A6 - Wednesday, December 1, 1982 - North Shore News MEE editorial page J Lawyer’ S dish The East Vancouver resident who recently installed a huge satellite dish atop a 40 ft. pole in his backyard is worrying North Shore aldermen. On Monday, fears about a proliferation of such eyesores in residential areas were aired in West Vancouver and North Vancouver City councils. With ads now offering the dishes at prices as low as $3,000 (on easy terms), and given the exploding interest of avid TV viewers in an almost unlimited number of channels from every part of the world, the fears are obviously well grounded. They also pose a tricky problem for local government. The use of satellite dishes comes under the jurisdiction of the federal government which declared them legal for private in- it-=——as-West viduals: _No-question about Van municipal solicitor Bruce Emerson was quick to point out. On the other hand, councils presently have full jurisdiction over the type, height, design and general appearance of all structures in their municipalities. Presumably, therefore, they are entitled to pass bylaws that specifically control the visual effect of this entirely mew phenomenon, the dish, on streetscapes and landscapes. Thus, interesting conflicts may shortly arise between legitimate council measures to protect the urban environment and the individual citizen's legal right of access to communications. Even where council controls were sup- ported by a majority of residents, the ultimate solution is difficult to see at- the moinent..-Only one thitg seems certain: those. dishes promise rich pickings for lawyers. Brave new world The replacement of the human race by a metal and plastic population looms. A Japanese electronics firm has produced rebots with eyes and hands which are already wiring and soldering appliances. From there i’s a short hop-to robots making other robots. And one day, no doubt, they'll even learn to destroy one another — just like humans. VhOR VENTE OF HOMTH ANED WEET VANCOUVER sunday news Display Advertising 080-0511 north shore Classified Advertising 986-6222 news Newsroom 985-2131 Circulation 986-1337 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, 8.C. V7M 2H4 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Robert Graham Editor-in-chief Noel Wright Advertising Director Tim Francis Personne! Director Mra. Berni Hilliard Circulation Director Brian A Ellis Production Director Office Manager Photography Manager Chris Johnson Donna Grandy Terry Peters et RN North Shore News, tqundead in 1969 as an independent community newspaper and quatitied under Schedule tt Part ll Paragraph lit of the Excise Tax Act ta published aach Wednesday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed to every door on the North Shore Second Clags Mall Registration Number 3865. Entire contents 1902 North Shore Free Prese Ltd. All rights reserved. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver $25 per year Mailing rates available on request No responsibility accepted tor unsolicited matenal inctuding Tanase pbs and pre tures with should be accompanied by a stamped a tetren saad errverioge VERIFIED CIRCULATION 64,543 Wednesday, 54.093 Sunday Say shi & reer econ a THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE MAINST. REAM CANADA ° By ROGER W. WORTH Small business is in trouble, as are big business, home-owners with high mortgage payments, con- sumers struggling to keep up with inflation and, most of all, the nation’s 1.5 million unemployed. But the crucial cogs in the scenario are the small firms that, believe it or not, have for years created a majority of the country’s new jobs. These are also the en: .. trepreneurs that hold the key to a quick turn-around when the economy improves. So how is the nation’s | establishment treating these IT'S AGREAT I0EA \ GORA... KEEPING A 7 THE WEATONS 1 .COMES! ae eee WE JUST ROLL ENTRA PUB APPLICATIONS invariably spark debates that generate more heat than light -- often with plenty of human interest thrown in for good measure: In West-Vancouver the current bid by Hank and Shirley Sager to win neighborhood approval for their “Tiddleycove Inn” dream is no exception. Actually, that’s something of an understatement. The Sagers’ proposed watering hole differs in so many ways from previous North Shore pub applications, successful or otherwise, that most of the conventional yardsticks simply don’t fit the case. About the only one that does fit are your personal views about booze in general. Victoria's annual nhine-figure profits from the sale of the stuff suggest that a healthy majority of British Columbians regard it -- in moderation — as a Good Thing. When liquor Icads to drunken driving and alcoholism, it’s very definitely a Bad Thing. But, in fairness, the connection between alcoholism and pubs may be pretty tenuous. Becoming an alcoholic in commercial drinking establishments is a ruinously expensive way of destroying your life. You can destroy it for a quarter of the cost in the privacy of your home. As to drunken driving, the Sagers believe they have an answer to that, too -- a claim we'll examine in a moment. Otherwise, their project is brimming with motherhood concepts. EARLY CLOSING They plan to house the “Tiddleycove Inn” (a name formally blessed by its creator, cartoonist Len Norris) in approximately one third of their rambling Dundarave furniture store, the Maple Shop. The remainder of the attractive and historic 75- year-old building - which once contained West Van's original community centre — would continuc to sell furniture. The pub part is designed to seat at most 65 customers. Good food, including - af- ternoon tea, is promised as ballast for the liquid refreshments. Plus games like cribbage, darts and chess, and possibly a gentcol piano player on certain days. — In the English pub tradition, opening hours would be from 11 a.m, to 10:45 p.m. “We would Manage our new venture in the strictest possible way to avoid any noise or upsct,” Hank vows. The Sagers’ personal reputation in the community over long years lends credibility to his undertaking. The Inn would be con- venicntly located between West Van's two existing pubs in Ambleside and Horseshoe Bay. And its most interesting - as well as most con- troversial -- feature is the method by which patrons would be encouraged to ; polueal unsung heroes? In a word: lousy. Governments, in their wisdom (and a lot of monied have sport, spending b hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars ‘on. bailouts, while’ telling small “business that the “survival of the fittest” principle exists. Small business has the right to fail. Big business is to be sub- - sidized. Yet it’s not only govern- ment, but the banks, that are using their immense power to. stifle smaller firms. bene 3 nk: “not, ‘understand their small business clients and whét Consider one simple example. A-small business is * in difficulty. The proprietor talks to the banker about a government program that subsidizes interest rates for such small firms in difficult straits. The business person fills in an-application for the needed support. But before the application is processed, the bank requests full payment on its loan to the business, thus driving the firm receivership. This sort of thing’ does indeed happen, and it’s a messy and not altogether honorable situation. — by Noel Wright arrive and depart. They should come and go. according to the Sagers, on foot. Because parking is scarce in the area and cannot be | significantly increased, the express aim is to Cater to a predominantly Dundarave clientele capable of making it there and back by walking. Healthy exercise and no worries about a flashing red beacon in your rearview mirror. NEVER TRIED That, of course, is how English pub life developed over the centuries before the automobile and, even today, the habit of “walking to the local” continues. But the into bankruptcy or ‘eds unfair to small firms The problem, of course, is that in many instances, bankers simply don't un- derstand. Even though the financial institution may be able to salvage the smail business and the attendant jobs, it’s easier to pull the plug. There was a time when bankers were trusted. Virtually everyone, par- ticularly in smaller com- munities, received and respected advice from the banker. The banker, in_a lot of cases, was like a father confessor. That's ‘not the case anymore. A_ great many bankers have proven they people present ‘problems, many times the banker uses the information.to_the ad- vantage of his or her’ em- ployer, It isn’t right.. If the banks (on behalf of their shareholders) want.to. make ridiculous loans to faltering big businesses and countries such as Poland, Mexico and Argentina, so be it. But consumers and small business shouldn’t be asked to pay the bill when losses occur. Like consumers, small business wants to be treated fairly. But these. days, fairness is a. commodity that is in short supply at the nation’s banks. (CFIB Feature Service) > @ Sagers’ opponents, over- flowing with conventional wisdom, scorn the theory as impractical here. Motorized pub-crawlers from near and far, they say, will invade peaceful Dun- darave -- blocking or trespassing on other folk’s parking, shouting ob- scenities and slamming doors at closing time, then burning rubber as they roar away, accidents seeking a place to happen. One wonders. A _ truc walk-in pub has never been seriqusly tried before in these parts. Dundarave is probably as promising a community as you could find for such a trial - which also has its own powerful logic. As one of the Sagers’ numerous supporters puts the matter: “It is ludicrous to fight drinking and driving and, in the same breath, insist on a minimum number of car parking spaces for a pub”. This week the statutory for-or-against poll of the neighbors -- on which council will base its decision -- is beginning. Chances are that few. of those neighbors will fault the Sagers’ idea as such. What they'll really be voting on is whether Hank and Shirley can make their vision of a civilized walk-in hostelry for nearby residents work. Given the urgent need for any measures to separate drinking from driving, the experiment might be worth a whirl. Conventional wisdom is so often the enemy of progress,