Differing philosophies Diamed for rejection

From page’

it use issues not because of crences of opinion regard- ing church doctrine.

“This is not a statement about the church,” she said. “This is strictly about land use. The people in this neighbour- hood have communicated that enough is enough.”

Previous site development applications for a seniors hous- ing development and duplexes were also rejected by council.

Coun. Darrell Mussatto said he would have preferred to see both parties work together to find a com:non ground,

“Instead of having a clear winner or loser I'd like to see both sides sitting down and wy- ing to work out their differ- ences, to find out what is and what is not acceptable,” he said.

Coun. Bob Fearnley said that the church offers vital ser- vices and programs within the ‘community and therefore mer-

' ited special consideration.

“I think that buys them something,” said Fearnley. “They have to have some cred- it for that.” ~. But Coun. Craig Keating said he programs that the church offers could just as casi- ly be accessed in the secular community and were no rea- son to approve the planned

expansion. : : “As an individual who has “po aricular religious faith — et, none — I nevertheless respect the rights of individuals to worship in their chosen faith in our community and J think communities ought to do what they can to allow people to fol- low their own spiritual needs,”

he said.

“However, 1 don’t think that entails a muniapality to pony up and allow a variety of different uses to be conducted on a given piece of land simply because the church says it’s part of their activities.”

The council voted 5-2 in favour of Coun. Braithwaite’s motion to reject, with Couns. Mussatto and Fearnley opposed. .

After the meeting, Glover said he was disappointed but not surprised that council rejected the proposal.

“We expected it to a certain degree. It’s very dificult to deal with in that sort of a forum when you've got per- ceptions instead of facts.”

Glover said he believed council was motivated by more than simply a land use issue.

“It’s not just use of land. It’s also (a difference of) philo- sophical viewpoints, but we can’t really deal with that.”

He said the church elders will likely regroup and approach the surrounding neighbours to try to breathe new life into the expansion plan, but remained skeptical such an effort woud produce any positive results.

“There’s people in the neighbourhood who actually don’t want us there no matter what,” he said.

The church, he said, may now have to search for new facilities altogether: “We have not aggressively made our church grow. It has grown because we offer very serious programs. It has grown consid- erably and we have to respond to that pressure somehow.”

From page$

“knocking down” the blaze quickly.

Damage was limited to the one townhouse. : Besides the burnt couch and wall, the dam age was mostly from heat ‘and

smoke. Stegavig sid the dam- -

- age estimate. was . between “+ $15,006 and $20,000. Smoke detectors in the tovmhouse had been disconnected, before the blaze‘sterted. i -Meanwhile North

Vancouver RCMP arrested a resident of the suite. The dead cat belonged to the man’s mother.

‘John Simule Williams, 22, ‘was d with arson with disregard for human life and arson with disregard to Proper-

¥ On Monday, Williams ‘was remanded j ia police custody for psychiatric —_ assessment. Willams is slated for an April 10 appearance in North Vancouver provincial court.

‘ . Sport awards deadline looms

:, THE ‘nomination’ ' deadline for the inaugural North Shore Sport Awards is tomorrow. “The awards, / co-sponsored by the North Shore News, are -. a. eelebration. cf community, . high ‘school, provincial and . intecnational sport achieve-

ment by North Shore athletes, :

. coaches and officials.

See the nomination form on page 42.

The awards ceremony is planned for Ice Sports North Shore. on April 29.

For information, see the Web site at <www.northshores- portawards.com> or call Bernie Duffy at the Grant Connell Tennis Centre, 983-6480.

Next to the liquor sto: (inside) at Lynn Valley Centre

* Auto

_* Home

* Business* Tenants

_We want to be your insurance broker!!

Pot plants seized in WV

Katharine Hamer News Reporter kbamer@nsnews.com

A five-month-old baby was found with three suspected marijuana growers at a British Properties house last Thursday.

Acting on information gathered dur- ing a Counter Attack roadblock, West Vancouver police carricd out a ‘search warrant on the house late in the after- noon, according to Sgt. Jim Almas.

Almas said there were three adult sus- pects in the house at the time, including the parents of the infant: a 23- -year-old woman and 26-year-old man.

A 41- ~year-old man was apprehended as he tried to flee the scene by jumping from a ground floor window.

Almas said that 241 marijuana plants, worth roughly $240,000, were seized, along with growing apparatus.

He said the suspects had tampered with the home’s electrical panel, cutting severai wires and feaving live wires exposed.

16th marijuana grow operation raided by West Van police

“The : potential for a fire was extreme- ly high,” he said. “These suspects were Not just exposing themselves to the dan- gers of the drug trade, in this particular case they were exposing a five- month-old baby boy to the hazards of the drug trade.”

Referring to a murder this week in Burnaby that has been linked to a mari- juana grow operation, Almas said those hazards could include violent gang activ- ity such as drive-by shootings.

Marijuana dealers often traded their crops for cocaine, he said.

The ground level of the British Properties house, measuring approxi- mately 5,000 square feet (465 sq. m), was covered in plants.

“You could smell it throughout the house,” Almas said.

He said a fot of marijuana growers used ozonators to kill the smell! of the crop, and kept propane tanks inside the housc for heating plants.

“If a tank explodes, it could level the house,” he said. °

Many growers also funnel carbon dioxide from the exhaust vent of a house directly to the plants.

“They want to maximize their crop as quickly as possible,” said Almas, “(but) too much carbon dioxide can be “danger- ous to people. It’s dangerous to our

eal

Almas said the Ministry for Children and Families was contacted and that the female suspect and child were taken into custody.

All three suspects face charges of cul- tivating a controlled substance, posses- sion of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, and theft of elec- tricity. This is the 16th marijuana grow operation taken down by West Vancouver Police since the start of the year.

No names were released to press time.

Bank notes seen flying in air

suspect without incident. The man was on pro- baaon for robbery when arrested for this new North Vancouver lane onto the Lions Gate — robbe:

From page 3

Bridge.

Anew Mountie, who was working alone for

just two days, spotted the stopped van.

offan said the Mountie left her police

cruiser, which was also stuck in traffic.

The patrol officer walked up to the van. She saw the aftermath of the exploded red dye pack on the man, the money and in the van’s interi-

or. Police said the officer arrested the robbery

AS

AWARDED BY THE TRUSTEE, |

ty. A witness said bank notes with bright red dye were seen flying around Marine Drive.

Local Mounties walked along the road callect-

ing the bills.

‘Alexandru Rad.cina, 20, of Richmond, was

vehicle,

Vancouver provincial court.

He was remanded in police custody until another appearance on April 12 in North —

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