culmination of over two years of work by council, staff and public. While most at the mecting sup- ported council's initiative in pro- posing 14 sites for park dedica- tion, the majority also wanted the areas left in their natural state, without play equipment, trails or other improvements. Following the dedication of a portion of Lynn Canyon Park slated for residential development early in council’s term, Coun, Paul Turner suggested the creation of a parks identification program that would allow district residents to name those areas of undeveloped land being used as neighborhood parks. A lengthy public process culmi- nated in May with the Parkland Identification Report, which described 76 sites identified by district residents.’ _ From those 76 sites council fi- nally proposed that 14 sites be dedicated as parks by referendum and two other sites.be rezoned to PRO (Parks, Recreation and Open Space). . Nortk Vancouver District. voters will be asked Nov. 20 to vote to favor or reject the park dedication of each of the 14 sites. _ But the difference between the * OCP. (Official Community. Plan) designation of Parks Recreation _ Cypress access JOHN NEUMANN (lett), of the North Shore Disability Resource Centre Association, enjoys the view accessible to wheelchairs via the new one-kilometre Yew Lake wheelchair trail in Cypress Provincial Park. Neumann is joined by B.C. Parks Ranger Hugh Ackroyd. NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL by Martin Millerchip and Wilderness (PRW), PRO and dedication confused many at the public hearing. Planning staff were still offering explanations after the majority of speakers had left. OCP land-use labels, of which PRW is one, can be described as the desired: community objective. Legal zoning on the same piece of land may differ because of histor- ical decisions. A zoning .designation ‘such as PRO determines land-use by bylaw. It can be changed by a vote of council, although a public hearing would be required as part of such a process. Park dedication by referendum ‘is the strongest protection that can be giver. to the land use. The Municipal Act makes clear that the public vote is not binding on council, But. once council! adopts the dedication it can only be reversed by another district- wide referendum. “These 14 areas were chosen because. they protect wetlands, Sunday, November 7, 1993 ~ North Shore News - 44 park sites up for referendum approval 14 areas proposed from original 76 listed in Parkland Identification Report A PUBLIC hearing held Tuesday on the issue of park dedication in North Vancouver District represented the protect wetlands, preserve unique biodiversity and enhance our trail system. 99 preserve unique biodiversity and enhance our trail system,’’ Turner told the News Tuesday. “Many areas we use as parks are prey to development at the whim of politicians and devel- opers, “I initiated this program to have voters directly name the areas they want protected from development.’’ But a couple of speakers raised the question of the land costs in- volved. Jim Kempling said he was con- cerned about the value of the lands being discussed and asked why the public could not be told. “It seems to me that that type of information ought to be avail- able to the public’ under the Freedom of Information Act,” said Kempling. But in a close 4-3 vote last week council decided not to assign fi- nancial values‘ to the proposed park sites. NEWS photo Mike Wakafield New products answer health concerns BRITISH COLUMBIA’S restaurant services industry is responding to the demand . for healthier food by deveél- oping new products. In- novations .ranging [rom low-fat dairy creamers to healthy burgers are being introduced to restaurants and cafeterias. : The demand’ for healthy food products is being driven by pro- grams such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Heart Snyart restaurant program. More than 250 restaurants in British Colum- bia have signed up for the pro- gram since it was relaunched six months ago. ‘Restaurants participating in the Heart Smart restaurant program agree to provide customers. with healthy food choices’ and infor- mation. Many restaurants have created new menu items that meet the Heart and Stroke Founda- tion’s guidelines for fat and sedi- unv-content. Now restaurant joining the healthier lower-fat vegetable-based burgers; fat-free veggie wieners;.individual servings of 2% milk for coffee and tea. suppliers are. trend by offering products such as salad dréssings; . New members of the Heart Smart ‘Plus’? program, who identify approved menu items with the distinctive checkmark symbol, include: Robson Grill, Vancouver; Carriage House Restaurant, Nelson; Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver; The 39 restaurants in the Earls chain (January 1994); and 84 Boston Pizza restaurants across Canada (December 1993). The Heart Smart restaurant program is offered by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. For more information about .the program, or to receive a directory listing all participating restaurants in B.C. -and Yukon, call the foundation at 736-4404 or 1-800-663-2010. — Coun. Paul Turner “How can you put a dollar value on Hogan’s Pools (an ‘area east of Riverside Drive and just north of ‘Mount Seymour Parkway), for instance, when it is the headwaters of Maplewood Creek — a salmon-bearing stream?’’ Coun. Janice Harris told the News. “The value of these sites for the community in the long term goes far beyond what the real estate market would yield in the short term, “A dollar value was not part of the Lynn: Canyon referendum ei- ther’? concluded Harris. Dave Roxburgh also asked about the value of forgone land sales to residential development. Roxburgh said he had been ac- tively involved in the Seymour OCP discussions and asked what had happened to the ‘‘village’’ concept of cluster development and mixed housing. . He suggested placing low-cost seniors’ housing on some of the Hogan’s Pools site. “Not all of it, some of it. Let’s put some people around it who can enjoy it,’’ he said. But Blair Wilson, who has lob- bied for the protection of Hogan’s Pools for many years, reminded council that the site received the largest number of returns from the public during the identification process and that all were in favor of retaining a park designation. Several other speakers also favored protecting the entire Hogan’s Pools site. West Murdo Fraser Park was one other proposed park site that received a lot of public support. Margot Masterton suggested that the area may have been be- queathed to the district in the past to remain untouched, while several other speakers urged council not to allow expansion of the pitch- and-putt golf course. The Squamish Nation served notice via letter at the hearing that it wishes to add Cutter Island Park (northeast of the Doilar- ton/Upper Levels interchange) to Seymour Creek Indian Reserve No, 2. Chairman of Council Leslie Harry wrote: ‘‘As we had hoped we had communicated to North Vancouver, we believe that the lands that are subject to the rezoning ‘application should be ultimately added to the reserve.’’ WV voters to choose fate of controversial! Cypress Ridge lands WEST VANCOUVER resi- dents are getting another chance to register their wishes regarding the fate of a controversial section of municipal land on Cypress Ridge. By Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter Two referendum questions concerning the 350 acres (142 hectares) will be placed on Nov. 26 ballots. In a referendum held during the 1990 municipal election, West Vancouver residents voted 57% against a proposed 27-hole golf course on the land. This time, voters will be asked if they want to dedicate 130 acres (53 hectares) of the land for an old-growth forest nature preserve. Approximately half of the 130 acres contain trees up to 1,000 years old. The balance of the land contains second- and third-growth trees. West Vancouver District: parks and recreation director Kevin Pike said the proposed park would contain all of the old-growth trees in the area, Said Pike, ‘“‘From a parks standpoint, it is pretty exciting. It will create a very large piece of parkland."’ ‘A‘ second referendum question will ask if voters want the municipal council to sponsoi - fur- ther studies on the mountainside. The studies would be aimed at finding other old-growth areas that:cquld possibly be dedicated as parkland, Meanwhile the proposed park, at*the 2,300-foot (690. m) eleva- tion level, will be the second jarg- est in West Vancouver, It is located immediately to the west of the Cypress Bow! Ski Area maintenance yard. Lighthouse Park is a larger park, at 185 acres (75 hectares). In comparison, Ambleside Park is 61 acres (25 hectares) and Gleneagles Golf Course is 46 acres (19 hec- fares). “Maybe Gleneagles is a bad comparison,’’ said Pike, noting” that a proposed golf course on the land caused widespread public controversy. He. said park dedication by way of referendum is the highest level of park creation set out in the Municipal Act. A park dedicated through ref- erendum can only be removed from park designation with another referendum, said Pike. “It makes a very firm and clear park dedication,”’ said Pike. A citizens’ Municipal Mountain Lands Committee studied the Cypress Ridge area for a year after the 1990 referendum defeat. The committee recommended that all of the land be dedicated as a park, but West Vancouver District Council decided to . dedicate the old-growth portion and maintain the remaining municipal-owned land under commiunity-use zoning. . Pike said the proposed park area does not have trail systems in place. H! approved as a park, it would not be immediately avail- able for public use. | : He said people could damage the area if it is used prior to the - establishment of a trail system. ” Pike estimates the cost. of the park referendum, conducted in conjunction with the municipal election, ai $5,000.