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r s syq- tjtayat5fe k by lisa queen- i staff writer bile glenn de baeremaeker feels the ontario municipal board has never beena friend to residents fighting growth jhe accuses the semijudicial body of becoming a champion of developers under the tories and with yprkregion in the midst of agrowth boom the chairperson of save the rouge valley system warns residents they have much to fear from the omb whose members are appointed by th ruling partyat queens park i the tories brought in a new planning act five years agowhich environmentalists blame for weakening protections on green space at the same the province changed the process of taking a case to the omb l t the board originally established in 1897 was historically an7appeate court fofdevelopersor residents who disagreed with a local councils decision bna planning application but it often took months for the omb to hold a hearing frustrating everyone involved- in response the tories ruled developers can now appeal directly to the onjlb 90 days after submitting their planning applications- to a municipality without waiting forxouhcits judg ment in the last five years since the tories have come into power they y weakened theplarihing act s y y t- s i de baeremaeker saidjthe new rules sabotage local planning by elected pfficialsr j inejfectthis bypasses the normal process tney dpnteven need to gbto council they dont need local council to say yesjor nothey ddnt need to hayea public meeting so resident who have livedthere for 30 years cancomfnent he said developers want to go to the omb which they know is a very prodevelopment body in the last fiveyears since v have come mtbpbwer4hey weakened the planning act you hada system that was badbefore that was flawed before but it has become grotesque- lywbrse garplyn fennjthe boards senior case manag- er of planning doesnt know where de baeremaeker is coming from j sheargues the omb is a fairtribunal which listens to both sides and bases its decisions on legislation t i dontsee anybasis for that i think its a very- generous process at the same time however she realizes resi- dents are often frustrated because they dont have thv funds tb compete with developers lasers arid expert witnesses j f think its frustrating for citizens sometimes and theyre not as well resourced inmpunting the samekind of case developers are i know thats an issue its absolutely the other direction its not a rubber stamp for developers he said jv its a quasijudicial board that takes planning issuesandjudgesthenionlaw- v but thats exacdy the problem t for de baeremaeker who says the omb fails to take into account theemotional impact development has ona neighbourhood si t they base decisions on law not on the lega cy were leaving for the next generation or peo ples emotions the value of green space or a farm with horses that has been there for 100 years he said i i and the value with people saying thats part of my community the reality is planning isnot an exact science planning is emotional there is no science thatsays ybu should have a 40foot lot or a 27stofey building its an emotional debate about leaving a legacy for our children x de baeremaeker isnt the only one frustrated with the omb king townships margaret coburn a lpng- time member of concerned citizens of king also had concerns while watching an omb hear ting this winter v j staffphotomike barretts tr k glenride- baeremaeker marches oh yonge street jast week in- a rally tbprotect york regions forests r it seems to me much more connected- to what the government policy is i think thatya pity it should he an arms lengths process the board agreed to extend the yorkdurham sewage system to king city despite the objec tions of manyjesidents it thepmb does seem to have gone awry said cpburnwhose son rick acted as lawyer for the residents 7- its been a surprise at ihearings lately jt seems to be much moreof a political process it seems to belhuchmbre connpctedtqwhatthe government policy is 1 1 ttiink thats a pity- it should be an arms length process s richmbndhill mayor bill bell whose town is facing an omb hearing over moraine develop- ment plans pointed out residents politicians and developers have had quarrels with the omb for years i think of us going to theomb when the still fenninsisted board members dont act as a rubberstarnpfordevelopers ora mouth- piece for the tories s dont know what our members political leaningsare their positions have to be defehsiliberalsrwere in power and the ndpjyerefin ble they are open to scrutinyand challenge y power its not like ifs a hew phenomenon under she said i j thenbw reglrne decisions are not based on the members or at thesame time bellfeels municipal coun- meifvackground or experience prleahingsthey cils are losing control of local planning decisions are very much based on thelannihg act thanks to the increased powers of the board the omb has 27 rriembers 12 of whom have but in the- ombs defense he also agreed at least bight years experience on the board some municipal politicians use the board as thirteen are in their first threeyear termr 1 crutch sblhey wont have to take responsibility j board is madeup of accountants for controversial development decisions 1 lawyers planners engineers business people however de baeremaekerhas lost faith in and farmers ontarios planning process- thanks in largepaft stephen kaiser president of the urban to the omb iw- i development institute a developers lobby group also rejects the idea that the omb fast- tracks developers applications most people are not opposed to altgrowth they just want smart- growth but it has come down to who has themost money he said r v iissi- tj regionalx news digest whats happening magical memories -i- april 14 f 5 16 tt z markham village community centre hwyandh7fjf jhemarkham skating club is rehearsing for its upcoming ice shbwposinglkaterj are from left courtney pitcher caitie croza aureen richardson matt hosiak kartlih wayne erin dougan amanda ruttan m 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