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Words from West Lynde by Norm Mealing Hurrah! From Bill Hoffman of the Community Association comes word that he has won his assessment fight. Bill, as you will recall, started his battle nearly a year ago wheni he appealed his assessment. He lost round one when the Assessment Review Court rejected his appeal. He won round two when the County Court overturned the Assess- ment Court ruling, and accepted his appeal. The Assessment Office was set to appeal this county court decision at the Ontario Municipal Board, and a date (Nov. 6th) was set for the hearing. Bill was preparing for round three when word came that the assessors were with- drawing, leaving the County Court decision to stand. So, hurrah for Bill. I know from talking to him that his was a costly, lengthy, time-consuming battle. But he won, both for himself, and probably for us all. Were we at the same meeting? In one of the Free Press' competing weeklies, a news story appeared last week dealing with Councillor Gart- shore's appearance at the meeting of September 30th. The story gave the impression that the Councillor and the members of the W.L.C.A. engaged in a confrontation at the meeting. It quoted Mr. Gartshore as telling the audience, among other things, if they wanted Scarboro, they should live in Scarboro, and that those of us in West Lynde were fostering ghetto-like attitudes vis-a-vis the rest of Whitby. Not so! I distinctly recall Mr. Gartshore commending West Lynde for becoming involved in Whitby activities, and the record shows that we are involved in town activites and that we have opened our activites to the rest of Whitby. The account of the meeting, which might be described, at best, as inaccurate, has some of the Association execu- -tive very upset. I would think that Councillor Gartshore should also be upset. Ail I can say is "were we at the same meeting?" Meeting with Council Tonight in the Whitby Council Chambers, Dundas Street there is a meeting to discuss property taxes and assess- ments in West Lynde. . Why not attend, and give our elected local officials the opportunity of knowing our opinions on this timely issue. The High-Rise Issue I think that I can safely say that most residents of West Lynde were aware of the sign on the vacant property at the corner of Dundas and Jeffery Streets which announces high-rise development for that corner. I think also that most residents of West Lynde werelike me in believing for whatever reason that development would never take place. Alas, this is not the case. On September 30th, Council- lor Gartshore informed the general meeting that high-rise was indeed coming to that corner in the form of either two or four twenty storey apartment buildings. He also inti- mated that nothing could stop these buildings, and that the best we could hope for would be a five storey reduction in size. First, is it true to say that once these high-rises are approved by Council, this approval is carved in stone a la Moses? If so, are we ever in a bad way here in Whitby. Every other municipal government of comparable size would, at the very least, concede that any decision could be WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1974, PAGE 9 reconsidered, especially if circumstances or attitudes change. Secondly, is it really true that Council does not want to repeat the Scarboro experience in high-rise development here in Whitby? If so, then why are they following so closely to the Scarboro pattern in this instance? I would suggest that they need only go to the corner of Markham Road and Ellesmere Avenue in Scarboro to see the result in terms of schools, shopping, etc., of putting high-rise in the midst of a single family residential area. It only leads to further piece-meal development. Thirdly, why do we need high-rise anyway? Surely the gains made in assessment are not sufficient to outweigh the effect on traffic the demands for more municipal ser- vices, and the aesthetic, and possibly practical, deterioria- tion of the Lynde Creek area? Further, is it not generally accepted that high-rise living is destructive in social terms of family and the quality of life? This being the case, Whitby as a town for families, should be rejecting high-rise accom- modation. Finally, what will. be the effect on schools? The Durham Board of Education is now building the Lynde Creek Public School. It won't be an especially large school, (700 pupils) and because of this will probably be able to incorporate all those aspects associated with srmaller schools which all of us see as positive. A development of this size could overload this school, and the separate school, and make a meaningful educational programme impossible to attempt, let alone achieve. Having 'said all it seems to me that it would be appropriate for Council to re-open this issue, and discuss it fully with the residents of West Lynde. There has to be a better alternative, an alternative which would preserve the quality of life of which older Whitby residents are justifia- bly proud, and which we who live in West Lynde were looking for when we decided to move to Whitby. CAUTION: AUTUMN LEAVES That innocent-looking pile of leaves might be anything but in- nocent, warns the Ontario Safe- ty League. Piled-up leaves are a natural attraction for children. They roll in them, and one of their favor- ite tricks is covering themselves up completely and hiding. That's fine in the yard at home. but when this little game is played in the street it's an open invita- tion to tragedy. What can the driver do about it? Assume that there is a child or pet in every pile of leaves you see in or near the street. Avoid driving through a pile of leaves and expect the unexpected - meaning specifically a child leap- ing out of a covering of leaves and dashing in front of your vehicle. WET LEAVES Wet leaves can be slippery another reason for regarding them with caution. When brakes are applied, the wheels often lock easily. Leaves gather in front of, and under, the locked wheels, and could cause skidding. If you release the brakes for an instant, the wheels will roll over the packed leaves and you'Il find yourself on clear pavement again. It may be neces- sary to release the brakes at short intervals to keep the wheels free of wet leaves. 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