if : REPS einai eh R MEA obogtis YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER THE WRANGLING over illegal suites is splitting North Vancouver District in two, but on Monday close to 500 gathered under a shared roof for almost four hours to vent their hopes and fears for the future of their neighborhoods. Single mothers, students and others who have come to depend on secondary suites as a means of supplemental income favoring the status quo squared off against single-family homeowners and res- ident associations looking for a tougher stance on secondary suites IN THE event of a postal shut-down,. ex! Shore News sailing race should be brought: Ave. or to the June 18 pre-race skippers’: race details. If it is impossible to. get entries phone Janice Silver at 985-2131 to arrar By MICHAE ECKE News Reporter in single-family zones. The public hearing was called at the Centennial Theatre to address the mechanics of creating family residential suites in the district. But the public took the opportunity to include the broader issues of the municipality’s planned five-year phase-out of secondary suites other than inlaw suites. Speaking in support of council’s proposed actions, Hope Road res- ident Beverly Phillips told council density changes in the Lower Capilano area have been ‘‘mind- NEWS photo Stucri Davis - THE NORTH ‘Shore News sailing race, co-sponsored by Vancouver radio station CHQM and Pacific Quest -- Charters; takes to the water June 21 and entries ave still being accepted for this annual fun-filled event. Here, boats ‘from the 1986 race round the mid-channel marker in their bid for the finish line. For further details on entering the latest North Shore News race, see story on page three. Smoking bylaw concerns: 11 boggling’’ over the past four years. “It’s time we took control rather than the developers. I’ve seen ear- th-shattering changes. We even have quadplexes in Lower Capilano. My house is only worth the land value now. As soon as houses go up for sale, they are demolished,’’ she said. But North Vancouver-Seymour NDP representative David Schreck urged council to delay a decision of the issue until an economic and social impact study has been un- dertaken. ‘‘As administrators you get a disproportionate view of the problem because all of the pro- blems end up on your desk. For- ty-five to 60 complaints about il- legal suites last year is not an ear- th-shattering number. Accept that 45 to 60 complaints is not a crisis,” said Schreck. The district averaged six com- plaints per year prior to 1986. Task Force member Howard Barbour termed council’s pro- posals ‘‘a fair decision.”’ ‘We should not feel guilty for complaining about illegal suites. The problem is district wide. The subtle, silent invasion of illegal suites has gone on over a long time. The present council has had the political courage to meet the problem fairly and squarely.”’ Speaking on behalf of 4,000 SUITE EDITORIAL: PAGE 6 students at Capilano College and as a tenant of an illegal suite, Shawn King, president of the Capilano Student Society, urged council not to price students out of the local housing market. He told council that students are already facing severe economic pressure trying to live with tuition rising four times faster than the yearly rate of inflation. Of the 32 listings on the col- lege’s housing notice board on Monday, he said 20 would be defined illegal suites. But Lower Capilano Community Residents Association president George McCrae, whose association submitted an inventory of 25 Lower Capilano-area iilegal suites to the mayor July 1986, urged council to forge ahead. “‘We're addressing an insidious change brought about by a density increase and an increase in noise and traffic.” | . Suite Justice chairman Ron Gamble told council he will be presenting a petition of over 600 signatures of support for retention of the current zoning bylaw.