WEDNESDAY MARCH 29 2017
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LIVING 13
Mackay Creek
Volunteers offer stream service
TASTE 23
Rusty Gull
Lower Lonsdale pub an oasis of authenticity and charm
SPORTS 29
Keffer’s haircut
Rugby star finally chops curls for a good cause NORTHSHORENEWS
LOCAL NEWS . LOCAL MATTERS . SINCE 1969
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GRAND BLVD.
Subdivision preserves boulevard’s ‘grand dame’ JEREMY SHEPHERD jshepherd@nsnews.com
A heritage house is saved but the neighbourhood is imperilled.
That seemed to be the consensus among a disappointed Grand Boulevard contingent after City of North Vancouver council unanimously approved a three-lot subdivision in order to protect the 107-year-old Tudor Revivalstyle Haswell home at 910 Grand Blvd. Neighbour Warren Ash accused the developer of using the Haswell house “as a hostage,” and called for a two-lot solution. Ash also blasted the prospect of two smaller lots fronting East Ninth Street, which he said amounted to a “massive increase in density” that would compound parking problems. While she lamented neighbourhood strife, North
See Three-lot page 7
BIG PLANS David Webbe, founder and CEO of Darwin Construction (left) and son and company president Oliver Webbe pore over designs for a local project. The company is planning a number of projects in the Maplewood, Seymour and Deep Cove neighbourhoods in the coming years, including a proposal to build a new North Shore Winter Club off Dollarton Highway. See our story on page 4. PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD
West Van’s municipal taxes jump 4.45% BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
West Vancouver residents can expect to see their municipal tax rates creep up 4.45 per cent this year.
West Vancouver council narrowly passed its 2017 budget Monday night bringing with it a two per cent hike to cover inflationary costs in its operating budget and a 2.45 per cent levy to cover depreciating assets. Together, staff estimate that will push the tax bill of a median household assessed at $2.8 million up by $148, although TransLink, school taxes and Metro Vancouver utility fees are
FINAL DAYS
Council approves asset levy to deal with aging infrastructure additional. The City and District of North Vancouver budgets are going up by 2.5 and three per cent, respectively. While council was mostly resigned to the fact that a two per cent increase to cover inflationary costs was inevitable thanks to negotiated wages increases with unionized workers, it was the additional 2.45 per cent increase to cover the West
Vancouver’s depreciating assets that was most divisive on council. Coun. Nora Gambioli and Mayor Michael Smith voted against the budget, in part, because of the 2.45 per cent asset levy. “I just think that, of course it’s reasonable to maintain our assets. I think we can tighten our belt this year a little more and I would have liked to have seen less than 2.45 per cent,” Gambioli said. Mayor Michael Smith agreed, and warned that residents can also expect stiff increases from the transit authority, schools and
See Capital page 4
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