The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 4 , 2 0 1 3
Opposition can’t stop coach home
■ S OAKING U P T HE S UN
Alina Konevski The Progress
Despite ardent opposition from local residents, city council approved in principle an application to rezone a workshop on Little Mountain to a coach house. The application will go to third reading, after city staff have been assured that the owner has addressed lingering concerns. Owners Pleun Jan and Sara Jacoba De Koning applied to rezone a secondary building on their 47531 Swallow Crescent property from R1-A (one family residential) to R1-C (one family residential with accessory). This would convert the existing workshop into a coach house, and allow the owners to rent it out. Mayor Sharon Gaetz said she couldn’t remember the last time there was so much angst over a coach house. In addition to the dozen or so letters of opposition sent to council, a half dozen of De Konings’ neighbours stood at the city council meeting Tuesday night to argue that the owner circumvented city policy by building the coach house in 2009 under the label of a workshop, and is now seeking proper zoning after the fact. A coach house in the neighbourhood would upset the area’s charm by inviting potentially unsavoury renters, the residents argued. “There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, and Mr. de Koning has done things the wrong way. He has shown little regard for our community and city’s bylaws,” said neighbour Robert Reimer. De Koning acknowledged that he always planned to convert the threestory secondary building into a coach house, but only after his children moved out. “I built my shop about three years ago because I needed parking for my car, and space for my tools,” he said. “I needed the shop. I didn’t need a coach house at the time. I built with the foresight that one day I would like to rezone. That was four years ago. Now my kids have moved out.”
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Suspects arrested after shots fired at border police Vikki Hopes Black Press
A man who launched a daylong cross-border manhunt near Vedder Mountain was arrested early Wednesday morning at a home in Abbotsford. But the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is not yet releasing the man’s name or age, or specific details about what led police to the residence. Const. Ian MacDonald, speaking at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, said the suspect was arrested at about 4 a.m. without incident by APD patrol officers and members of
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Visitors enjoyed the 20-degree weather and bright spring sun over the Easter weekend in Harrison on Saturday. Unfortunately, rain will return on Thursday and is expected to last throughout the weekend. See related story, page 5. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
the emergency response team. He was found at a home “within the city of Abbotsford,” although MacDonald would not say what area. MacDonald said the man is Canadian and has recently resided in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland. It is not believed that he was a resident of the home where he was arrested. The man is well known to police for crimes such as drugs and property offences, MacDonald said. “We do believe there will be connections to organized crime and gangs,” he added.
MacDonald said the man is currently in the custody of Abbotsford Police, and it is not yet clear whether he will be extradited to the United States. He said police are continuing their investigation, including the gathering of evidence and details such as who might have aided the man in eluding authorities for almost 24 hours. No formal charges have yet been laid. The APD was contacted by U.S. authorities on Tuesday morning, asking for assistance in searching for a man who had fired gunshots at U.S. border agents in the Columbia Valley
and then fled into a heavily forested area along the CanadaU.S. border. It was believed the suspect would try to make his way south into Canada across Vedder Mountain in the Sumas Prairie area of Abbotsford. The search continued throughout the night, with police using night-vision equipment and sending out tactical teams, MacDonald said. The suspect had initially been spotted with another man, who was arrested by U.S. border agents. Both suspects had been carrying backpacks. Continued: BORDER/ p14
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