Al0- Sunday News, November 30, 1980 inquiring reporter ? Is fitness Important? Responsibility pinned on homeowners By CHRIS LLOYD by Ellsworth Dickson Early American School House Homeowners in the Riverside-Berkley area are unlikely to get any help from District council with work that needs to be carried out to prevent more mudslides such as the one.of a year ago which The prices of houses on the North Shore are rising dramatically sometimes even daily. It is an incredible and scary situation. Today’s question to young adults is: ‘How do you plan to cope. with the high cost of buying a home?’ Wade Supplee ® North Vancouver Speaking for myself and my friends, we realize there is very little chance of ever owning a home. Even with two -incomes, it is impossible .to qualify for a mortgage. Also, I have no idea how we can save $30,000 for a down payment. Richard Jones Richmond It is almost impossible to buy a house. Who can even save enough for a down payment? Even if you did have a good downpayment, the new high interest rates put the ‘monthly payments out of sight. Wareham Norman North Vancouver I don’t see how I can ever buy a home. Although I work on the North Shore, and we have two incomes, I am still unable to buy a house here. And of course, the new interest rates make it just that much harder Karen Smith Squamish It ts now impossible for young pcople to buy a house on the North Shore. Although 1 live in Squamish, the pressure i from Vancouver has dnven up house prices there [tus hard to buy a4 house in Squamish now Sylvia Solyomvari North Vancouver I have almost given up hope of cver home As living alone way to dott owning a o single girl I can see no wiped out two homes. District Engineer John Bremner says the municipality will be responsible for undertaking various improvements required to its own lands there but that will probably be the extent of its in- volivemen _ pretty grey as to whether District could have prevented any of that consultants’ report states: “There is no history of deep-seated sliding in the study area. The 1979 slides were all surface _ es He does not believe District even has a mandate to remedy situations required to individual private properties and feels most of the instability of the area has been caused by the residents themselves, by adding filler soil to increase the size of their yards. The steepness of the slope has been further increased by residents at the bottom cutting back into their hillside, also to add to their area of flat yard space. Removal of such fill, together with various drainage modifications, are the primary recom- mendations of the report. Bremner says residents have been strongly urged to carry out the recom- mendations and feels that liability for future mudslides caused through failure to do so would probably rest with any property owners who chose to ignore the report's conclusions. COST In most cases, Bremner speculates that the cost of the remedial work would be in hundreds of dollars rather than thousands. Whereas District paid for the consultants’ report, Bremner says this was because 1t affects a sizeable area, while carrying out specific improvements would be a matter of in- dividual properties, rather than the community at large No monitoring has been done to check for movement since the mudshdes of a year ago, he says, although he does not believe there has been any further instability since that time He adds that there ts no concern over the safety of homes cither at the top or the bottom of the hillside Bremfier docs not beheve District should have reyected the location of such homes pnmor to construction “The buildings themselves are sound.” he comments “The error that has been made is by the individuals in trying to extend = their back yards “| don't think there was any home that was closer than 30 feet to the crest of the natural slope but they have attempted to create more backyard by adding filang. They have created a steep slope of — unstabic matcnal “Council doesn't really have any junsdiction as to what people do oon they private property lt gets originating in the loose fill at the crest of the slope.” Last August District council adopted a policy requiring slopes of more than 30 degrees to be cer- tified by a geotechnical engineer before any con- struction begins. The consultants’ report recommends residents of the mudslide area should hire their own geotechnical engineer before starting work required to their properties. Price in effect while quantities last. Open: Tues.-Sat. 9:30-5:30 Acquisitions Home Accents & Gifts In the Village ; 3101 Woodbine Drive North Vancouver, B.C. 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