NS News Article on Council Meeting

[Sharon]

http://www.nsnews.com/issues04/w030804/032104/news/032104nn4.html

Feel free to email in with your comments! The more we give them, the more they'll cover us!





Mountain bikers seek dialogue, not fences

NV District awaits alpine strategic report

Cheryl Rossi

newsroom@nsnews.com

MOUNTAIN bikers mobilized to respond to Coun. Ernie Crist's report to North Vancouver District council Monday, forming the largest group council had seen in months.

Crist was requesting an update report on mountain biking in the district, which would include "the complaints and concerns raised by residents pertaining to the ongoing destruction of parks and pedestrian pathways as a result of mountain biking" and the status on "the relocation of mountain biking away from district parks and residential areas."

Other councillors did not support his request and, instead, a Feb. 13 staff report that provides an update on the recreational strategic study as well as initiatives taken in the Upper Lynn Valley, including a residential parking-only pilot project, a drop-off area and a dedicated bylaw officer, was received.

Mountain biker Tyler Wilkes said although "everyone" accepts there are problems with parking in residential areas, it should also be recognized that mountain bikers are the only recreational users who voluntarily repair trails and that "moving mountain biking totally out of North Vancouver doesn't seem to be the solution anyone wants."

His sentiments were backed by Peter Campbell who said the opportunity to mountain bike in the district produces world-class riders, provides a healthy recreational choice for families and youth, and benefits local businesses.

Lesley Tomlinson agreed with other mountain bikers, walkers and runners at the meeting that "hikers and mountain bikers can co-exist," whereas Crist's report said "there is an inherent and irreconcilable conflict be-tween this sport and the pedestrian use of district parks."

Katherine Beavis, a district homeowner and mountain biker, said the solutions to issues would be found through dialogue "and not the prohibition of activities."

"Trying to fence off municipal land to discourage people from using it will never work," said Coun. Lisa Muri, who said she would continue to support the strategic planning process that is expected to produce final recommendations by the end of the year.

Crist said "this conflict has come up because we have not dealt with it in a timely fashion." He said he's "concerned that mountain biking is growing by leaps and bounds" and that Mount Fromme is not going to be able to accommodate the influx without harm to the environment and additional conflicts between mountain bikers, hikers, and local residents.

"Is it logical this one mountain will be able to accommodate the tens and thousands of mountain bikers who will come?" Crist asked.

"There are, on the other hand, vast areas in the hinterland of the District of North Vancouver going right from Indian Arm to West Vancouver and virtually up to Whistler. These areas, in my opinion, would be very suitable for a massive outdoor recreational playground, which would include, among others, mountain biking. We could build roads there, we could do all kinds of things," he said. "Someone might even make some money."

The strategic study is examining the long-term recreational uses of the alpine area across the district, including environmentally sensitive areas, safety and liability issues.

A series of focus group meetings and workshops are scheduled to start this month with stakeholders and the public.

[Zedbra]

Well, he can build more roads, so they can build more houses, get more taxes and rubber stamp "SUCKER" all over the new 'No Fun' by-law

[Universe]

Lets build roads through all the watersheds, becuase thats a good idea. :rolleyes:

[wilkez]

they make me sound a lot better in that article than i did when i was mumbling on about nothing in the meeting lol. next time ill make up a real good speech...i didnt really know what to expect in the meeting so next time ill be prepared

[bruiser d]

Originally posted by Zedbra
Well, he can build more roads, so they can build more houses, get more taxes and rubber stamp "SUCKER" all over the new 'No Fun' by-law :werd: give your head a shake coun. crist :rolleyes: :stupid:

[Geddy]

Hey all,

I work for government and one thing I know is that a well written letter is very effective.

I would encourage you to:

Write to the North Shore Council:
mayorbell@dnv.org
ecrist@dnv.org
jharris@dnv.org
mmckeonholmes@dnv.org
lmuri@dnv.org
anixon@dnv.org
rwalton@dnv.org

Write to the Member of Parliament:
John Reynolds at Reynolds.J@parl.gc.ca
Ted White at White.T@parl.gc.ca

Write to the Member of the Legislature (Provicial gov’t):
Ms. Katherine Whittred at katherine.whittred.mla@leg.bc.ca
Mr. Daniel Jarvis at daniel.jarvis.mla@leg.bc.ca

Write to the bike shops you buy stuff from.

Write a thank you letter to the NSMBA Corporate Sponsors:
Banshee Bikes
- Norco Performance Bikes
- Hoots Gear
- Kona Bicycles
- Santa Cruz Bicycles
- DeVinci Bikes
- IDUN Clothing
- NSMB e.Magazine
- Fox Racing Shox
- .243 Racing Products
- Rocky Mountain Bicycles
- Trident Performance Sports Products

I wrote all these people this am. If we all do a little it makes it easy.

Geddy

[white ri0t]

So I emailed allah the counsellors, Crist was the first to reply. He avoided the majority of my questions and forwarded me two emails "of many" but forgot to take out their contact info :rolleyes: Nice work, Ernie. I'll reply tonight to his response and the two emails he forwarded....


Dear Mr. Crist

Let me first apologize for phoning you home # at 5.30 pm I simply pulled your # from the internet.I certainly didn't want to disturb you may be you should post your email on the internet to avoid this from happening again I do like my privacy also sorry again.
My name is .......... Dempsey Road and I speak for most residents who reside on this street. (East of Mountain Highway towards Braemar).We bought our home to retire, to enjoy the mountain trails walk our dogs enjoy the tranquility, the flora and fauna but during the last 2 years this area has become a zoo like Disneyland. The district decided beautifully to make Coleman street and up restricted parking and what everyone here knew was that it simply moved the problem to our area. SUV's park all along both sides of the road, we see them changing clothing, urinate in the rhododendrons, empty beer cans all over, race down hill from upper Dempsey at neck breaking speeds down hill and it is just a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt or dies, such as cars backing out of drive ways, kids playing on the drive way and a ball goes on to the road and its business as usual, we have to get a few fatalities before the government takes action no matter how often they have been warned.

We wrote a letter to the North Shore News, to no avail, ( we knew they would not publish it as they are getting paid for advertising for the biking shops and with a $ 25 million bonanza annually to the North Shore as they report, ( North Shore News February 15 2004) little chance they will print residents concerns.
We have walked the Baden Powell trail for a decade, and nobody gives a damn about the erosion of the trails, the mountain bikes run the topsoil off, and the heavy rain water transforms the walking trials into muddy streams, tree roots are getting exposed, trees die and fall down. Biker enthusiasts are happily using chain saws higher up to fall trees to make jumping ramps, the sediments are rushing down and clogging culverts, resulting in excessive water in our back yards, fences shifting and its much more fun to bike through the bush, destroying new rejuvenating growth in fact to put it in simple terms they are destroying the ecosystem big time in the name of sport. I have already racked up large veterinary bills for glass cuts in my dogs pads, ( from discarded can tabs and broken bottles) which was once ( 3 years ago) a pristine forest. Constant advertising in the North Shore News portraying this area as the Mecca for mountain biking has pretty well destroyed our peaceful life in this area.
My wife and I have been faithfully breaking down the jumping ramps on the pedestrian trails, we have had to jump aside for foul mouthed bikers racing down the pedestrian trails, taking our dogs out of their way and now we walk with a baseball bat as we will take the law in our own hands to protect our dogs and ourselves. We fondly remember the wildlife we had around this area but they are all but gone now, chased away by this "sport" The North Shore News further advised of a Mountain Bike Festival spanning Capilano to Seymour during August this year, , let the thousands of bikers come and ruin our forest even more. Interesting to attend an open house in a Lynn Valley School where the District proudly showed plans of making parking spaces so that more bikers can ruin our forest ( last year) . Don't misunderstand me, I am not an environmental freak, we are middle aged people living peacefully paying a hefty property tax to get away from the crime, hassle etc from down town, to enjoy nature, which is rapidly being destroyed in the name of sport. Get these people off the North Shore and let them wreck the ecosystem in their own communities why ours??????

Mr Crist, I read your article and anything you can do to put an end to this destruction would be greatly appreciated




and



Dear Mayor Bell and Councillors:

I have looked at the plans for Mountain View Park process, and there is
nothing there to address how they are going to alleviate parking and
traffic problems in this Upper Lynn area. By going through with this
present and very expensive plan to keep mountain biking in this
neighbourhood, by way of an expressway through Mountain View Park to
trails (which are not as important to mountain bikers as the ones above
Dempsey and Braemar), is an irresponsible one. How does this take
mountain biking away from residential areas? How does this alleviate the
problems of shortcuts through a townhouse complex, a cul-de-sac,
neighbourhood park and elementary school grounds? If the Mountain View
Park plan is approved, then you have not only NOT solved the problems we
are facing, you will have added greatly to them, in light of the
upcoming Mountain bike conference in August. The mountain biker motto
is "build it and they will come". Mr. Mayor, you yourself stated at the
meeting on Monday March 1st that mountain bikers should be prepared for
some restrictions where they can ride. Please do not let all my work be
for naught. Mountain View Park planning process has been biased from
the beginning when they made mountain bikers and neighbours sit together
at the workshop in July 2003. Some people left and others felt very
intimidated by the antics of some of these people, including NSMBA
president, Sharon Bader, herself. The surprise at the October meeting
saw only two options, none of which had the option of NO mountain
biking. I know for a fact a few people left in disgust, and threw in
the towel. I have been harrassed on numerous occasions, and yet, even
with proof in hand, have people disbelieving me!? I am ready for more
harrassment and worst, if Mountain View Park is given back to the
neighbourhood for conservation purposes, which would benefit the
neighbourhood and DNV more than trying to accomodate mountain bikers in
a sensitive wetland park habitat to a "species at risk". There is great
concern over the park and other wetland areas on the North Shore. On
April 1st, there will be the first meeting of North Shore Wetland
Partners. It will be a combination of professionals and laypeople
interested in conserving the few remaining wetlands throughout the North
Shore which are being threatened with loss due to recreational overuse,
encroachment, pollution,etc. I have been invited on due to my success
raising Red-legged frogs and knowledge of amphibians in general. The
provincial and federal officers with regards to "species at risk" have
been notified of this park.

Also, a proper environmental assessment has never been done, and an
early spring assessment, like that proposed will be a waste of time.
The proper timing for this process is early to late summer, when the
pond and park environs are in full bloom,etc. They had originally
proposed to do this assessment in March. It is still too cold up here.
Amphibian activity usually does not begin until mid-April to end of May
with various species here. Also, use of "plastic wood" is not
environmentally sound if and when it breaks down into the environment.
This wood/plastic combo is also twice as expensive as regular wood.

The Plastic/wood boardwalk/trail is only needed because of the heavy
bikes and traffic that would come through on them. Hikers in this area
do not exert the same kind of wear and tear on boardwalks made just of
wood. The number of bikers is way higher than the number of hikers in
Mountain View Park. Also dogs off leash are a problem. Keeping them on
leash in this park, even Exenda-leashes, gives more control over the
dogs. Dogs on leash and keeping mountain biking out of this little
park, will save much money for the District. Mountain View Park and
this neighbourhood can not handle the possibility of 60,000 mountain
bikers (Whistler Bike Park numbers). This is a real number (May to
October) at Whistler. Please consider that as you make your decision
for our park and neighbourhood.

The issue of Mountain View Park is that it is one of the wrong places
to ride. How do we control mountain bikers' dogs who seemed to be
higher in numbers than before? These dogs will not stay on trails, no
matter how well you build it. Mountain bikers cannot be counted on to
stay on these trails either. Both a park and a neighbourhood is at risk
here due to this extreme mountain sport that refuses to be controlled.
Please do not give away this park, and ban mountain biking in it. The
cost to restore and upkeep it will be far less, and will benefit both a
neighbourhood and a "species at risk" in the long run. 300 mountain
bikers vs. one woman who dares to stick her neck out in order to keep
the quality of life in her neighbourhood and park? - The ball is in your
court. I just hope that I can be heard above the din. I have the RCMP
on standby for Monday, just on the off-chance you do decide in favour of
a park and a neighbourhood's needs over mountain bikers' wants. I trust
Council will make a decision based on prior and present evidence I have
given them over the last year. Thank you, and see you all on Monday night

[switch]

I e-mailed Councillor Crist the following:


In this document:
http://www.dnv.org/upload/documents/Council_Reports/392877.pdf

you state:
"In the meantime, complaints and concerns of residents impacted by mountain biking are on the rise and have led to a serious deterioration of District Parks in the affected areas."

Could you please explain what duration "the meantime" is, where the "serious deterioration" has occurred, and what this deterioration is? There is no definition of these terms within the document.

You also state:
"When the mountain biking issue was dealt with by Council, it was with the understanding that the accommodation of mountain bikers on existing District parks including parking etc. would be temporary since there is an inherent and irreconcilable conflict between this sport and the pedestrian use of District parks. The nature of mountain biking is such that those fundamental contradictions cannot be resolved under any circumstances.

It was for this reason that Council gave instructions to prepare a Strategic Plan for the relocation of mountain biking. Council was told that the plan would be ready towards the end of 2003. This was later changed to 2004, and later still to the Fall of 2004 when a Strategic Plan centering around the relocation of mountain biking to more suitable areas and away from existing residential areas in the District would be presented to Council"

Could you please provide the date when Council came upon the decision that mountain biking would be relocated? Could you also provide information with regards to the decision that the conflict "irreconcilable", such as who made that decision and when it was made?

I viewed Council meetings of May 13 2003 and June 23 2003. No where in these two meetings were these points made, except by you at the meeting on June 23 2003.


Councillor Crist's response:

For your benefit I am enclosing (below) but one typical letter out of many. It would appear you have not followed and have not read about the ongoing controversy re this issue in the local press including in the OUTLOOK. It would appear that instead of facing up to reality you are in a state of denial. However, I will send to you by separate mail yet another response to D"angerous Dan" a Mountain Biker as to how we can resolve this issue to the satisfaction of all. Ad hoc solutions are not solutions neither are solutions based on political opportunism.

For further details I suggest you retrieve the relevant documents from the District Web site or phone Susan Rogers a District Staff. She will confirm that the District made a commitment to produce a strategic plan alternative and so will Richard Zerr.


He appended to his response the first e-mail/letter that you quoted above. Seems he sent that e-mail to a few people.

The second letter you quote most likely originated from the woman who is so vocal about the frog pond, or her husband.

Councillor Crist did not answer any of the few basic questions that I asked him. Instead, he proved quite charitable in providing me, free of charge, with a personal psychological profile.

It was obvious from the March 1 2004 DNV Council meeting that Councillor Crist lied in his Feb 6 2004 memo to staff. Councillor Crist would not even accept being corrected by Mayor Bell with regards to dates that were given for the strategic plan request.

[Sharon]

And they say one person can't make a difference...