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6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 13, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" * 1188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONT. - LoL 187 PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-Mail: port.perry.star@sympatico.ca BUSINESS OFFICE Retail Sales.......Kathy Dudley, EDITORIAL: Publications Mall Registrations No. 07881 Publications Mail Agreement No. 1389068 Subscription Rates: 1 Year - $37.45 6 Months - $19.79 Foreign - $96.30 Includes $2.45 GST Includes $1.29 GST Includes $6.30 GST Editorial comment Official Plan a sound document Despite the fact there may be some merit in the appeals launched against it, Scugog's Official Plan is pointing the municipality in the right direction for the future. Scugog councillors correctly looked to Port Perry and its immediate environs as the focus for future development, and took the attitude that growth even within this area will be gradual, and managed. Any other approach -- such as "pursuing thousands more units of capacity with a new sewage treatment system and opening the door for vast tracts of housing -- would run counter to the character of the community, and the wishes of the people who live here. What we sought and got in an OP was a doc- ument that recognizes the rural nature of Scugog, and our desire to preserve that. That said, we must recognize that the Ontario Municipal Board will have to give credence to some of the arguments that will be made against the plan. Although it is the purpose of the OP to identify growth areas, it can be argued that excluding some parts of the municipality is unfair, and leaves property owners at a disad- vantage. If land is judged to be of little agricultural value but could sustain limited residential or industrial development, the owner ought to be able to make a case. OP amendments are arduous and painstaking processes. And that's why you're seeing appeals launched at this time. The OP is a fundamentally good plan with which most of us can live easily. But its opponents must be allowed their day in court, too. Office Mgr.....Gayle Stapley Accounting...Judy Ashby, Publisher................. J. Peter Hvidsten General Manager ....Don Macleod Managing Editor..... Jeff Mitchell News Reporters .....Chris Hall : Freelance - Heather McCrae, John B. McClelland Janet Rankin Heather Callan, Leslie West (Cha ocna Member of the Canadian & Ontario Newspaper Assoc. Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. - 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ont. PRODUCTION Barb Bell, Richard Drew, Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Rhonda Mulcahy, Robert Taylor, Daryle Wright, Scott Ashby ADVERTISING Advertising Mgr. .......... Don Macleod Advertising Sales: Deb McEachem, Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Lee Nowensky a H- o Mrs. Ethel Glunk 1S all in favour of a four-way = terry and stop al Quien AN Ny AIH HHL OMIMEO x 111) Sp - _ SS AT--ey-- Roo TortPeRRY STAR HE Council was right to uphold plan 'To the Editor: A hearty thanks to the members of Scugog Council who recently upheld the Official Plan in the face of a threat to take the issue to the Ontario Municipal Board. It's easy to find greedy, short-sighted people who hope to cash-in by subdividing land. But the mayor and councillors are right to oppose haphazard development which can lead to ~ wells fouled by neighbourhood septic systems. If Colin Kemp and Councillor Dietlein can come up with evidence to show any case where a municipality and its taxpayers have reaped a net gain from subdivision development, will they please present that evidence to the Township Council. Dietlein is wrong. There would be no financial gain for Scugog. As to economic growth in rural areas, that's what you get from farming and tourism. Industry and commerce should be concentrated in major towns and not spread willy-nilly across the countryside. Scugog is a largely rural township, and should remain that way. Taxpayers should not be put in the position where they will have to foot the bill and, in effect, subsidize subdivision through eventual provision of services. Nor does rural Ontario need to see one town or hamlet stretching to the next with strip devel- opment along rural roads. Mayor Moffatt is right to warn that conces- sions today would compromise the official plan, and would be "the thin edge of the wedge". Bruce Rogers, RR2 Blackstock Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten MEMORIAL PARK . OR PARKING LOT? When our snowbirds start returning to town, we can be assured winter is over, and the past few weeks we've noticed some familiar faces along the streets again. Within a week of returning home, good friend Bill Barr (Birdhouse Willy) was on the phone announc- ing our Friday morning breakfasts were back on, so last Friday our group snuggled around a table at the Red Ribbon... eating, drinking and discussing a vari- ety of local topics and issues. One of those that came out of the conversation was news that the high school was about to turn the memorial park at the schoel into a parking lot. | couldn't believe my ears. To refresh your memory, it was about 12 years ago that students from the class of teacher Paul Arculus excavated the foundation of the old Port Perry Grammar School, which was leveled by fire in 1926, on the south lawn of the school. It was back breaking work with shovels and picks, but the stu- dents created an attractive park with gardens, benches and a memorial to former students. The bronze memorial was unveiled during Port Perry High School's reunion in the summer of 1987, and the park was dedicated to the students who attended the school from 1873 to 1926. Now, due mostly to parking problems along streets in the vicinity o the high school, a plan has been established to turn the green lawn and memorial park into a slab of black asphalt ; for parking cars. ! The work and / efforts of the stu- dents of 1987 cre- ating a park to memorialize the | * ly former high schoo! ------ li PORT PERRY { PR / | HIGH SCHOOL 873 -- 1926 Port Vorvy Gram Blind ba A new buskding was opened a 17a 00 x but destroved by fie n 1926 ) These fonmclations were excavated in 1987 This mwrnorial is dexlicated to the students of 1873 ... 1926 by the students of 1987 and its students is not something that should be bull- dozed and forgotten. And as important as parking might be for the school, there are better solutions than turning one of the only open green spaces along this entrance to town into a parking lot. One suggestion which came out of our morning breakfast session-was to create a parking lot on school property along the north side of the athletic field at the corner.of Old Simcoe and MacDonald St. It's only half a block away from the school, and would be a far better spot than on what is now + | a memorial park. Perhaps before the Board of Education starts-desecrating an important historical memorial, they should get the opinion of former students, and notify neighbouring property owners (if they haven't done so already) of the proposed changes to the land. Our bet is that there would be very few thrilled with the idea of turning a memorial park into a parking lot. If you're unhappy with the plans, send us a letter and let your feelings be known, or call our local trustee. That's what | did.