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c16 tribune january 20 1988 stouffville addresses affordable housing by jeff young the housing crisis in whitchurch- stouffville is a spiral staircase with problems being bounced from the province to the region and in turn back to the municipalities according to town mayor fran sainsbury whitchurchstouffville has al ways been and will continue to be a developing area however gradual housing sites abound in communi ties such as prestons lake van- dorf and musselmans lake in fact vandorf and wesley corners could easily be viewed as extended residential and service clusters however of prime concern is the land being used for such new de velopments according to whitchurch- stouffvilles official plan agri cultural land uses are sought to be maintained however whether the town is seriously maintaining this edict is questionable in a recent interview mayor sainsbury voiced a number of frus trations pertaining to the housing issue affordable housing a concern of several church groups and private citizens she claims is a lengthy process involving many pitfalls she cites the procedure as begin ning with the town discussing plans with the ministry of housing from there the town negotiates the purchase of land from owners pro vided the area is deemed appropri ate for town use the second problem stems from determining who should receive top housing priority mayor sainsbury feels the emph asis should be directed towards young people particularly young married couples however transportation and day care would have to be improved substantially creating the right type of housing atmosphere presents yet another dilemma whenthe wolf comes in the door love flies out the window and the police arrive says mayor sains bury adding she doesnt want to see a type of housing created illsuited to the rest of the municipality however she states housing in whitchurchstouffville will not be allowed to take over the town there are several members on council who would like to put a pick et fence around this town and keep it exactly the way it is they think its wonderful and i agree the only problem is you can stagnate any body who doesnt work or put money in the bank has no economic base and its no lime before they go under the same applies to a town you have to keep something coming in to bring money in however she has reassurance for citizens concerned about cautious growth area farms alone compose 82 square miles 52000 acres with york regions forests kettle lakes conservation areas and golf courses serving as buffers id like to see a farm base main tained says mayor sainsbury adding slow growth seems to be the rule in hamlets the mayor continued shes trying to attract industry to equal ize the tax base although the ques tion then would be how to ensure whitchurchstouffville residents are guaranteed these jobs if outsid ers encroach an influx of people would press even harder their con cerns over presently available housing according to wanda kerr of cen tury 21 armour in markham the average price of a property in whitchurchstouffville as of de cember 1987 was 219552 a figure not easily afforded by young cou ples just starting out this being the case it would appear places to live within many families means are not available in whitchurch- stouffville restaurant 470221 1 fast lunch specials dinners freshly prepared free delivery 1200 min order till sat jan 2388 free pepsi with proof of purchase from any store at the super centre quantities limited wup to a variety of inquire wine cellar ci markham super centi 4798063 sbbooks up to court training shoes mens ladies sales sales sales sales all riding dress boots 0 off from 3999 to 4999 all leather sport boots fl regular to 5999 all ladies dress casual shoes 50o oh markham super centre mall look for oui kennedy roa