3 - Wednesday. 250 SHOW FOR NV CITY PUBLIC MEETING .esidents, businessmen out in force for AN OVERFLOW crowd of 250 residents, merchants and small businessmen appeared at the public hearing on the Park and Tilford shopping centre proposal Monday, but an overtime hearing forced a decisien on the project to be put off to June 29. Reaction to the controversial development was mixed, with most of the 4%-hour public hearing’s Numerous speakers speaking out against the shopping centre. Conflicting reports, surveys and opinions were presented to North Vancouver City Council as it tried to sort out the issues and decide on the proposal. Featuring a 70,000-square-foot MAYOR MARILYN Baker, right, leaves the North Van- couver City municipal chamber after delivering a verbal broad- side to city politicians determin- ing the fate of the Park and Tilford propeziy. Baker asked connci) to allow cooperative district input on the proposed development. Above, former North Vancouver City alder- man Rod Clark slams councit supporters of the project at a packed public hearing Monday. By STEPHEN BARRINGTON News Reporter Save-On-Foods outlet, a multi- screen Cineplex Odeon cinema complex and numerous other retail stores, the proposal drew both praise and criticism from a number of groups attending the Monday hearing. Merchants, local residents and small businessmen told the North Vancouver City public hearing the $25-mill.on [5%-acre BCE Devciopment Corp. shopping cen- ue plan would take business away from existing business in other retail areas. Lonsdale Quay merchant Kerry Adelberg told city council she and husband Bob Thomas sunk $100,000 into startiug their butcher shop at the public market as ‘‘we were lead to believe (Park and Tilford) would be industrial (use). ‘“‘North Vancouver is retailing out. The pie is only so big — we cannot as a small business compete with mega-stores like Save-On- ; NEWS phate Tom Burley FORMER NV ALD. SLAMS COUNCIL Impartiality questioned FORMER NORTH Vancouver City alderman Rod Clark called into question Monday the ability of four city council members to fairly decide on the fate of a planned BCE Development Corp. shopping centre on part of the Park and Tilford site. Clark slammed aldermen Stella Jo Dean, Elko Kroon, Allan Blair and Ralph Hat! — all elected on a save-the-gardens slate funded by developer BCE Development Corp. — and suggested they may not be completely impartial over the project. “One must wonder at the im- partiality of the four on that slate,’’ said Clark. ‘‘Can they in ali honesty give an honest and unbi- ased opinion on this? , “pm not charging that this council has been bought,’ the former alderman added. “*(But) that appearance is certainly pres- ent.” The $25-million 15%-acre shop- ping centre proposal ‘‘flies in the all Wednesday and Thursday, mainly sunny. Highs near 21°C. face’ of the city’s stated planning goals, and approval of the project would spell ‘the death knell" for the community plan, he charged. ‘Play the role of statesman, not patsy,"’ Clark urged council as ap- plause broke ow from the 250 people present at the hearing. Comics What’s Going On... .33 Foods,'” Adelberg said. Lonsdale by the Quay Mer- chants Association president Grant Gardiner reminded council the city has already spent about $4 million making the Lower Lonsdale area into a town centre, a concept unanimously supported by city of- ficials. “Why is the city...now consider- ing a project in conflict of everything done to date?’’ Gar- diner asked as he urged council to reject BCED’s development. But BCED marketing consultant Larry Smith and Associates pointed to one of their recent surveys that said the eastern por- tion of the city is lacking in conve- nience-oriented shopping such as would be found in the new development. Retail vacancy rates in the city are roughly the same as they were before the completion of Lonsdale Quay and other similar shopping areas, indicating these projects had little adverse impact, the marketing consultant said. Merchants and residents in the area surrounding the Park and Tilford site strongly supported the plan, which would see added retailers in the area. One Park and Tilford area resi- dent said that ‘‘distilleries do not make good neighbors’’ and added the new shops would be a needed addition to the area. Neighboring Chemex Labs said it was hoping a development would improve the area. ‘‘Any type of development we look forward to,”’ said Chemex’s Bob Brown. Mort Bistrisky, representing June 24, 1987 - North Shore News come &T debate Park and Tilford parent company Schenley Canada, again told the hearing: ‘There is a tremendous surplus of industrial land in North Vancouver...industry will not, cannot support the (park’s) gardens.” City staff has repeatedly recommended rejection of this proposal, saying the plan will seriously deplete the amount of good industrial land in the city. Wearing a North Shore Studios rosette, Cannell Studios head Michael Dubelko said the film studio planned for one half the site hinged on approval of the shopp- ing centre. ‘‘We have to know what's in there before we go ahead."’ City council has already taken steps to give the planned studio tax breaks, and residents and elected officials largely support the six- stage facility. Film industry worker Rick Hin- ton and other speakers supported the Cannell Studios. proposal, say- ing the facility would bring needed benefits to the area. North Vancouver District Mayor Marilyn Baker echoed comments made by local merchants and blasted the city for not allowing district input to the plan. Former North Vancouver alderman Rod Clark slammed the project, charging the development “flies in the face’’ of the city’s of- ficial community plan. With the public hearing closed, no formal input will now be ac- cepted. City council is expected to consider the project’s community plan change June 29. LACK OF INPUT CITED WV District mayor lambasts WV City NORTH VANCOUVER District Mayor Marilyn Baker im- plored North Vancouver City politicians to hold off on any changes to the city’s official community plan which would allow the construction of a $25-million, 174,200 square foot shopping centre on the Park and Tilford site lands currently zoned for industrial use. Appearing before city council Monday at a packed public hear- ing, Baker, backed unanimously by district council members also in attendance, lambasted city council for ignoring repeated requests from the district for information and input on the proposed development located on the border of the district. Requests in October 1986 and earlier this year were acknowl- edged by the city as ‘‘received and filed.”’ ‘*When neighboring municipalities have to communi- cate this way, there’s been a serious breakdown in communica- tion,’’ said Baker. ‘‘! strongly urge council to review our request for a fuller exchange of information.”’ Baker said that unless the public hearing was adjourned and reconvened, the district would no longer be in a legal position to review and comment on any in- formation that might be forthcom- ing from the city. The city closed the public hear- ing at 11:45 p.m., after 4% hours of public input. City council may no longer accept public input on the proposal, and is expected to make a decision on the proposed shopping centre June 29. While supporting the film-user component of the planned By MICHAEL BECKER : News Reporter development, the district i$ con- cerned that the economic impact on existing area businesses and traffic implications have not been sufficiently addressed. Baker said studies show that a major portion of anticipated users of the retail development would be neighboring district, Burnaby and East Van- couver residents using road systems not designed to feed into a substantial commercial develop- ment at Park and Tilford. Baker argued industrial users could be found for the site. “Beaver Lumber is in just next door. But council gets pressured and gets carrots.”’ She said rumors that district council’s opposition to the Park and Tilford proposal was based on self-interested protection of new district commercial development in the area were ‘‘tommyrot.” According to Baker, the Parkgate neighborhood centre, in- cluding 90,000 square feet of retail space and a small recreation centre slated for the corner of Mt. Seymour Parkway and Indian River Drive, is expected to serve local residents only in the growing residential area.