing but. “In 1986, Vavaris secures . othe lease to the old Coronation Block at 107 West . Esplanade. Invests gallons of blood, sweat and tears into its renovation. Opens new restaurant, var- ioiisly called Your Place or ‘Mine, The Great Greek, Nick’s Place. Later sees potential for a | pub. Gets pre- liminary approval from Victoria in 1991. First attempt fails to get by North Vancouver City in June 1992. But, again, being the Great Greek, he perseveres. In 1994 the city conducts a pub survey at Vavaris’ expense, approximately $7,000. Sister neighborhood pubs in the area are not amused. They campaign vig- orously against the Great Greek. Results of the survey show 58% of respondents oppose the pub application. But Vavaris smells a rat. For starters, there is a 50% response to the survey, this in a municipality where you are doing well if you get a 20% turnout to municipal elec- tions. The city then orders an audit. It finds nearly 2,200 units, or 34% of potential vor- ers, in the survey area were missed. Concerns are also raised about both property owners and residents being on the survey’s mailing list, which meant that the same person could have voted more than once in the survey. But city bungling is glossed over. No new survey is ordered as was the case in the recent Marine Drive pub application. Instead a public hearing is held. Turnout is enthusiastic. Two more hearings follow. Much passion and venom is nded on both sides of the debate. Nick Vavaris, having long roots in the city and having employed many people over the years in his restaurants, has a lot of local support. By May 1996, city council approves Vavaris’ pub applica- tion and sends a resolution to the liquor licensing board in Victoria. The resolution, however, fails to state that a majority of area residents are in favor of the pub. It states only that the rezoning approval has been granted. Victoria does not approve the pub. Much jubilation from area neighborhood pubs. Nick Vavanis is shattered. He is back to square one after spending half a decade and approximately $200,000 in legal fees on his pub fight and investing $7,000 on a borched survey. During that time, his restaurant has been in neutral awaiting transformation. Opined a frustrated Vavaris in.a News story carlicr this year: “I was the golden Greek in the 80s when I did the Emerald Park, and now I am the god damned Greck.” God damned indeed. For no good reason. The Coronaticn Block would make a good neighbor- hood pub. It is removed from any established residential area. Like the Dundarave Cafe, it is already a restaurant. Ic is in the heart of what is soon to be a renewed city cen- tre with more residents, more neighbors, more busincsses, more activity. It is adjacent to the termi- nus of the SeaBus and its cbb and flow of passengers and tourists. But the gears of local bureaucracy and an effective anti-neighbo: b cam- paign from area neighborhood pubs have combined to turn a good business idea into what is virtually a vacant dining lot. Were the area in one of the more enlightened citics south . of the border, it would be alive with Great Greek pubs and all manner of mercantile life in less time than you could say pub survey, An enterprising business- man like Nick Vavaris would not be slowly choked to death by bureaucracy and the forces of anti-compcetition. It would be a far more neighborly place on all fronts. Apply tags to trash limit “Dear Editor: - I just received my new booklet: for ‘the North. Shore Recycling Program. I think it is ‘a ‘great booklet and ‘a great idea. However, I am not-bappy about one item on ‘page: 10: ‘having to buy a S$) ticket for gc in excess of two bags. As a taxpayer I feel I am enti- tled to 52 weeks of garbage collection of two bags a week. Many times we only have one bag out and if we are away then there are no bags our for pick up. Also our blue box and paper bag are only out once very five or six weeks. In fair- ness to all taxpayers I would recommend that 104 tags or stickers are issued to ‘each houschold per year and it could stipulate that a’ maximum of,” would be collected - four ba; per week. When your tags or stickers are used up, then you * could purchase extra tags and stickers. P. Casano © North Vancouver Consu' - Sunday, August 2, 1998 — North Shore News — 7 on, 21 pt. Safety check, 15 minutes - FAST! Includes up to 5 lites of 10w30 Quakerstate 1362 Marine Drive 980-9N5 Mon-Sat B:00am-6:00prn, Sun. 9:00am-5:00pm Expaes Aug 14, 98. JAYLORMOTIVE: TUNE-UP SPECIALISTS AirCare - Gov. Certified #50222 B. C. A.A. - ARA. nhirt CENTRE ~ Technician available to * service your car or or light 6s 40th Year” ; isk TALKING ALSO COMPLETE 77259-2000 MECHANICAL REPAIRS 17(41515.:. Guaranteed | year | N. Van (5 blks south of Morine) ©. * Estimate oon-7a5e 176 Pemberton | ‘Separation — and Divorce - ° Effective Client - Lawyer Comniunication © Determined Pursuit of Client's Interést . Lesa Trial: G : ; Gia Festival ‘98 - Growers Competition, August 23, 10:00 am to 3: 00 pm. Entry dea ugu fax 666-4937. There are gift baskets, craft prizes and blue. ribbons to be won. (No other fruits or vegetables need apply.) * Please check proper category: (J Red, slicing tomatoes (Plum, paste tomatoes . Mini tomatoes 0 “Heavyweight chan” CI Specialty coloured tomatoes Entry fee is a non-perishable item or cash donation for the Vancouver Food Bank.