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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, October 14, 1987 Editoria Comments | Worth A Careful Look We can understand why members of Scugog Township council were slightly edgy last Wednesday afternoon after hearing details of a proposed commercial-residential development for ten acres of land around the Conway Restaurant site on Highway 7A. The proposal is massive, unprecedented in the history of this community. It involves a major retail indoor market of some 90,000 square feet; a large restaurant, a movie theatre, fitnass centre and pool, a 100 unit retirement apartment building and 90 condominium units in four different buildings. i Total price tag for the development as presented last week is estimated to be in the $20 to $25 million range. And the developer is chomping at the bit to get started with construction of the first phase next summer. The main question that seemed to be on the minds of council members about this project was "is it too big, too grandiose" for Port Perry at this time? And there are a lot of technical questions about the project as well: like parking, access entrances, traffic congestion, sewer capaci- ty, the number of buildings and so on. The council wants those questions answered before it will even consider officially approving the project and an economic impact study has been ordered. Fine, by all means. Have a market impact study prepared to find out if such a massive retail project will have a negative impact on the existing commercial sector of Port Perry. And turn to the Township planning and engineering consultants on the proposal to get their ex- pert opinions on the technical problems that may have to be overcome. : But we agree completely with Mayor Jerry Taylor who told his council last week that the developer deserves an answer one way or another and quickly on this project at the conceptual level. Council should either say "yes, we approve of this project in prin- ciple or no it's too big, the town isn't ready for it at this time." We hope the council comes to a quick and clean decision on the concept of this proposal. It would be foolish to start hedging and ducking behind study after study if the thing is doomed from the outset. If council doesn't like the concept, say so now. If the concept is acceptable, get on with the technical studies and sort out the details during the process. The developer said himself last week that if the project is approv- ed, it won't be constructed all at one time, but will be phased over several years. That may lessen any impact, if there is indeed any negative impact. There are concerns about the capacity of the sewage treatment lagoons in Port Perry. These concerns have been bandied about for years. What a shame if a properly planned multi-million mega-project has to go down in flames just because of a lack of sewage capacity. Maybe this project could be the catalyst to light a fire under Durham Region council to get on with the job of a new and expanded facility for sewage treatment that would allow more homes and industry to hook into the system. Nobody knows for certain if a project is 'too big" for a community. There are experts who can give opinions, of course. There are no doubt many people in the community who think Port Perry has grown too fast already. But if the community wants and needs more growth, this par- (Turn to page 6) be ry bY ¥ 71 % 247 Thad wy A " 4 21/9 /! 4 LHL HA : li, / y as A fra 24 FIND A POT ON THE BENCH ~~ WELL BE INTOUCH ! Port Perry En I Ch cod 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 PO Box90 LOB INO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc igh and Ontario Community Newspaper Associatior Pubhished every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd Port Perry Oritye JB McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mya: t y the tee Department Ottawa and! CATHY OLLIFFE News & Features payment of postage ast MAD AN Comm, Second Class Mail Registration Number 1265 INgy » Cn » » dria avy08, A Subscription Rate In Canada $20 00 per year Elsewhere $60 00 per year Single Copy 50° COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe GONE TO THE DOGS Something serious has to be done about the number of dogs roaming loose in Caesarea. I'm fed up. Every time I turn around, there's two, three, four dogs tearing through the streets, or worse, our backyard. We don't even own a dog, and our yard is a virtual minefield of dog stuff. One day last week I came home from work to discover EIGHT of the mutts in a pack, fighting and playing in a neighbourhood intersection. EIGHT. I am not exaggerating. But this morning was the straw that broke the camel's back. This morning was garbage day. Doug had no sooner put the garbage out and got back inside the house, when THREE dogs appeared out of nowhere and began ripping it apart. I shrieked at them to get out, but they ignored me. It wasn't until I ran at them like a mad woman that they took off. Probably, as soon as [left for work, they returned, and as I write this, are strewing garbage all over our front lawn. Obviously, we're going to have to build some kind of garbage shelter to prevent this situation. And we're looking at putting up a fence to free our yard from piles of dog feces. And it's going to cost us a lot of money. And I ask why? Why do we have to go to a lot of expense when other people don't obey the law? Itis, after all, against the law to let your dog run loose. Yet, everyone seems to do it in Caesarea, as if each resident of the crowded hamlet lived on a 100 acre farm. What's worse, every time the animal control officer pays a visit, some kind of grapevine takes over, and all these negligent dog owners call their mutts off the street. As soon as the dog catcher leaves, the animals appear once again. This really drives me nuts. And although I have yet to do anything about this situation, I am sorely tempted. What I'd like to do, the next time I find a pack of dogs swarming around our property, is tie them all up, call animal control, and guard the dogs un- til help arrives. You see, [ haven't called yet, because there's a fair bit of politics surrounding the dog catcher. I mean, how can you call the animal control on your neighbour? You have to get along with the people who share in your community, and the surest way to make enemies in a neighbourhood that cherishes loose dogs, is to call the dog catcher, Still, if this problem continues to grow Caesarea could have major problems. Loose dogs invariably form packs, and packs are notorious- ly dangerous. Suddenly, pet Rover becomes something of a wild dog, brave and stupid, when surrounded by several of his counterparts. Getting into garbage is only the first target of a pack. Killing smaller animals and then biting people is next. Does somebody have to be attack- ed before something is done? Last week, a 10 year old Blackstock girl was severly mauled by someone's "pet.'"' She will bear scars forever, because of the carelessness of a dog owner. } And how about rabies? Caesarea is notorious for rabies outbreaks ---- it's one of the worst areas in Scugog Township. And I'm not surpris- ed in the least. Seeing the number of dogs running loose in our community is downright scarey. And completely preventable. All it takes is for dog owners to be more responsible. If you're going to own a dog, be prepared to fence your backyard and keep it there. And if you can't afford a fence, for heaven's sake, tie the dog up. If you believe it is cruel to tie an animal up, then you shouldn't be living in a small communi- ty. You should be living on a huge farm. Or you shouldn't own a dog. Period. Dogs also must have annual rabies shots. They must be licensed. And they should be neutered, unless you've got a kennel license. At the very least, if you're going to allow your dog to run loose, you should be prepared to make a daily trek to all the other houses on your street, and offer to clean up the accumulated dog crap. And to pick up strewn garbage. [ am fed up to my teeth with roaming dogs. And I'm this close to calling animal control. Be forewarned. GONE TO THE KIDS? ~~ I'had a call from a woman last week who lives in the William's Point part of Caesarea, concern- ed with the number of kids who use busy Regional Road 57 for a skateboard arena. Apparently, the youngsters make a practise of zooming down the road's big hills, creating traf- fic chaos and near accidents. I know what she's talking about. Honestly, these kids seem to have no fear of the automobiles zooming through town, and some day, someone's going to be hurt, The woman who called me said they make a habit of hitching rides on back bumpers as well as refusing to get out of the way of traffic. Perhaps the parents of these children are the Same people who let their dogs run loose ---- 50 it's no surprise they let their kids play on a busy highway.