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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday June 22, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Punishment should fit the crime No one should ever have to endure the senseless and sudden loss faced by the loved ones of Innisfil's David Virgoe. By all accounts the 48-year-old, truckdriving father of three and grandfather of five sacrificed himself in order to save others travelling along Highway 400 near Bradford on Monday. The Ontario Provincial Police have credited the trucker's evasive manoeuvres with minimizing the highway carnage the day he encountered three alleged road racers on the highway's northbound lanes. Virgoe's death is a stark reminder the rules governing our streets and highways aren't enough of a deterrent to those who engage in reckless driving. Motorists who speed for the thrill of it must be made to understand that public roadways aren't their race tracks or venues for demonstrations of bravado. Monday's tragedy is an indication that street and highway racers aren't getting that message. Anyone who believes Virgoe's death was an isolated incident, should consider statistics from a recent crack down on street racers by York Regional Police. With the help of a helicopter to spot dangerous drivers from above, police officers charged more than 550 drivers with street racing offences over a six-week period. Can you say epidemic? We agree with the sentiments of OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, who worries that without harsher sentences handed out by our courts, more tragedies are inevitable. "This was a senseless act that cost a man his life and has left his family without a father, brother and grandfather," Fantino said, adding, "there is no excuse for street racing and aggressive driving, such as the high speeds and unsafe lane changes we have seen recently." We applaud the OPP and other police forces for stepping up their efforts to target aggressive drivers, those who don't wear seatbelts and those who drive while impaired. However, until much stiffer punishments are meted out by our justice system, more innocent families will continue to be victimized by those who feel a need to speed. When the irresponsible behaviour of strangers costs someone their life, the least society can do is toughen its laws to ensure punishments fit the crime. Only then can the scales of justice be balanced. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Zoning bylaws need changing to protect existing neighbourhoods The zoning laws in Oakville need to be amended so that building regulations are more in tune with the community's desire to preserve the special qualities of our neighbourhoods. There seems to be a trend lately in Oakville to tear down the old average sized homes and erect new, larger sized homes on old lots. The zoning laws in older residential areas allowed for construction of average size homes on large lots, because most people wanted big yards. Now people are building as big as zoning laws will allow because they want more home than yard. For long-time residents, it is heart wrenching to see old friends' homes destroyed. Oakville has always been associated with small town charm, and character in its architecture. Expensive homes next to the 1950s bungalow creates mixed-value neighbourhoods. This builds up feelings of inadequacy in the older residents' hearts; they feel pushed out. The builder erects a $1 million home next to your $400,000 home. What are your choices? To renovate, build on, if you can afford it, and if you can't, you move to the outer fringes of suburbia, where housing is still affordable. Modest restrictions to the zoning laws would preserve the charm, character, and vision that the original builder had intended for the community, while still allowing the present builder to build a larger home. Home reconstruction BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com should be limited to the degree necessary to preserve the basic character of the existing neighbourhood. Modern new homes are welcome in our neighbourhood, but not at the expense of the quality of life that long-term residents have enjoyed. Thus, the obstruction of our sunlight and view because of these new homes, hopefully, would be minimized. Also, the cutting of 50-year-old trees to accommodate these new homes is painful and unnecessary. If the bylaws were amended the savage attack on these trees could be avoided. I understand the builder's rights to erect and complete his home on time. However, residents next to these construction sites also have rights. If these changes were made to the zoning laws, builders would not have a problem working within their property lines. It would allow ample footage for the workers to carry out their job without working on and damaging the adjacent property. Residents should not have to inform these labourers to get off their land and subject themselves to verbal abuse or retaliation. Oakville council needs to address some of the issues disturbing our residential homeowners. Hopefully, we can ask Town council to impose stricter building regulations that will satisfy everyone. Growth and change are inevitable, but they need to come with understanding and respect for each other. TERI JONES AND LEO LAISTER Pud The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.