a.,,' *»**i»eu ihk • "Wii iüiü'.li; : |jj; If BOWMANVILLE LIBRARY 163 Church Street 1.1.05ac Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 1P7 $1.00 GST Included Wednesday April 13, 2005 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, NewtonviUe, Orono. Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Armed males m arrested after traffic stop Durham Regional Police have arrested and charged two men after a gun was located during a traffic stop in Newcastle Saturday night. On Saturday April 9th, 2005 shortly after 10:00 p.m., Officers from the Clarington Community Police Office conducted a traffic stop of a suspicious vehicle on Highway #2 and Arthur Street in Newcastle. As the Officer spoke .with the males inside the car, he observed an open bottle of beer on the floor between the passenger's feet. Both the driver and passenger were detained under the authority of the Liquor Licence Act and the vehicle was searched. Police discovered discovered a sawed off shotgun hidden hidden inside one of the sleeves of a black and grey jacket found on the front passenger seat. Further investigation yielded à box of shotgun shells, over 6 grams of cocaine and 3 gram? of hash oil. Both suspects were arrested arrested without incident. , Jean-Paul Vachon, age 28, of King Street West in Newcastle and Bryan James Barchard, age 19, of Concession 3 in Newcastle • have been charged with numerous firearms related offences. Vachon is further charged with Possession of Weapons Dangerous, Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Both males were held for a bail hearing. Sr!T!lwn Orono. Breanne Col.ier tound tha. «he town hall stops provided the right atmosphere for her music practice Tuesday afternoon. Court case clears way for severance Home-based business not permitted use in EP zone Two years after he applied for a land severance, Tony Visser of Vissers Sod Farm was granted his request. In April of 2003, Visser applied for an amendment to Clarington's Official Plan to sever a lot from his farm at the corner of Taunton and Townline Road. The 140 acre property, formerly, the Henry Likens tobacco farm was acquired by Visser in December 2001. As Visser owns six farms and four dwellings, he wanted to sever the house and one acre of land from the Likens farm, as it was surplus to his needs. Outstanding criminal charges charges brought against Vissers Sod Farm, by the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Author-ity (CLOCA), and the Department of Oceans and fisheries (DFO), further delayed the application. On December 16, 2004, Vissers Sod Farms, plead guilty to one count of violation violation of section 35(1) of the Federal Fisheries Act for "the harmful, alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat". The offence occurred on a tributary to Soper Creek in the Municipality of Clarington in 2001. Visser eliminated a wooded area of approximately approximately 8,000 square meters on their recently purchased farm, and in the process destroyed the stream that ran through the area. On December 16 2004, Justice of the Peace Brown imposed a $6,000 fine, some of which will go towards restoration of fish habitat in the Soper Creek watershed. The site of the offence was rehabilitated by the company prior to the guilty plea. According to the defense, the cost of the restorative work was $50,000. As this application was filed prior to the Greenbelt Protection Plan, it is exempt from that legislation designed to permanently protect agricultural agricultural land in the Golden Horseshoe. However the Rural Area policies of the Greenbelt Plan, does permit the severance of a residence surplus to a farming operation, operation, if the surplus is created by farm consolidation. Vissers already owned the property to the south and to the cast, which they call the Forestry Farm. While they have con- SEVERANCE seepage 3 While there were no written written responses to the rezoning notice at 825 Kinge Ave E. in Newcastle, the property owned by Tim and Doris Taxis, none the less a neighbouring neighbouring property owner did speak up at Monday's public meeting. The neighbour, Mr. Eugene VandeWalker, told committee members that he had concerns about the business at the Taxis • property. VandeWalker, who owns the trailer park beside to the Taxis property, (next to the hole-in-the-wall), says it bothers bothers him that his land is commercially commercially zoned, and yet he is not allowed to change its present use. VandeWalker claims that the Taxis home, which they bought from a bank two years ago, as a single family dwelling, has boubled in size. "Are they operating within the house, or is it a commercial business?" he asked. He was concerned with all the construction construction equipment outside the home, and that it could end up being an equipment rental business. In February of this year, Clarington Planning Ser-vices received a rezoning application application from Taxis, to permit a home-based occupation within within the existing dwelling . Home-based occupation is not a permitted use in the environmental protection REZONING see page 3 What's inside... Going to the Chapel..." See page 4