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PAGP4 6;~WHTY FREE, PRESS,WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBE 6,1991 The'only Whitby Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whîtby resîdents! Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. at 131 Brock St. N, Whitby, Ontario LI N 5S1 Phone 668-6111 TorontoLUne 427-1834 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurioe Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Producti on, Manager 2nd Class Postal Registration #05351 Simnplify planning Lttsr to th. Edtor: D:o you own a home in Whitby? Do y ou know what can go in besideyou? That's what you think. Whitby has no minimum standards. AIl of Whitby's devslopment over the past 15 ysars has been by spot zoning. Ask the peope who live in the Garrard and Parkvisw area what that meant ta, thom. Their Minimum ls 70-foot frontago with aswproxýimately 11%000 square feet. Yot a lot in that area was spot zonsd into two lots, one less than 50-foot. South of that area, spot zoning1 has permnittsd lots of 40-foot and leas. So much for minimum standards. Another probleff created. ythi spot zoning procoss, espeialby for those In Whitby who live In the usea govemod by By-lw 1784, is the double standard croated by the planning process. If a resident wishes ta, make a minor variance h. mnust appear before the committe. of adjustmont buthe is not aliowed ta vary greatiy from the standards of 1784. Developers and 'sec«iai' indniduals have a completely new by-law created for thoir situation which is thon superimposed on 1784, making its req uiroments a joke. Isn't .hi nice to know some peaple are special.. .Spot zoning irritates local residients because the have to be constantly aware of when a matter cornes bofore the 'planning committee and the council. I they happen to miss the meeting, too bad. Uf thoy appear for the meeting they are oecused of being NIMBYs even though they have the legal and financial right to their opinion. Sadly th ers is a very simple ans or the three precoding situations. The solution has been suggssted to Town councils over the past 15; years, but for one reason or another the counicils havsn't been responsive to public concern. Why not ask the incumbents why they have not put in place t h e nvironmentai <neçghbourhood) restricted area zoning by-laws which were supposed to bu put in place once the Off iciai Plan was passed. Il that were done ih wauld sîmpltIyýplanning, reduce planning costs amd e nsurs 'present rosidents that thers would -bu minimum standards that they can demand bu rsspected.- lt's your vote -- make à count. Patrick Dooley Whitby Improvements suggestedc for Whitby hospital To the Editor: I \amn starting my ltter with a thank you ta Steve Lance of Vista Care Sterivision TV Company, who sees ta, the needs of the p atients an the second floor of Whitby General Hospital. Alsa thanks ta Diane, a representative af the TV company, as she tries ta please the patients when the reception is terrible (or none at aIl). The patients are paying a high rate and should get 10 channels -- sometimes they are lucky ta get two or three. Long -term patients should bu allowed ta have their own TVs and pay a reasonable monthly rate. Cable should be put in. Who is holding up the cablo? The hospital or the TV company? When 1 soe how hard h is for the patients, and for the nurses wha shower them, having ta wear boots ta protect their nurses' shoes, 1 am disturbed. 1 have asked three different people about g ettinifrmation on a Century TubI tat might bu danated, but have nover gat any response. There are a lot of volunteers who pay their dues and say, "I am a volunteer at Whitby General Hlospital.u But where are they when so many patients need ta bu fed? Or for reading ta them, or just talking ta them, etc.? It takes 30 minutes ar an hour ta feed some af themn. By Stophen G. Leahy In a week or so we have the oppartunity ta vote for the people who have the power ta make aur lives a living helI. Our municipal representatives, thoso wha sit on the Town counicil, the school boards and the hydra-electric commission have a mare direct impact on aur lives than those sitting many miles away in Ottawa or Toronto. lb is the memburs of Town council who apprave spending ta* fix drainage probtems that mlght bu causing yaur basement ta be fiooded every spring. They may also decide the hause next ta yours can be converted into a rooming house or a gas station or a tire storag e dump. Town councitiors can decide not ta pick up your garbage this week, or plow the snaw fram yaur street. Or they can put up a stop sign ta slow down traffic on 'the street where your childion are playing. Or they might not. S Councillors decide on a whole lot of things including how many mare apartment buildings, housing developments, schools, parks, and roads there will be noxt year. At the same time they decide how many more acres of farmland and natural areas will bu paved ovor, how many more woodlots will bu cut, how close devolopmont wili como to existing parks and conservation areas, how many and what types of industries wîll bu' built. They will decide whether Whitby's waterfront wili bu a opeople place' or bulong to a fow condfo and boat owners. They will decide if there are ta bu any, more baIl diamonds, soccer pitches or arenas. They will decide how much aur taxes will go up ta pay for mega-projects lîke the Centennial Building. Our councillors collect over $25 million from us each year. They also get ta decide how alI that maney gets spent. Somtimes they spend that money wisely, sometimes they don't. In efther case we give them around $15000 each year ta compensate themn for their efforts (ono third of which is tax-free). Then there, are the trustees, aur representatives on the region's school boards, who docido how ta spend that largo portion of. aur taxes that goos ta educating aur children. The decide the pragrams and facilities that wrill bu available. They will decide if there will bu enaugh computers in the classroom, how many years your ,child will spend; in à portable,, and whether or not there 'wîll bu additional teachors for children wlth specialneeds. Schoot ' trustees and their decisions will, have a major Impact on r ou and yaur children's lives for at least 12 or 13 years and mare likely a lot longer. R may bu the mast important vote in the municipal election.1. What da the commissioners of the hydro-electric commission do? Why do we vote for them? Commissioners are aur represntativos at aur local utility, Whitby Hydro. They decido how Whitby Hïydra will spend its' budg et, what aur electrical bills will 0e hW much the service charges will bu. They are supposed ta ensure wo get good, consistent service, lobby Ontario Hydro for botter rates, and encourage conservation. Hydro-electrical issues also include the building of new nucléar stations, the safety and cost efflclency of existing stations, the burning of pollution producing coal, the f urther. damming of northem river, the building of tranmisslon linos and so on. Commissionors, as Our roprosentatives, have an opportunity to speak on these and other issues for U&. Municipal representatives don't lke to bu called politicians, by the way. Wha would? They profer to bu known as representativos, which 19 fine as long as thoy live- up to R. But one of, the most serious problems at the municipal, lovel Is tho fact that most people, do not have anywhere near the Information they need either about' the Issues or t ho decision-making* proces.- On the other side of the coin, municipal representatives do not taes the time ta find out what the people they represent noed or want. .lnste.ad, they 'tend to become a group unto themselves, spending most of their time with feliow representat ives, staff and consultants. Tho people they are supposed to represent are Ieft out oftheoprocess and are soon seen as. obstacles to the. efficient operatlon of the organization. Representatives, need to do a much btter job of informin peple -- not only about the facts bu 1as the decision-makin process at the municipal levet. They also have to spend more' time with the people they * represent and activoly solicit theïr input. We, too, have a significant part to play. We must make more of an effort to find out what -is going on at council, at the regional level, ad the school board and at the hydro commission. For our representatives ta do their j*obs prry,, we have to lot t hem know whatwethink. Othe .rwise we do get the. government we deserve. There are thousands af ways in which municipal representatives can have an influence on our lives. Unlike those aperating in Ottawa or even Quoen's Park we can take an hour and meet with our Ward talle ta the mayor on the phono or attend a cauncil meeting - and let them knaw what we think. Howeve'r*. hi doos help if aur representatives are nat only willing ta listen but most importantly put aside their personal views ta represent the views af the people who elected them. Only we can make sure that happons an Nov. 12.by electing the regt people todo thejob. Viewoin A group unto themselves CUSTMRS were greeted by this mysterious figurej.urking bebinci the counter at'National Trust on Brook St. S. Thursday. Gail Strong and the. rest of the. staff dressed up and ýdecorated the. branch in keeping with the 'spirit' of the day. Photo by Mark Eoemr, Wb1t1iy Fie Pto 142p".. -A #