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c economist suntribune environment- thursday- dee 9 j999 3 environmentalists start trust to buy up moraine bymikeadler4 staff writer want to save the oak ridges moraine from development try buying it yourself an expert in land trusts urged a newmarket audience this week because many landowners are concerned about the future of their property a trust at the right place and time can get donations of land just by asking said chris baines land securement coordinator for the ontario nature trust alliance youd be amazed at how many deals are made over the kitchen table he said tuesday night as save the oak ridges moraine announced plans to start a trust of its own i seated in the audience newmarket mayor tom taylor made the first contribution space in his own office as a focal point for the budding trust plus help from the town staff our legal department would be willing to form the first corporation and then you can go from there he said taylor who had hosted the meeting later explained he was acting out of concern for the moraine something like a moraine land trust has to happen he said adding that for 20 years newmarket has acquired land along the east holland river which runs through the town a good land trust needs wis dom wealth and workers includ ing board members with good rep utations and fundraising experi ence or a scientific background baines said his own trust is the georgian bay land trust which in 1991 was formed to protect 125 miles of coastline it now has six properties including an island in the bay onta is an umbrella for 22 trusts charitable agencies that can issue tax receipts for land dona tions and often pledges to protect land in perpetuity it is the fastest growing segment of the environ mental conservation business baines said landtrust activity is not new to york region and it is likely to increase soon the nature conservancy of canada bought four properties all now owned and managed by the lake simcoe region conservation authority one is the pottageville swamp in kirigtownship a 432acre property with class 1 wetland in the holland marsh area acquired in nine deals between 1975 and 1988 we kept chewing away at it getting more and more robert orland a land securement officer for the group said yesterday other properties are pangman springs 243 acres near wesley corners in stouffville zephyr creek 368 acres in georgina and 50 acres around the baldwin wetlands an acquisition the trust says kept a neighbouring subdivision from getting too close to the flood plain and now since the region does nt have much money to add new areas to its regional forests the con servancy is discussing ways of doing that through donations it could negotiate orland said what were trying to come up with now in talks with regional staff is tar gets to preserve tree canopy and ecologically significant lands rouge valley foundation presi dent murray johnson said his group has formed its own trust one primarily interested in preserving land at the northern end of the rouge river watershed freeze not needed klees says from page 1 stronger positions cherniak said we are not looking to be used by people we are legitimate business people in the community here to build houses every day you impact us is a day a person doesnt have a house neil rodgers director of policy for the udi said developers would view any freeze as a pretty dracon- ian act it would really thwart the efforts of partnership and cooperation said rodgers we are trying to make the point clear to politicians that they must look at the bigger picture oak ridges mpp frank klees said a development freeze is not neces sary because hes pushing his col leagues including municipal affairs minister tony clement to formally adopt the moraine strategy docu ment that the development indus try politicians and others endorsed in 1994 1 dont believe a freeze would be a good public policy a freeze over simplifies the matter and isnt help ful klees said i caution those that are calling for a freeze that the end result is extended omb hearings and i wouldnt be surprised if that led to court action the end result would be multimillion dol lars worth of claims against the gov ernment neil rogers left and lloyd cherniak of the urban development institute use a map of the oak ridges moraine to make a point about how good planning can allow housing to be built in the area without harming the environment they met with a metroland editorial board to explain their side of the controversy over development on the environmen tally sensitive moraine developers treated like criminals bymikeadler staff writer they hired the very best experts they worked for years to meet stan dards of protection to manage our population growth in ways that leave the environment better off but then those environmental ists show up and try to spoil it all media attention for protests on the oak ridges moraine hasnt sat well with lloyd cherniak chairper son of ontarios urban development institute if were going to try to do the right thing and still be criticized whiplashed and treated like crimi nals it becomes very difficult for an industry to do what we do said cherniak who besides heading the development industry lobby is executive vicepresident of lebovic enterprises a stouffville developer with much at stake on the moraine he admitted to irritation after seeing coverage on environmental ists campaigning to stop moraine development in richmond hill where protesters were arrested try ing to block treecutting for the bayview avenue extension i am really discouraged by it as a canadian and a businessman cherniak said im more discour aged by the way the press reports it cherniak sat on the technical working group which during the ndp years created a policy state ment shelved ever since on devel opment on the moraine which stretches across the regions of peel durham and york v lebovic enterprises has worked for 40 years in the toronto area- developing thousands of residen tial lots millions of square feet of industrial space s ive never seen us xlry up rivers cherniak said ive never seen rivers become polluted ive never seen houses fall into the muck the company hires only the best there are three phds on the team for two projects at bond lake where lebovic plans to build 2700 homes one of them is university of toronto professor ken howard who cherniak stressed is foremost a worldrenowned professor not a developers consultant howards conclusion at the recent clean water summit vin markham different than the one reached by most who attended- was that a separate policy for pro- tecting groundwater in the moraine isribt needed what is needed he said is a broad scientifically based policy that will provide protection and management for all of ontarios water new housing drives local economy by patrick casey staff writer theres no question the develop ment industry is a major force in yorkregion according to a reportfrom the greater toronto home builders association 1005 new housing units were sold in the region in october an increase of 107 units from a month earlier when you consider ontarios new home warranty program pegs the average cost of a new house at 234000 york region sales accounted for more than 235 mil lion in october alone and without facto ring in the applications now before the ontario municipal board the region has another 7547 housing units i to selly representing a further 177bmbn studies show every new home buyer spends at least 10000 in the local community during the first year of occupancy points out stephen dupuis executive vice- president of the gthba that includes anything from new paint fencing arid landscaping v every house that is sold helps drive ontarios economy employing three fulltime workers for one year the building industry is also siipv ports employees in related trades where the spinoff effect is felt when me strikes hit the hew- home industry last year it hurt everyone said dupuis the gla 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