Title: Councilor questions Grouse zoning

By Jennifer Maloney
Staff Reporter North Shore Outlook
Jun 16 2005
It was misleading information that led the District to approve the zoning for the wildlife refuge area on Grouse Mountain, says a North Vancouver councillor.
I resent that as an elected official who has to make considered decisions that I receive bias and misleading information from the solicitor," said Coun. Ernie Crist a day before his motion to investigate the District's role in the refuge, where a timber wolf was recently killed by a grizzly, went before council.
The staff report that analyzed the District's role in permitting the refuge on Grouse Mountain four years ago stated Grouse Mountain Resort's property was zoned as Park, Recreation and Open Space. The report noted that such zoning allows for the use of the land for a children's animal farm, defined as ...an area of land developed for the keeping of wild or domestic animals for the entertainment and education of the public generally, but children primarily."
The District's solicitor confirmed the refuge was permitted under the zoning: So long as the owner provides the entertainment and educational components, primarily for children, nothing in the definition or the PRO provisions limits the operation to farm or domestic animals or to what is traditionally known as a farm," the Oct. 18, 2001 legal opinion stated.
But Crist says the two grizzly bears that were taken in by Grouse's wildlife refuge should not be classified as farm animals: A grizzly is not a farm animal by any stretch of the imagination," he said. Neither is it a children's pet."
Council amended Crist's motion Monday, opting to draft a letter to the province urging a review of the permit that was granted to Grouse.
It's an allowable use, but the license needs to be reviewed by the provincial government," said Mayor Janice Harris in a telephone interview. The province has responsibility to oversee that facility and make sure it meets the tests."
Chris Dagenais, public relations manager for Grouse Mountain, said he would not dignify a response to claims that the refuge was not being properly managed.
Our mandate remains unchanged. Our goal from day one has been to help develop a protocol for the re-release of future orphan bears," he said. Without Grouse Mountain the grizzly bears that came up here would have been destroyed. We're not in a position to be defensive here."
Dagenais added that unless the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection approaches Grouse with changes to its operations, it will continue to work within the guidelines.