No logical reason

j OPEN LINES

THERE MUST be days when Don Davis feels like a marathoner doomed (o slog his way through a perpetual swamp. a

~The well-known insurance" agent has been the driving force behind the proposed Northlands Golf Course for five years. - Reading the chronology of North

j Vancouver District Council's de- liberations could inspire a new, novel from Catch 22 author Joseph Helier. |

It has been approved several times. It has been postponed for further study on more than one occasion, It was once to be a Cen- tennial project.

It gets stuffed through the wring- er every municipal election, and then delayed while a new team asks its innocent questions.

Meanwhile, peripheral land g gets chipped away for neighboring res- idential, commercial and even schoot development.

There have been so many public meetings, petitions, studies and surveys, it seems obvious that council could use fewer engineers and more psychiatrists. What's the point?

_ In the past, the golf course got mixed into various residential

designs. Then it got wrapped up in the Parkgate Shopping Centre plans, Road construction in- tervened.

The rare critic worries about trees being knocked down for golf, but appears unconcerned about the trees replaced by hous- ing developments.

Our other favorite argument is that golf courses should be avoid- ed because of the fertilizer placed on the grass.

The alternative to environmen- tally hazardous golf courses is res- idential development. We assume new subdivisions would be free of asphalt, monoxide, sewage and the other deleterious aspects of humian existence.

Just this past week, council tabled other Seymour-area pro- jects — a library, a gymnasium, an ice rink and a school. More study.

There are now rumblings of a referendum. or a bylaw vote,

Don Davis asks how it was possible to build an $8 million wave pool (for an extremely . limited number of people in the. . Lynn Canyon area) without a yore. Or a fancy new municipal

all.

Since 1989 there have been four separate consultants’ studies into the golf course.

The last one, by the Golfeorp Consortium, cost $226,000. The total spent on outside work has been $275,000. District staff costs have doubtless run into six figures.

In Vancouver there is a huge uproar going on because the city wants to close its public courses for reconstruction. The city public courses are aniong the most utiliz- ed in North America.

The growth of golf on a global basis is the stuff of fantasy. It is an explosion.

In the face of this, West Van- couver offers only the nine holes of beleaguered Gleneagles for public use. {t takes hours to get on (he tee, An exciting plan at Cypress fizzled.

for Nort

Capilano is a prestigious private course. With over $30,000 andthe patience to wait five years, membership is possible. ;

The two North Vancouvers have been even more derelict in their recreational planning. They have nothing for the public.

The Seymour Golf Course — less pricey than Capilano but still select and expensive —- is allegedly available Mondays and Fridays to the public. We are told that tour-

“naments usually fill these days.

A conservative estimate in- dicates that there are 20,000 golfers on the North Shore. It is unlikely that more than 2,000 of these are members of Greater Vancouver private clubs.

The proposed 295-acre North- lands development would be equally divided between golf and

residential. Golf would cost slight-'

ly less than half of the $26 million budget.

The studies indicate that the course would deliver a handsome annual profit, the only municipal recreational activity that ever pays its own way — anywhere.

Every study indicates a golf course would inflate the property values for miles around.

We moved into this neighbor- hood over two years ago. Within a year, | expect that our entire community will be awarded hon- orary engineering degrees. This is the land of perpetual construction: homes, roads, sewers, land-

Sunday, February 7, 1993 - North Shore News - 9

scaping, and all services.

Yet the column provides an op- portunity to call attention to some outstanding work.

It is apparent to the most un- trained eye that the Seymour, In- dian River and Deep Cove region has been treated with a great deal of love and respect.

Patiently and carefully, a beautiful community is emerging; red brick walkways meandering through the woods; pleasing ocean frontage, broad tree-lined boule- vards and a careful housing mix.

Some day, North Vancouver District civic officials will be recognized for their talent.

At the current pace of devel- opment, we are within a few de- cades of completion.

Golf would be just another at- traction.

The North Shore Public Golf Course Society has 2,200 paid-up members, It costs only $5 to join, but the growing ‘number is a pow- erful statement.

Golf course developments ev- erywhere seem xo end up a subject of controversy, as if the proposal was to build an abattoir or a pig- gery.

The emotion of the critics is amazing. Fairways are green. The public ones are open to

“everybody. The land is reserved in

perpetuity for future needs. So why the opposition to golf? The best guess is that the sheer power of polf has overwhelmed

ELENA HALL

Realior

BUYING OR SELLING

Real Estate?

Committed to working with you

622-7053

Sutton Group - Sentinel Realty

40200 Government Road

Garibaidi Highlands, B.C.

hlands opposition

modern society. Non-players feel left out. They resent the sport. There is no other Jogical explana- tion for the opposition.

Just as there is no logical ex- planation for a succession of North Vancouver councils.

Coun. Ernie Crist has been a determined campaigner in favor of the project. Coun, danice Harris has been against.

These two, { understand.

Mayor Murray Dykeman and the rest of them seem enveloped by fog. They work hard to appear to be on everyone’s side. This is why we have studies and no ac- tion.

1 would like to remind district council of the aforemer:ioned author, Joseph Heller, who wrote: “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.”*

For more Information, please call The North Shore's only ‘full

Service Investment firm

RBC! - DOMINION SECURITIES Hamther of te Roya fark Grog

925-3131 201-250 15th Sravet, West Vancouver

Vaing Hidges two and three bedroom townhomes are strategically located at the tip of Howe Sound between Vancouver (40 miles to the south) and internationally famous Whistler/Biackcomb Ski Resort (28 miles to the north.

Voor round recreational opportunities are just outside your doorstep, In addition to golf, windsurfing and swimming, the area boasts some of the finest fishing, skiing (cross country and downhill, boating, snowmobiling and hiking available anywhere. : Schools, shopping and amenities

are in abundance.

BLACK TUSK REALTY. -38235 Cleveland Ave., Box 477 Squamish, B.C. VON 3G0

689-5818 o ‘1 892- 5924

Joyce Cunningham _ (Vancouver Direct) J awbiwe: ; _ ne (2a Hours) |

RIE BR Re Be bay tie