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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Pub Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL KNELL Community Editor DEBORAH GOSSET Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Sign bylaw will prove to be a good regulation Now, please don't get the wrong idea we're not against advertising (If we were this newspaper would be In sorry shape) or against business aggressively promoting itself but the rash of mobile and portable signs that have been sprouting up over town are beginning to become something of a menance. These signs have proliferated at an enormous rate over the past few years to the point where they are just plain gaudy and add nothing to the architectural beauty of the town. Our town fathers have finally taken note of the situation and are currently in the process of drawing up a new set of regulations to govern their use. The bylaw will also set standards for all signs raised in the town to meet. This strikes us as a good move for several reasons, the first and foremost one being safety. Many of these signs, as planning director Bob Short noted in his report to council, are located in the road allowance (Town owned property) or near the driveways of commercial lots. This may make It difficult for motorists to get a good view of on- coming traffic. The second major reason for introducing such a bylaw is that over the past few years the town has made some solid efforts to give locaLplanning an esthetic quality. Our town does not look like a collection of gar- bage heaps. Our streets are for the most part well maintained as are the abutting boulevards. Great pains have been taken to landscape our parks and other public facilities so that some character has been given to our municipality. Even the signs that are placed near new com- mercial developments are often designed with taste and sometimes even blend in to the en- vironment. They don't tend to stick out like sore thumbs. Unfortunately, these mobile and portable signs do. They definitely don't enhance the image of the town. At last week's meeting of the administrative committee, one local businessman claimed that erecting one of these signs in front of his property brought- him $100,000 in new business and enabled him to create one full-time and one part- time summer job. With all due respect, we find this a little hard to swallow. First of all the sign is located in a predominately Industrial district. The general public - whom he claimed generated the new business - are not likely to see it on a day-to-day basis. However, if this businessman invested a little of the $100,000 In new business he claimed to generate into erecting a sign more consistant with the Image that the town is trying to portray would he not earn substantially more new business? And would he not also prove himself a good corporate citizen of the town? In ail fairness, it should be pointed out that the businessman in question informed council that if his sign did not meet their requirements he would take it down and build one that did. We would en- courage him to do so. Whitby is building a good reputation outside of its borders and the establishment of this sign bylaw will help establish the character and at- mosphere we are trying to create in order to at- tract more development both residential and in- dustrial. We are not big on government regulation, but this is one regulation that has proved itself needed. Pringle Creek residents say they're being pe naliz edfor town's shortsightedness Dear Sir: We are residents of the north-east section of Pringle Drive in the Town of Whitby. We have a "Catch-22" parking situation on our street. We have single car drivers which can- not accommodate two vehicles on them without one extending across the sidewalk. Most of the residents of this area own two or more vehicles. Recently there has been an incident where a resident of our street was requested by the Police to remove his unlicenced car from the street. We agree with the Police in this case in view that the car was unlicenced, was not being used, and had been parked for a period of more than three weeks. During that time we had the majority of this years snowfall, and the plows had gone around this car several times. Within a week of this incident the above men- tioned article appeared in your paper and al vehicles parked over- night on our street were tagged by the Police. When the Police department was ap- proached, proper discretion was shown, as the complainants name was not disclosed since they are not at liberty to do so. So, we removed our vehicles from the street onto our drives the following night and sub- sequently were tagged for being parked over the sidewalks. While trying to ac- commodate both by- laws covering these parking situations, some of the residents are even attempting to park their vehicles sideways on the small section of pavement between the sidewalk and the street. This is an extreme inconvenience and sometimes im- possible. As taxpayers we would like to see this problem rectified by the Town of Whitby. Whitby's architec- tural control board has shown a great deal of short-sightedness in plotting our houses with single car drives, in view of the calibre of this neighbourhood and it's residents. We would like to see this unfortunate situation cleared up with some positive suggestions and actions. One might be that parking be allowed on one side of the street or the other on alternate months. Any solution to this problem would be extremely welcomed in this neighbourhood and any other neigh- bourhood experiencing the same difficulties, short of having to call the Police regularly. This situation as it exists in ours and other neighbourhoods leaves the three hour parking by-law and sidewalk by- law open to abuse for EDITOR'S NOTE: The above letters were written lin response to a letter we published Jan. 18 headlined "Police ignore parking offen- ders." These Pringle Creek residents say that this Is not the case ln . their area. However, they did make one mistake in their letters. Whitby does not have an Ar- chitectural Control Board. Instead, the ad- ministration of the parking regulations is the responsibility of the publie works depar- tment. So we put the issue to department chairman, Coun. Ross Batten. While he sympathizes with some of the con- which we are sure these by-laws were not inten- ded. Let's not make in- sinuations that the Police department is not doing it's job. Instead, let's help them, our- selves and the Town to solve this problem. Mr. & Mrs. B. Baker Pringle Drive cerns expressed, he points out that this year's heavy snowfall has presented problems of its own to the town. "The residents want the streets cleaned and there are cars parked on the street, so what are we supposed to do?" Batten added that the town has a three-hour parking limit on ail town streets but "we don't press the Issue." He also noted that when the residents pur- chased their homes they should have realized that they would have parking problems. "It isn't the town's problem,!' Batten says, "It's not up to the town to provide parking for Dear Sir: I am being penalized for the short- sightedness of the Whit- by Architectural Con- trol Board. The board dictated the declining, single-car driveways as appropriate parking for this regidential area. Unfortunately, they them." To solve the problem is simple. "All it takes is a little co-operation." Batten also said that he would welcome any discussion with the residents at any meeting of the operations committee. He also puts forward one suggestion. If they must park overlooked the fact that our society dictates that both spouses work, thus requiring two vehicles. The sharp decline on the drives makes widening the lanes impossible. The length of the drive only permits a single vehicle length prior to inhibiting the their cars on the street during a heavy snowfall, they might try calling the public works department at 668-5803 and asked to be advised as to when the street will be ploughed. In that they can move their cars while the streets are being ploughed thereby solving most of their problems. Thank-you Dear Sir: On behalf of the patients, staff and volunteers at Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, I would like to thank all those in the community who responded to the request for Christmas gifts for our patients. The continued support and interest of the community contributes greatly to rehabilitation in the hospital. A special thank you to you and your newspaper for printing the article regarding Christmas gifts for Whitby Psychiatriec Hospital. Ail the best in the New Year. Cindy Newman Co-ordinator of Volunteer Services pedestrian sidewalk. The town did not allow for any form of alter- native parking and has now enforced the three- hour street parking by- law. So what is a- resident, such as myself, to do with our vehicles? I feel the current Pringle Creek parking restrictions should be resolved by the town counil. Unlike your previous writer, I feel our police force does an excellent job but, like myself, are victims of our council's decree. The main objections to street parking as a viable alternative are safety and snow removal. However, parking tickets have been issued between 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., when there are no .children on the street, only limited residential traffic, and no snow removal. Our sub- division is not a main thoroughfare, and thus receives late morning snow . removal and caters to residential traffic only. Considering the nightly and/or directional street parking. I do not condone abandoned vehicles as a permanent street fix- ture, but feel that with the appropriate guidelines, the parking problem could be resolved. D.Kok Pringle Drive Whitby Co-operation is all that's needed WE WELCOME RESPONSES TO OUR NEWS STORIES AND EDITORIALS. JUST SIGN YOUR LETTER AND MAIL OR DROP OFF AT THE WHITBY FREE PRESS, 131 BROCK ST. N., WHITBY, ONTARIO LIN 5S1 BOX 206. A é 'o V)