Top 10 West Van news stories
1 Weston Wins
Clad in a Vancouver Canucks jersey, MP John Weston had plenty to cheer about on May 2. His hometown NHL hockey team had advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and his political team, the Conservatives, had just scored a decisive victory in the federal election — a majority government.
Weston, MP of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, easily won a second term, taking 44.5 per cent of votes (28,711). NDP candidate Terry Platt, placed second with 14,812 votes (23.5 per cent) and Liberal Dan Veniez finished third with 14,103 votes (22.3 per cent).
At his campaign headquarters in Dundarave, Weston told the crowd: “We had the finest of leaders, the finest of platforms, the finest of places to live and the finest of volunteers.
“So that means that we have a great responsibility going forward.”
Weston, a lawyer, made his first run at federal politics in 2006, losing by just 1,000 votes to then-Liberal Blair Wilson.
In 2008, Weston won the riding with 27,000 or 44.57 per cent of votes.
2 Ambleside Now
Former West Vancouver mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones called it the reason she ran for the municipality’s top political job. And while she won’t be in council chambers to see the plan come to fruition, AmblesideNow will play a role in defining her municipal legacy and the future of the Ambleside neighbourhood.
The redevelopment scheme includes a number of different facets, including a new public safety building replacing the police station and Fire Hall No. 1, a waterfront cultural zone and a mix of housing forms.
The police station and fire hall have been areas of concern as neither building is seismically sound and capable of withstanding even a moderate earthquake.
“The police station has really passed its functional life,” Goldsmith-Jones told The Outlook.
The Safeway site in the 1600-block of Marine Drive is also slated for development and plans for a tower on that site have caught the ire of residents who feel the proposed options of a 10- or 15-storey building are too high.
Council will continue to mull designs of the project in the new year. Detailed information on AmblesideNow is available at amblesidenow.com.
3 A growing concern
In October The Outlook brought you the under-reported story of a report circulating among Metro Vancouver municipalities warning of the repercussions of a massive influx of non-aboriginal people onto First Nations reserves.
The issue is of particular relevance on the North Shore where large residential developments are planned on Squamish Nation land.
Because of the North Shore’s unique geography and abundance of municipal boundaries, the governments of North Vancouver, West Vancouver, the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations will have to re-examine their service agreements, taxation and voting rights to meet the demands of the future population boom.
The initial report written by the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee warned that an influx of non-aboriginal residents onto reserve lands served by a broader municipality could destabilize both the ruling band council government and that of their service-provider municipality.
4 The HST vote
The time leading up to the referendum, and the eventual repealing of the Harmonized Sales Tax was not just a big story on the North Shore — it polarized the province.
Voices from both the for and against camps were prevalent on the North Shore and The Outlook spoke to both as British Columbia mulled the future of the oft-discussed tax.
Restaurateurs in both North and West Vancouver, for instance, spoke of how the HST made it harder for people to eat out, but also warned of the compounding effect tougher drinking and driving laws had on their restaurants.
Prior to the tax’s eventual repeal, Dundarave Fish Market owner Kim Van Sickel summed up her position on the situation like this: “Something has to be done to help the industry because restaurants are hurting big time. We were just tax collectors doing what we were supposed to do, but we’ve paid the price, too.”
Seniors in West Van were also critical. Former Outlook reporter Rebecca Aldous met with seniors at a fitness class who expressed their concern over the increasing cost of vitamins and groceries.
North Vancouver small business owner Dave Smith, however, praised the positive effects his business enjoyed as a result.
“I’m one small company and I’m hiring, providing jobs. It’s a good feeling, giving someone their start,” said Smith, noting he was able to increase his web presence as well because of a $2,000 tax credit given to businesses under the HST.
5 Growing pains
The implementation of Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy had some West Van residents up in arms over what they felt was an opening of the door to development above Hollyburn Mountain’s 1200-foot mark, dubbed the Upper Lands.
Prior to the Regional Growth Strategy, Metro Vancouver had a similar, now dated, document called the Livable Region Strategy. In that plan, the aforementioned lands were designated “under municipal consideration.” In 2001, West Van completed an Upper Lands study which designated 2,800 acres of the area green title zone, with another 1,700 acres deemed limited use and recreation.
The new RGS, however, re-titles the green zone to conservation/recreation, and the limited use and recreation portion to general urban.
The ramifications of such a move, said concerned residents, is that the green zone would be open to recreational development.
“I think this flies in the face of what West Van residents want,” said Paul Hundal, a West Van lawyer.
Then mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones said the area would still be protected under the new regional plan.
Bob Sokol, West Van’s director of planning, lands and permits, echoed Goldsmith-Jones’s sentiments and added that the district has a letter from Metro Vancouver saying there is no reason the land has to be developed, regardless of its title.
The Regional Growth Strategy was officially adopted in late July.
6 An appeal for justice
This July, after languishing in prison for nearly 17 years, convicted triple murderers Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay finally had their appeal heard in a Washington State court.
In 2004, a judge sentenced the former West Vancouver residents to three consecutive 99-year life sentences each for murdering Rafay’s mother, father and sister in 1994.
The best friends have always maintained their innocence — and they’ve now got some new high-profile supporters, including Innocence International, a Canadian-based advocacy led by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, and American DNA expert Greg Hampikian, a forensic biologist and director of the Idaho Innocence Project.
Burns’s sister Tiffany has always believed her brother and his friend Atif were wrongfully convicted of the gruesome murders. In 2004 she released a documentary exposing the controversial tactics used in the RCMP’s so-called Mr. Big operations that have undercover police officers posing as criminals in order to extract confessions from suspects — the same ruse used to ensnare Burns and Rafay in North Van after the murders.
Speaking to The Outlook in July, Tiffany said her family is “cautiously optimistic” about the appeal hearing.
“I’m looking forward to justice finally being done,” she said.
A decision is expected in the next several months.
7 West Vancouver home prices skyrocket
West Vancouver real estate was the hottest in the Lower Mainland, according to a report released in October.
Royal LePage’s third-quarter House Price Survey indicated that home prices in West Van have increased a staggering 25 per cent, the largest jump in the region.
A detached bungalow in West Van rose to $1.2 million, up from $900,000, while two-storey homes jumped to $1.3 million, compared to $988,000 in the previous quarter.
Although Royal LePage’s report focused only on sales figures from March-June, statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver indicated the price uptick continued. From January to September 2011, 969 detached homes sold in West Vancouver with a median price of $1,780,000. Over the same period last year, 537 homes sold at a median price of $1,488,000.
Bill Binnie, broker and owner of Royal LePage North Shore, told The Outlook one reason for the dramatic increase in prices was a “shift in consumer demand” from Asian buyers from Richmond to West Vancouver, particularly in the Ambleside and Dundarave neighbourhoods.
West Van realtor Jason Soprovich told The Outlook this spring marked “one of the most feverish pitches in purchasing power” he’d seen in nearly 20 years.
8 Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones doesn’t seek re-election
Pamela Goldsmith-Jones was known to the community as the mayor who instituted an open-door policy at district hall and made a name for West Vancouver at the Metro Vancouver table.
She was also the mayor who brought reform to the West Vancouver Police Department and helped pave the way for an Ambleside facelift.
After recording many civic accomplishments over two terms, Goldsmith-Jones announced at the end of the summer that she would not be seeking re-election in the fall.
“I believe in healthy turnover,” she told The Outlook. “I think that you build as you include more people. It’s never about just one person.”
Goldsmith-Jones chaired her last council meeting on Nov. 28. There were accolades and highlighted achievements for the outgoing mayor, including her official opening of Rutledge Field a few months prior.
Her parting advice for incoming mayor Michael Smith: “Take the time to reflect on big decisions. Pay attention to the little things.”
9 Election night surprises in West Vancouver
With no mayoral contest, the West Vancouver council race appeared anti-climactic out of the gate.
But on election night on Nov. 19, there were a few surprises. The first numbers from the polls showed a trio of council newcomers — Mary-Ann Booth, Craig Cameron and Nora Gambioli — steadily moving past incumbents Michael Lewis and Michael Evison.
When the dust settled Lewis just barely hung onto his seat, finishing sixth in the polls, while Evison was ousted. Lewis, basking in post-election glow at Carmelo’s restaurant in Ambleside, told The Outlook during a telephone interview he could finally relax.
“At the end of the day, whether you are first in the polls or sixth you are still a councillor and you still have the same amount of say,” said Lewis.
On the other side of town, newly-minted councillor Booth was celebrating at her house with friends, family and the close to 60 people that helped during her campaign.
“I didn’t expect to come in second,” said an upbeat Booth. “I just wanted to be on council. And to come behind Bill, that’s just amazing.”
Booth was referring to perennial poll-topper Bill Soprovich. Councillor Trish Panz also retained her seat. Mayor Michael Smith won by acclamation.
10 New seniors’ housing
The seniors’ housing market was expanded in West Vancouver this past fall with the approval of two major projects by West Vancouver council: the Kiwanis Housing rebuild and the Westerleigh seniors’ residence.
In October, council gave the green light to the Kiwanis Seniors’ Housing Society of West Vancouver to build two new towers containing 137 low-income seniors’ apartments on its existing property in the 900-block of 21st Street.
In early December, a decade-long vision for four lots on the northwest corner of Marine Drive and 22nd Street came to fruition when ground was broken on The Westerleigh seniors’ housing complex.
The District of West Vancouver — which had acquired that parcel of land in 2001 for $5.56 million — signed a 125-year lease agreement with Pacific Arbour Retirement Communities worth $14.5 million in December.
The seven-storey, 130-suite Westerleigh is scheduled to open in the summer of 2013.
newsroom@northshoreoutlook.com
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