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Page 6. Wtitby Free Press, Wednesday, April 28, 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whîtby residents! MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER CNA NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION Emlmq N CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD 25,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1 N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% b, recycled content using vegetable based inks. To the editor... Viewpoint Future bleak for Brooklin, downtown Whitby unless planning changes made To the Editor: In response to the letter by Pierre Cadieux ('A Costly Plan,' April 21, The Free Press), extolling the virtues of the present OMPP (no-fault) and criticizing Bill 164, i would like to make the following points. The reason the insurance industry fights any changes to OMPP tooth and nail is that they have never had things so good. . Insurance companies went from losing hundreds of millions of dollars in the last year of the tort system to making hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year of no-fault and each year since. That money is money that used to go to accident victims as compensation for losses suffered (monetary and enjoyment of life) as well as for pain and suffering. Insurance companies orches- trated a 'smoke and mirrors' campaign threatening higher premiums, higher and higher if no-fault was not implemented, and then patted everyone on the back when no-fault allowed premiums to stabilize. The 'smoke and mirrors' hid the fact that one now paid the same premium for significantly less covrae. and to return to the tort level of coverac out additional c entailing a large The most im how much on coverage is premium. The has been laugh the bank sin int roduced. Spending contr By Drummond White Durham Centre MPP The Expenditure Control Plan was released first element of the plan solidifies our commitn Ontario back to work. This element includes su the $6-billion investment in jobsOntario, which wil jobs. Our growing debt means that the interest cost the money we have available for jobs and servic led to the second element -- reducing govern spending. We were told in March that we were loo of almost $17 billion, but our Expenditure Contr billion off the planned spending for this year. Inc the third element, the social contract, we significant reductions in spending. In reducing government operating spending, tI has not taken the easy way out in cost-cutting. been laid out on the table, and made accessible t have made every effort to arrive at humane so keep services and as many jobs as possible. A treated equally under the plan and we have ens who are most vulnerable in our society are proteci We must deal aggressively with the challenges let the debt rise to $17 billion this year, the inter that debt will be greater than what we've investe It is clear that the only way the governmentc invest in jobs and people is by controlling expen spend on debt is money that cannot be spentc health care, job creation and education. I have been contacted by a number of constitu that these efforts must be made. We all want an competitive, that attracts investment, and that isi live. This govemment is using a concrete plan to e prosperous future. And this plan is followed by allow us to continue to create jobs, encou development, and build strong co-operative bridge governing partners. By William D. Little, Presîdent William D. L'itte Develapments Ltd. Recently I returned to Whitby after a two-week absence, and read the article 'Downtown growth could be hurt by new commercial areas' (The Free Press, March 10). The article covered council's decision to adopt a consultant's report that addresses Whitby's future commercial requirements. It's titled 'The Commercial and Central Area Strategy,' prepared ge one had to take by M.M. Dillon Ltd. r special coverage The adoption of this report, r premium. unchanged, places the final nail in nportant fact is not the coffin of downtown Whtby, eand kilis downtown Brooklin's provided for th chances before it can ven get pnsraide d ur th started with sewers in 1994. insurance industry iing ail the way to The report is making its way ice no-fault was past thepeopleofbothWhitby realizing the dire long-term David J. Gummer consequences of it. As it wan't Whitby affect anything immediately, people have tended ta, give it very itle att ention. The report sets ouwkthe framework for bath Whitby and Brooklin commercial development to the year 2011, and will sean become part of the Towns new lofficiai plan (late 1993). There's no question that long-term planning is required but this report needs a lot of work. Parts of it should boachanged last week. The completely, while other parts nent ta putting shoud be limite by strict growth ch programs as management ard staging policies. I create 100,000 Councilior Ross Batten, the Town's planning committee chair, ýs are eating into is quoted as saying that "neither es, and this has Brooklin nor downtown Whiby will ment operating suff er f rom council's decision." For >king at a deficit a man I have came ta respect for ai Plan cuts $4 his no-nonsense approach ta onjunction with poitics, i cannot believe for a shauld expet moment that he is serious about this statement. The report is the his gavernment beginningonf the end for downtown. dEvething has We should ail thank Nrth ward n the public. We councillr Don Mitchell and west nutions that will ward coucillor Judi Longfied, for il ministries are they could see the lang-term ured that those effects of the report and voted ed. againstnr aa. and where, may Inasd, facing us. H we was ur centre ward councillor, Test payment on John Doistri, who was elected on Sin jobsuntario. a platformof pratecting aur centre ta continue ta cofe? nses. Money we I hope these politicians can take an services like ths criticism objecthveiy, and realize the needta loag-this Jents who agree report ciosely a second time. i can i Ontario that is no longer sito. around and sa a great place ta, nothing as my letters ta counci,. nsure a faair and committee and planning on the action that will need ta protect downtown are rage economic ignored. es with ail of aur My wi e and I have had a vision frdowntown Whthby for a number f years and I thought the Town did as well, but it appears thateit has only been lip service with no real commitment. There is a very basic problem in downtown Whitby ... there are no services available underground to support new commercial and residential developrnent. Sewers are inadequate, water capacity will not allow sufficient fire protection (just ask our fire chief Tony VanDoleweerd) and the hydro service is, in most cases, antiquated. While building Pearson Lanes, I had to construct my own water- line up Byron Street, a job, originally estimated to cost $137,000. As modern, updated power was at least three blocks away, I had to pay hydro nearly $50,000 for service. And this is an area council wants to see grow? Get serious, guys. Downtown Whitby has been ignored for years. Money has been spent and this new report ensures it will continue to be spent on services in new, easy-to-develop areas, such as the proposed Taunton Road and Brock Street area. It is designated as a new major commercial area of 400,000 sq. ft., while downtown Whitby gets only an extra 150,000 sq. ft. by the year 2011. Whitby council and the Whitby planning department are determined to move the centre of Whitby north to Taunton Road. This large, new commercial designation will affect downtown Whitby significantly. Meanwhile, in Brooklin, where most of downtown is owned by local residents, sewers are finally coming and, with them, an opportunity to upgrade the downtown with controlled growth. This would ensure the survival of 'Brooklin's fantastic feeling of community' created by its many life-long residents and lifestyle- dedicated newcomers. Unfortunately, the new Commercial and Central Area Strategy allows for up to 150,000 sq. ft of new commercial space outside Brooklin's downtown area. Brooklin's existing allocation for downtown commercial is only 45,000 sq. ft. The writing is on the wall, Brooklinites. Look for a new strip plaza downtown area, something such as Ajax, only off Thickson and Columbus roads or on Winchester Road somewhere. I can see it now; the sign will read, "Welcome to downtown Brooklin," the third strip plaza on the left, or is it the second? As residents, we should ask for a minimum five-year moratorium on new commercial areas in Brooklin once the sewers have arrived. This would give downtown Brooklin a chance to establish itself as the main commercial area, as banks and other essential services scramble to locate in a new, revitalized downtown. Regarding downtown Whitby, Councillor Mitchell was right when he said about his report: "If you want mail-type development, this is the strategy to adopt ... this is a tried and proven way of seeing downtown dimished." He also states, regarding Brooklin's 150,000 sq. ft. away f rom downtown designation, "It will be a tool for future developers to use for commercial activity away from downtown." THE SOLUTION My dad used'to say, "Don't complain if you don't have a solution." ýVell, I don't have ail the answers but I do know what the main problem is and I offer this solution. The thing you don't hear our mayors and councillors talking about is the real reason aIl these new areas are being designated commercial. It's called competi- tion -- competition between municipalities for developer money. You see, most developers go where the easiest and cheapest land is available. If, for instance, they had to tear down an old building in downtown Whitby, pay for water-line upsizing and sewer improvements, along with upgrading hydro streetline services, or, as an alternative, they could go to Oshawa or Pickering and build a strip plaza on a newly-designated or rezoned, fully-serviced piece of land, the choice would be obvious. The latter is the least expensive and quickest. Such things as environmental reports on old properties that might have housed manufacturing plants and the high cost of hauling away debris, add to the costs of redeveloping old areas. The fact is, as long as this competition exists between municipalities, the problem wili continue. Unless ... unless, of course, ail municipalities in Durham Region get together and limit the creation of newly- designated commercial areas, forcing developers to redevelop downtowns before new areas would be opened up to them. Downtown Toronto is doing it now. They have no choice. Everything has been developed. There's nowhere to go. Growth from Toronto is obviously coming east, se the region has a captured market. Why not get together as municipalifc? and put the majority SERPAGR35 Smoke and mirrors