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best available copy iwfflstooffvllirpm 350q0 vol 3 no 33 a metroland community newspaper saturday august 15 1987 64 pages 25 cents ratepayers lose court tight over bullock dr lji by steve houston staff reporter the markham heritage area ratepayers association has lost its supreme court of ontario bat tle with the town to stop the exten sion of bullock dr and a spokesman for the group said thursday the decision will likely end the groups 20year bat tle to stop the extension project in a decision handed down wednesday mr justice william anderson threw out the groups bid for a permanent injunction to stop construction on the road ex tension in a separate move mr justice anderson directed a court official to determine if any damages against the town or the contractor were incurred the association was successful prior to the supreme court hear- ingin obtaining a temporary in junction that stopped construc tion on the road for 10 days markham solicitor ray kallio said the town would seek to recov er costs from the ratepayers for the court battle he estimated that as much as 10000 was spent by the town were pleased with the out come said mr kallio the town certainly had done every thing it was supposed to do in approving the extension according to mr kallio the association based its bid for the permanent injunction on three points council passed the resolution to extend the road behind homes between mccowan rd and hwy 48 in bad faith the judge ruled there was no evidence of bad faith an official plan amendment is needed to extend an arterial road the judge ruled that bullock dr is a collector road thereby not in need of such an amendment the extension connected two provincial highways requiring provincial permission the judge ruled that no provincial objection existed to warrant action weve pretty well explored all avenues said heritage area ratepayers spokesman jim worsley in an interview following the decision its been a long hard battle 20 years he added that a court directive to pay the towns costs for the leg al dispute would likely bankrupt the association he said a meeting with the asso ciations solicitor nextweek will determine the groups next move the law has now stated how it is he concluded regional councillor ron moran said work on bullock dr will con tinue the extension will link up with main st at parkway ave and is slated for completion in late september or early october the town is delighted but were not surprised said coun cillor moran the taxpayers are the winners again markham could benefit from new housing plan by alex newman the- town of markham will probably be affected by a three- part 220 million housing prog ram announced yesterday in kingston by premier david peterson to ensure that affordable hous ing is available to all the liberal government has aimed this prog ram at low and moderate income earners and first time home- buyers the policy guidelines will en courage municipalities across the province to set aside 25 per cent of all new housing units as afford able housing builders the provincial govern ment believes will welcome the program since escalating house prices have narrowed the market of potential buyers and this strategy will open that market to lower income earners municipalities like markham whose housing market is top end of scale and whose individual housing- designations are geared more to luxury or moveup hous ing will be affected although the program claims it will be sensitive and flexible to local needs the province has fin al authority on approval of most subdivision plans premier peterson also said yesterday the provincial govern ment would work with municipa lities providing roads and ser vices where necessary in addition government lands will come on stream to create 12000 new units 35 percent of which must be dedicated to affordable housing or nonprofit units targetted over 5 years the program is expected to create 28000 new units the third component of the strategy a provincial home ownership savings plan oh- osp and the first of its kind for the province will provide a tax credit of 400 per 1000 saved to ward the downpayment of a first home the credit will be issued on a sliding scale so that low income earners will receive the greatest benefit while this only applies to the firstl000 saved the government hopes to encourage renters to save for a home with 240000 indi viduals expected to apply for this program each year the cost to the province in lost revenue will be 50 million a year for 10 years extras in the program include measures to preserve and up grade 23000 existing rental units over the next three years the ex tension of rentgearedtoincome assistance to 2500 existing non profit housing units and funds to produce 3600 new nonprofit housing units to meet the demand for com munity-based- accommodation for those with support care needs the physically and mentally handicapped battered women drug and alcohol dependents the liberal government is design ing a community living project that will create 1000 special needs housing units and is ex pected to cost 194 million a year whats inside directory comment p4 editors mail p5 entertainment p2 to 23 sports p46 to 48 estate p26 to 41 church page p24 25 classified p49 to 63 a tall tike markhams mary warburton right watches as her daughter lynn siabbins visiting from england measures one of the tail sunflower plants in the sir constantino dr backyard thirty of the stalks are 15feet3bl8 sjoerd wltteveen