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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 30, 2008 - 7 BVRA report critical of Town's Palm Place OMB loss Continued from page 1 Miller recently headed a Mayor's Advisory Group given the task of analyzing why the town was unable to stop the development of high-rise condominium towers on the Shell House lands, despite strong public opposition and rejection by town councillors. The 41-page report, written by Miller and fellow BVRA members Laurie McGinn, Mike Lansdown and Sara Alexander, details the process that resulted in the eventual OMB approval for the construction of 300 residential units in three buildings ranging in height from five to eight storeys. That decision flew in the face of Oakville council's position that only 27 units in buildings no taller than three storeys should be built on the lakeside site. Although the town spent over $900,000 on the application, a previous report by the town's legal staff blamed the loss on the fact that the OMB opted to find the vision of town planners -- who supported the development -- more credible than that of town residents or town politicians. Among the 17 recommendations made in the BVRA report are several related to planning staff, including one that calls on the town to make an effort to hire planners who are "respectful and supportive" of the Official Plan. "We felt we had planning staff who weren't prepared to back what was in our Official Plan," Miller said. Peter Cheatley, the Town's former planning director, was called to appear at the OMB hearing and testified that he had recommended council approve the Palm Place development. The BVRA report also recommends the town develop a clear policy stating that "no deals should be made that infringe on zoning that applies to a different property" as a result of a development application. During the OMB hearing, the board heard that a `parkland credit' had been attached to the Shell House lands as a result of negotiations during the development of the Lakeshore Woods subdivision. While developers are required to contribute a portion of lands in any new development to the town for parkland or green space, an agreement with New Province Homes (Metrus Developments) resulted in a higher than required amount of land donated to the town during the construction of that subdivision. In exchange, the town agreed that if an application was made to develop the Shell House lands property on the south side of Lakeshore Road, a parkland donation would not be required for the first 300 units built. While the agreement didn't legally entitle the developer to build 300 residential units on the property, the OMB suggested the credit may have been seen as a starting point for development. Along with creating a level of expectation for the developer, the BVRA report notes that the deal reduced public transparency about how the lands were being dealt with. Burton said the recommendations from the BVRA report will be passed along to the town's newly-hired planning director Dana Anderson and a report will be brought back to town council. The full report can be found at www.brontevillageresidents.com under the current issues tab, and is entitled Palm Place Mayor's Advisory Group. Allegro Allegro central vacuum central vacuum systems systems A COMPLETE SYSTEM WITH AN ELECTRIC PACKAGE Up to 3,000 sq. ft., $ 7 year warranty 420 520 air-watts, includes an electric powerhead, 30' electric hose, metal wands, full set of cleaning tools. FREE GARAGE KIT Free with any complete system purchase. 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