ET TTT EA FO MN WORT PT ARATE Eos PE ma EA BTS: Brey ae nis PEEP LON ET TL RIS pO OTT i is : i ; LARUE LET I De Le a Ce EEE ARS Ol SERRE ces Sts FSET ae ele tad: Dakan 7 sngimientc’ PRS ITS haen ay arth nema Ft nate NG ae SEP COMPLEX SAVED Edgemont Viilage renters win reprieve. SURPRISED and happy renters of a tewnhouse complex near Edgemont Village left North Van- couver District Council with a spring in their step Mon- day night after a narrow 4-3 vote defeated a siting amendmeni that would have seen their homes demolish- By MARTIN MILLERCHIP Contributing Writer Mouzain's Edge Developments Ltd., in conjunction with Graham Crockart, Azchitects, had applied te develop the site at 3759-85 Edgemont Boulevard in accor- dance with existing zoning density, replacing the cight existing con- dominium units with eight single- family units. Two development applications for the same site and an adjacent property have previously been denied by council because of in- creased densities. This time the issue seemed to be appearance. At the public hearing, residents spoke passionately about the length of time spent in their homes {nine years on average) and the “immorality” of creating eight homeless families for the sake of eight new residences. But in addressing the bylaw, most aldermen only touched obli- quely on the emotional issues, while allowing their vote to speak loudest. , Ald. Joan Gadsby was the most outspoken, categorizing the pro- posal as stratification by demoli- tion, but based her opposition to the development on appearance. “The overall impact of the siting urea amendment will be to give the appearance of increased density because there is less open space that will be provided,”’ she said. Gadsby was also concerned about similar proposals that may gecur. “I believe that this whole atea of Capilano in the Edgemont area should undergo (the) official coramunity plan (process) because there is a potential for other pro- perties in this area —- some 100 — to go the same way,’’ Gadsby con- cluded. Ald. Bill Rodgers echoed Gadsby’s concern.at the appearance of densification, and suggested that he might take a second look at a cluster housing design if the de- veloper wanted to come back. Kent Handel, a longtime resi- dent of the complex and the leader of the fight to save ‘‘affordable rental accommodation” later told the News that the tenants have researched establishing a non- profit housing co-op and revitaliz- ing the buildings with a CMHC guaranteed loan. Handel was uncertain as to what might happen next. “It depends whether this is enough to dissuade . the developer,”’ he said. ‘‘We have a proposal of our own all ready to put into place, but we still need that opportunity to implement it.”’ Other tenants spoke of the more immediate need to get the owners of the property to fix fences and plumbing. ‘‘The buildings have been let go while this development business has been going on,”’ one resident charged. NEWS photos Mike Wakefield | Plenty of spirit SPIRIT WAS high at Norgate Community School recently as 85 pupils participated in a Spirit Day Run. Above, boys run with fierce determination. Grade 3 stu- dent Conor Donaidson (left) warms up by stretching be- fore the school run. UPGRADING OF BURLEY DRIVE West Van road widening. has some residents fuming BLOOD HAS boiled on both sides of the blacktop in a municipal-residential showdown over a scheduled $400,000 street-widening in West Vancouver, but the district has decided to proceed with the project Monday. The municipality okayed the Mondgy start date for the upgrade following a special Wednesday meeting with residents of the 700 and 800-blocks of Burley Drive, who called the project unnecessary and a threat to valuable trees and property in a neighborhood built over former marshland. But West Vancouver municipal manager Terry Lester said Burley Drive, a through street from 1ith Street to Taylor Way, is badly in need of repairs and that a minimal number of trees will be removed and no other trees will be dam- aged. Responding to concerns from residents, Lester said Friday the district will hire a landscape ar- chitect to oversee the cutting and trimming of trees ‘‘to ensure their liveability,’’ and will offer replacement trees at wholesale prices to those residents affected. But Burley Drive resident Bill Tomlinson said he and others con- cerned about the effects the project will -have on sub-surface water Business ...........-.. 29 Classified Doug Collins Comics.... News Reporter levels in their neighborhood were denied a chance to air their views publicly at a regular council meeting. The 4 p.m. Wednesday meeting, which was attended by residents from other areas of Burley Drive who were in favor of the project, was held at a time inconvenient for most of the people in his neighborhood and failed to assuage resident concerns, Tomlin- son complained. “They are starting to make a compromise,”’ ‘Tomlinson said. “But if they had had the courtesy to invite us to a meeting earlier to hear our concerns then we could have avoided this.” A petition signed by 20 of 24 residents in the 700 and 800 blocks of Burley Drive states that no ade- quate explanation for the widening was given by the district, and, though residents were advised of Fashion ...... Bob Hunter... Lifestyles.... Mailbox......... Travel seceseee Ql What's Going On........19 street work along Burley Drive in early April, the magnitude of that work was not properly explained. The petition also demanded that if there were any adverse effects to area properties resulting from the street widening, they be rectified at the municipality’s expense. Tomlinson said the need to widen the street by two metres on “*They are starting to make a compromise. But if they had had the courtesy to invite us to a meeting earlier to hear our concerns then we could have avoided this. -~-Burley Drive resident Bill Tomlinson a? P| the north side to provide a parking lane on its south side was ques- tionable at best, because area resi- dents had plenty of off-street park- ing. WEATHER Sunday through Tuesday, cloudy with chance of Showers. Highs near 17°C. But he added that his main con- cern was for the fate of Burley Drive’s large trees, which he said were invaluable for absorbing sub-surface water. Built on former marshland, the Burley Drive area of Sentinel Hill, he said, is subject to unusually high sub-surface water flow, which is controlled in large part by area trees. A 60-foot high tree, he said, ab- sorbs up to 250 gallons per day. Though he has been assured that no trees will be damaged above the surface, Tomlinson said the dam- age from installation of the new road foundation could destroy sub-surface root systems and their ability to suck up the water. “No recent preliminary (traffic) count has been done,” he said, “sno hydrostatic study and no water level chart, and this on what they say is a major road.”’ But Lester, angry over the time and money lost by the municipality with the delay in starting the pro- ject, which was initially scheduled to begin May 1, said that only a maximum of two or three trees would be removed. Traffic counts, he said, have been done — approximately 1,800 vehicles per day use the street — and traffic volumes are increasing. “But volume is not important,”” Lester said. ‘“‘It is an important connector to Taylor Way for the Upper Ambleside area.”” The road, he said, was in terrible shape and desperately needed upgrading. Lester conceded that sub-surface water studies had not been done, but said he saw no need to conduct such studies in an area where there was an existing road. . : The Burley Drive project is part of the district’s annual road rehabilitation program.