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a4 tribune august 2 1989 sjtu comment page editorial is civic centres proposed move a disguised blessing for area business the battle brewing over whitchurchstouffville town councils plan to relocate its ad ministrative centre to hwy 48 near stouffville rd is beginn ing to boil and the unanimous decision last week by both the chamber of commerce and the business improvement area bia to op pose the towns move in an emergency meeting is a clear signal that neither association will take it sitting down indeed the move by the chamber and the downtown merchants association to joint ly fight the proposal is one of the first volleys to be fired in what could very well be a vocal and ugly battle both sides in the dispute have valid points unfortunately either course of action keep ing the civic centre downtown or moving it west will have an effect town officials say they are using foresight merchants and the chamber of commerce counter that the existing site can be expanded and built upon downtown merchants argue that the municipal centre draws people to the towns core and in turn is an anchor for business revenue town of ficials counter that downtown is a viable commercial spot that can stand on its own and its true determination is the key behind any successful business and merchants have proven time and again they have what it takes a glance down main st on any given day will tell you that people are going downtown and merchant in volvement in last months strawberry festival illustrates creativity and commitment a move for the municipal centre and its staff would be a symbolic cutting of the apron strings and subsequent result should be more vigorous customer campaigns and con tinued success without the benefit of big brother the tribune established 1888 oljro t stephen houston patricia pappas deborah weller edtor publisher advertising manager jennifer hutt distribution manager i retail advertising susan berry real estate classified advertising joan marshman real estate manager dorothy young distribution sandy kitetey artene maddock business office manager chris bertram doreen deacon national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 the stoultvole trbuie puttshed every wednesday frjav and sonjay a 54 man stf west stoufvole oniaro is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing gnjup of eommunty newspaper wruch mcfude the acton free press ajaxpienng news advertiser aurora banner barrw banner advance brampion guardaa burlngton post etoocoke advertserguaraan georgetown independent kingston tnj week martham economist and sun mittoo champon mssssauga news newmarket era oakvjie beaver oshawawhcby ths week richmond hill- thornfunvaughan liberal scarborough mirror tocc newsmagazine and wjlowdale mrror metroum printing puwurxng and distributers a dsonol harlequin enterprises lid sngtecopes 60 cents subset ptons j23year m canada woyear elsewhere member of the canada community newspaper assoeaion ontario communty newspaper assooakin ontara press council and suburban newspapers ol amerca second class ma i reo swaion nnmhr flnofi 6402100 6492292 viewpoint deb bodine championj uxbridge council confounds me editors mail premier acts on both sides of pollution issue dear editor i was very pleased to see the beautiful color picture of premier peterson on the front page of the toronto star on satur day july 22 illustrating his sincere commitment to helping our environment by reducing pollution i am confused however because it appears these statements come from the sunny side of mr petersons mouth while from the other side comes the okay by his government for five interim dump sites in and around metro without the full study as demanded by the en vironmental assessment act in our charter of rights like all good politicians mr peterson seems to do and say on ly as much as he has to to main tain public support with the at titude that what the electorate doesnt know will keep him in power i urge everyone in ontario to demand their rights by insisting on a full eaa process for any dumpsite in the province interim or otherwise we have to realize that the alternative could very well see environmentally unsound dump sites within feet of residents in peel halton york and metro as blood clinic is a success dear editor just a short note to thank you for your assistance in helping us advertise the mayors blood donor clinic we had at the legion hall recently the clinic did extremely well 178 people came and we collected 165 units of blood your support of the blood donor program was greatly ap preciated many thanks again sincerely josie de leon clinic coordinator proven by the proposed pi site in durham that pi is 800 acres of provinciallyowned a1 farmland given away by mr peterson ex pressly for the purpose of dump ing metros and durhams garbage donna culbcrt whitevale pardon me if i sound a little confused but im struggling to understand something why would a municipality like uxbridge request the qualified guidance of their experienced planning consultant pay to have a written report submitted to council then ignore the advice given and proceed to do what they wanted to do in the first place lets look at this chronologically in the spring the uxbridge planning and development com mittee received three requests to rezone residential properties out- side of the towns commercial core so local residents could open specialty shops two of those pro posals on main st n received support from council because the surrounding properties are already commercial thats logical right the third proposal was for a bridal salon and florist on the ground floor of a home at 45 brock st e a residential block withno commercial development at the request of the commit tee town planner kennedy self of totten sims hubicki associates submitted a report on june 1 recommmending that the application be denied because it woild open up the surrounding area to commercial develop ment in his wisdom mr self strongly discouraged linear com mercial development and recommended that the two en trepreneurs find another location within the commercial core several of which were available at the time in the meantime these two women were in a bind because they had an offer to purchase on their preferred location and didnt know what to do again they approached the committee with their proposal and again mr self reiterated his original advice but it seems they touched the heart strings of everyone on the committee except the mayor against the advice of the planner they agreed to proceed with the application and set a date for a public meeting the ladies were elated mayor oconnor was not she accused the councillors of look ing at the applicants and not the application funny thats just what i thought she warned them that by allowing a site specific commercial rezoning they would be opening up the whole area another dozen homes now heres where i get confused j j the planning committee then requested the recommendejd boundary report from mr sett regional councillor don jackson even quoted the regional cofn- missioner of planning df mofeed michael who advised municipalities to plan for fjie future and not in response to in dividual requests ij three weeks later the report was in mr self repeated his ad vice again linear expansion should be discouraged fie wrote and he even underlined he suggested extending comnua cial developement south on main st to planks lane south 3n bascom st on lands zoned multi- residential and infilling between the commercial area further up main st n and the northern limits of the present commercial zone trje happycmnpers things got a little wet for these our campers at a recent stay at the helm the foursome took pan in the camps willow springs camp in whitchurchstouffville rocking the boat program and decided theyd rather cool off from left are oave mcglennan bob smith terl lines and shannon pnowisnucestapier summeractivities but council minus mayor who was absent on municipal business merely received it for information plan ning committee chairman barry bushell said he didn want to cast it in stone and suggested it be us ed as a guideline only he cau tioned committee members that the bridal salon proposal could not be considered if the report was approved councillor bev beach express ed his sympathy for the pair then carefully stated that it really shouldnt affect their decision in a way it seemed clear it would it is my humble opinion that it did affect their decision when mayor oconnor returned and questioned the decision conver sation was subdued and cautious as it sometimes is when the press is in attendance pens pois ed and councillor bushell said committee did not choose to adopt the report at this time when is a more appropriate time after the bridal salon is ap proved isnt this a form of favoritism didnt these two women take their chances put ting an offer in on aresidentially zoned property just like any other speculator is it fair to per mit this single application on emotional grounds then close the door on others in the area and what about the time and taxpayers money wasted on a useless report the municipal clerk reports that the study pro bably cost less than 500 well council can toss half a grand my way anytime im with you gcrri lynn poor planning she called it id have to agree