‘IT SIMPLY
enough.”’

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

isn’t good

And with those words, North
Vancouver District parks advisory
committee chairman Diana
Belhouse fired the first salvo of
what district staff expect will
become a barrage of words over
the merits of the proposed
Northlands golf course.

Belhouse appeared before the
district’s planning and develop-
ment standing committee on
Monday night te answer questions
on her committee’s negative
response to the preferred plan
proposed by the district’s North-
lands Golf Course Review Com-
mittee.

A recently completed consul-
tant’s study that was accepted by
the review committee has recom-
mended that council endorse a
proposal for the development of a
$14.5 million (excluding any land
valuation), 18-hole municipal golf
course facility.

The study and its companion
environmental assessment report
were completed in May, and while
the News obtained a copy and
published some highlights of the
reports in June, the report has yet
to be released to the public.

Coun. Jim Cuthbert told the
standing committee that copies
would be given to libraries and
special-interest groups and made
available at cost to individuals ‘tin
the near future.”

Meanwhile, staff are already
anticipating enormous public in-
terest in the report, and they
proposed a response procedure to
deal with Belhouse’s submission
and others like it that says: ac-
knowledge it, receive it, list it but
don’t answer it yet.

Richard Plunkett, the district’s
director of planning and devel-
opment services, warned the plan-
ning and development committee

a EOS
NORTH VANCOUVER
DISTRICT COUNCIL

that while ‘tthe public has to be
encouraged to come forward’’ the
debate could easily get out of
hand.

“‘If we answer one submission
we'll get another submission based
on the answer we gave,"’ said
Plunkett.

Plunkett told the committee
that staff would suggest an
“outline of the public process’’ in
September, prompting Coun.
Janice Harris to ask, ‘At what
point in the process are we going
to address in a concrete way these
areas of major concern?”

The standing committee agreed
to recommend to council that:

e@ the parks advisory committee
report be received as information;

@ its comments te considered
with all other submissions that
will be received by council in
reviewing the golf course pro-
posal;

@ ail respondents be acknowl-
edged in writing, informing them
that their submission has been
received and will be considered as
part of the ongoing analysis by
council on the golf course pro-
posal;

@ staff mainiain an ongoing re-
cord of all submissions by name
of respondent, date of submission
and concerns, and that this list be
made available to council on an
ongoing basis.

Belhouse iater told the News
that she was ‘‘definitely not
satisfied’’ with tre response to the
parks advisory committee’s sub-
mission.

“I was here to answer questions
tonight. | just thought
auiomatically thas they would
want to meet ‘vith us,’ said
Belhouse.

Council will consider the stand-
ing committee’s recommendations
on Aug. 10.

Northlands plan panned
for lack of green space

NORTH VANCOUVER ODistrict’s parks advisory
committee has compiled a list of reasons for opposing
the preferred plan for the proposed Northlands golf
course site as accepted by the Northlands Golf Course

Review Committee in June.

They include:
@ no guarantee of federal ap-
proval for the diversion of up
to 300 metres of Taylor Creek
to create enough flat land for
the proposed field and track
and court facilities for
Parkgate Community Park;
@ elevation changes that could
result in a 25-foot height dif-
ferential between playing fields,
with resulting difficulties in
parental supervision, insuffi-
cient spectator room and a lack
of wheelchair access;
@ a threat of flying golf balls
due to the proximity of the
golf course’s 11th fairway and
the playing fields;
@ security concerns for women
using the running track because
of its location;
@a lack of informal, non-
allocated grass area for young
children and passive park
users;
@ a lack of transit access;
@ a lack of viewpoints into the
golf course from the road;
@ grades that are too steep for
any but able-bodied golfers;
@a “wildlife corridor’ that
has been halved in width,
crosses three drainage areas
rather than following a creek
and dead-ends in a residential
area.

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

Parks advisory committee
chairman Diana Belhouse add-
ed that ‘‘the land area
allocated is simply not suffi-
cient to meet the needs of the
community park and secondary
schooi.’*

She said the community park
needs another three acres to
meet standards adopted
throughout the district and to
meet the needs of all residents.

**Parkgate Community Park
is intended to service not only
the Parkgate, Northlands and
Indian River areas, but also the
future Mountain Forest and
Cove Forest areas. By defini-
tion a community park is
multi-purpose, but Parkgate
will in essence be only single
purpose, meeting the needs of
organized field users but not
even doing that welil,’’
Belhouse said.

“As it stands, the preferred
plan restricted community park
site will produce a sterile in-
dustrial area comprised of
playing fields and walls with
few trees and little green
space.”’

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Friday, July 24, 1992 - North Shore News - 3

Parks committee blasts Northlands course

Proposal not gocd enough, chairman tells district planning and development meeting

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A CONSULTANT'S study has recommended that NVD council endorse the Northlands proposal for
the development of a $14.5 million, 18-hole municipal golf course.

Study cites environmental
impact of Northlands plans

Creek degradation, wildlife displacement from site

A NUMBER of management plans are recommended to
mitigate the environmental impact of the development
planned for the 294-acre (119 ha) Northlands site in North

Vancouver District.

Hundreds of housing units, two
schools, a golf course and playing
fields are slated to be constructed
on the lower slopes of Mount
Seymour.

The Northlands site is bounded
by Mount Seymour Road to the
east, Northlands Drive to the
west, an extended Hyannis Drive
to the north and Mount Seymour
Parkway to the south.

An environmental study, com-
missioned by North Vancouver
District in August 1991, is one of
four components of the North-
lands Golf Course and Neighbor-
hood Planning Study.

The study was prepared by
Norecol Environmental Consul-
tants Ltd. and was recently releas-
ed to the Nosthlands Golf Course
Review Committee.

The study includes environmen-
tal information on land owned by
North Vancouver District, CMHC
(Canada Mortgase and Housing
Corp.), and tand privately owned
by Cressey Development Corp.
and United Properties Ltd.

Elevations on the site range
from 279 feet (85 metres) to 656
feet (200 metres).

The area is drained by McCart-
ney Creek on the west, Taylor
Creek on the east and Ranger and
Thomas creeks in the centre.
Taylor Creek supports cutthroat
trout, while McCartney Creek has
cutthroat trout and spawning coho
and chum salmon.

The Northlands area is covered
by second and third growth forest,
including 134 acres (54.4 ha) of
coniferous forest — mature stands
of western hemlock, western red
cedar and Douglas fir. The area
was logged earlier this century,
and a portion of it was logged in
the 1960s

Blacktail deer, black bear,
coyotes, bobcat, marten, mink
end cougar have been observed at

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

the site. Birds observed include
blue grouse, ruffed grouse,
woodpeckers and a variety of
songbirds.

The report points out that none
of the species identified as inhab-
itants of the Northlands area is
listed in the B.C. Environment
Red List as endangered or threat-
ened.

The report notes that the clear-
ing and site preparation of 78%
of the Northlands area — 230
acres (93 ha) of 294 acres (119 ha)
— could result in soil erosion,
especially on the steeper slopes in
the northern section of the site.

As proposed, development at
Northlands will result in the clear-
ing of:

@ 118 acres (47.7 ha) of the
152-acre (61.5 ha) golf course;

@ 74 acres (30.1 ha) of the 97-
acre (39.2 ha) residential compo-
nent;

@ 10.3 acres (4.2 ha) of the
10.6-acre (4.3 ha) secondary
school site;

@ 18 acres (7.4 ha) of an 18-acre
community park;

@ and six acres (2.5 ha) of a
seven-acre (2.8 ha) elementary
school site.

Forested areas

temaining in-

&4 Blacktail deer,
black bear, coyotes,
bobcat, marten, mink
and cougar have been
observed ... 99

clude a 24-acre (9.8 ha) wildlife
corridor; 7.5 acres (3.1 ha) of
park space; 34 acres (13.8 ha) on -
the golf course and forested buf-
fer zones along McCartney,
Ranger and Taylor creeks.

Potential environmental issues
identified include:

@ impact on wildlife caused by
removal of forest land;

© erosion and sedimentation of
streams draining the site;

© impact on water quality in
streams due to pesticide and fertil-
izer use;

@ impact on streams from in-
creased stormwater flow from de-
veloped areas.

The report recommends that a
number of management plans — a
surface water management plan, a
sedimentation control plan, a fer-
tilizer and pesticide management
plan and a wildlife management
plan —- be implemented to deal
with the potential environmental
impacts of construction in the
area.

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