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WEDNESDAY

FHE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER

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November 30, 1988 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 936-1337 64 Pages 25¢ Perey

NEWS photo Nel Lucente

TYEE SKI team members Garrett Gabriel (left) and Tracy Tang stand on Grouse Mountain on the ski hill’s opening day Saturday. Grouse’s
opening day saw 4,000 people come to the mountain. The hill — which has a 108 cm base — opened three weeks earlier than last year.

VIEW ANALYSIS REPORT DUE IN MA&CH

Highrise developers

face

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HIIGHRISE DEVELOPERS in the Lower Lonsdale area
will face application delays until North Vancouver City’s
view analysis report is released in March.

In a close vote Monday night,
council defeated an amendment to
allow the Intercon development
company to continue processing its
application for the development of
a 24-storey building on the site of
the Olympic Hotel at 140 East Se-
cond St.

Intercon president Jim Wyse of-
fered to pay the application costs
and gamble that the view analysis
report would come out in favor of
his building.

**At the very least we ask council
to direct staff to continue to pro-

Contributing Writer
cess our application through the
rezoning steps, with the knowledge
that the ultimate approval must
eventually come from council,’’
said Wyse.

Wyse said he was aware that he
may be wasting his money if coun-
cil decided in March not to allow
highrise development in the Lower
Lonsdale area, but ‘‘the other cost
is that of delay,’’ he said. ‘1’d
rather see it proceed.””

City planner Richard White said
it was within council's mandate to
allow the application to be pro-
cessed.

“From a planning perspective,
council has the unfettered ability
to approve or disapprove any
(development) motion,’’ said
White.

Ald. John Braithwaite said
council should not back off from
its decision last week to restrict
development to six-storey buildings
until the view analysis report is
released.

“Too often developers tell this
council what to do and how to
jump,”’ he said. ‘‘I think we've got
to hold back (highrise applications)
for three months, and I'm sure the

developer is not going to walk
away,”’ said Braithwaite.

But Ald. Stella Jo Dean
disagreed, ‘‘Certain!y I don’t jump
for any developer,’’ said Dean.
Adding that if the developer was
willing to take the gamble, it
wouldn’t be conflicting with
previous council actions to allow
the application to proceed.

Ald. Rod Clark said council
should not ask the city’s develop-
ment committee to make a decision
on the development without
benefit of the view analysis.
“(They} cannot operate in a
vacuum,”’ he said.

Wyse warned council that its
present path of limiting develop-
ment to six storeys would be dic-

ays in N. Van

tating ‘‘row upon row of six-storey
high, 170-foot long walls.”

Wyse said the alternative was to
coordinate the locations of tall,
slender towers to establisa view
corridors. ‘‘It is unfortunate, but f
see ‘tower’ almost becoming a dir-
ty word,’’ said Wyse.

Wyse said ‘‘council would
receive few complaints about any
proposal to demolish the Olympic
Hotel.’’ The hotel is a “‘blight’’ on
the neighborhood, he said.

Ald. Dean, Ald. Bell and Mayor
Loucks voted in favour of letting
the developer continue te process
his application. Ald. Clark, Ald.
Sharp, Ald. Braithwaite and Ald.
Morris voted against the amend-
ment.