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After just one week on council, n e w representa- t ive ofthe North Ward, Councillor Bob Heron, is already politically adept at answer- ing questions. A f ter receiving i n f o r m ation that Councillor Heron had signed a pet- i t ion now being circulated in Whi tby on the pro- posed municipal complex, the Free Press discovered from the rooky councillor that he had signed the pet- ition, but isnot 'r e al1l1 y' against the proposed pro- ject. 111 am nôt oppos- i n g the new mun- ic'ipal building, but I do feel every citizen has the right to vote on an issue when large sums of tax dollars are being spent, " Counc il 1lor Heron tol d the Free Press moments a fter an employee cur t1y answered h i s t e lephone by saying, "Coun- cillorHeron is busy and only talks on his own time. " You don't have to b e opposed to the complex to sign the petition, the coun- c i I or deftly ex- plainedhis action. And if you read the petition, you w o n 't read any- thing about object- ing, he added. The first para- gr a ph of the pet- i tion signed by the councillor of the North Ward reads: "The fol- lowing tax payers and residents of the town wish to 1nWHITBY FREE PRESS .NSORTS ze(Voic of the County Town Box 206" WHITIY. ONT. l942-3571 Volume 2, FREE HOME No. 25 Thursday, June 22, 1972 DELIVENY New motel presently under construction on Byron Street North - FREE PRESS PHOTO BY J. Q Y ES, Amotel presently under construction on Byron Street North has caused mix- ed reactions from the ci tizens of Whitby. Town Pi anning Director, Dr. M. Michael feels the motel was not in the best interest of the downtown area and said, "I feel the motel does not belong in the downtown area. He added, "The zoning bylaw, which was passed years ago, allowedmotels and so the man was abletoget a permit to build his motel. " According to D r . Michael the area needsmore permanent residents rather t h a n t h e transient residents which a m o t e 1 w o uld bring. He explained, "I th i n k th e erection of a motel on that property i s a waste of the potential of the area. " A Byron Street r e s i dent who Ilives close to the mctel, Mr. Ward, said ai- thoughhe does not particularly like the motel he admires the initiative and free enterpriseof the individual to erect it. He fel1t the motelwoul d br ing some need- e d b u siness to the downtown area, as did Mrs. M. Quan who is also a neigh- IT'S A b o u r of the motel. Her complaint was I ess with the motel and more with the town for what she felt was the needless expen se of Road widening on Byron Street North. She also cited a new s i d e w alk only five feet from her bed- room window. Mr. Fothergill owns a large, well kept house o n the corner of Byron and Mary Streets, and the back of his house isalmostwithintouching distance of the new motel. As for the decision to allow anewmctel tobebuilthesaid, "Accord- ing to the council during their last meet- ing they sai d theyn ade a mistake, that's what i hear! " F o t h e r g i Il feels his property has gone down in value becalse of the neighbouring m o t e i and said, "I don't think it's the place for a motel and I've heard a good many people say the same thing. It should be on a highway. " A bay window, which is the only window in h i s dining room is only two feet from the motel according to Fother- gil and he explained, "This was a good I residence and I've been here forty-one years and taken good care of the pi ace. " Building Inspector Tr ipp sympathi zed with M r . Fothergili but added, "When the commercial zones were created the residents in the area were notified and i f they didn't object to the rezoning at th e t i me , then it's too late now to do anything about the problem. " He added, "Mr. Lucien (motel proprietor) has met ai i the requirements of the building code and, as i unders tand it, could have built to the north limits of his property but didn't so that he wculdn't interfere with Mr. Fothergill's sidewalk. Tripp stated that, I'There wasn't any way we could deny the man a permit as long as he lived up to the building rules." AN OLD TIMER recalls the Whitby of his day in a letter to the editor. MOT E L obi.- Aplex, object to the buil- ding of a new town hall on Rossland Road f or the fol- lowing reasons: " Incidentally, about Councillor He ron's unavail- ability to the tax- payer, itwill only 1 ast unti 'thay timel peters out.