Dear Editor:
I was not surprised to see the District of North Vancouver council basically give the green light to Larco Investments to start the rezoning process in the Lower Capilano area (North Shore News, May 8).
What is surprising however, is the scope of this development. Larco wants to build a "village centre" on the former site of the Capilano Winter Club. This part of Lower Capilano has sat vacant for more than a decade, and is admittedly a piece of land that could be utilized for housing. Like most developers however, "a little seemingly ain't enough," as the plan is to rezone the whole area between Marine Drive and Fullerton Avenue, on both sides of Capilano Road.
It seems that it is not just vacant land that is desired, but also land that is described as the home to a neighbourhood of "rundown motels." If this is not the case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I don't know what is. Just who is the judge that these are rundown? Motels on both sides of Capilano Road in this area are ones that many friends and relatives frequent throughout the year when visiting. Although they are not the "high-end" variety, they serve a need for those not made of money who desire to stay on the North Shore while patronizing area attractions. Not all Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge tourists want to stay downtown, and many cannot afford to.
With the loss of the Avalon Hotel a decade ago, and more recently the Lynnwood Inn, non high-end lodging is sorely lacking on the North Shore. Are travellers of modest means no longer important? According to the developers, it seems not.
To try and champion the need of village centres, yet at the same time denounce middleclass establishments like these motels is terribly hypocritical and short-sighted. Just as we are assured the people buying into any new housing here will not exclusively be "high-end" (which remains to be seen), neither are all North Vancouver's tourists.
Larco is no different from any other developer. They want to take as much land as they can, and maximize a profit on it. There is enough land in the Lower Capilano area for them to do that in a particular space, and to retain at least some of these motels, none of which (on Capilano Road) seem very rundown to me.
It seems developers have done a great job of convincing many, including district council, that they know what's best for a certain area. It's not too late to say "hold on here," and have motels coexist with trendy "village centres." If any establishments do become rundown, the public will decide quickly what stays and what goes.
Rob Brennar North Vancouver
