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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1979, PAGE 11 Posh seniors'retirement home proposed to council Plans were unveiled last week at the Administrative Committee of Council for the development of a 181-bed retirement home to be* located at the corner of Brock Street and Manning Road. As Herman Grad, presi- dent of Grad Reality Management Limited, Toronto presented his plan to the public and the Adminis- trative Committee, he called the proposed Retirement Home "a very posh home that will be operated-like a residential hotel catering to senior citizens. We are try- ing to provide a service for the people in the middle income bracket." The block of land on which the Grad proposal would be constructed is presently zoned for 26 townhouse units. The retirement home complex would be a four-storey building. Mr. Grad pointed out that th architect is attempting to make it blend in with the established neighbourhood. He assured the 30 area residents who attended the meeting that the retirement home would do less damage to their property values than the town houses would. The proposed complex would have about 57 self- contained one-bedroom apartments or bachelo- rettes. The remainder of the complex will "amount to a residential hotel." Mr. Grad said, "we will furnish the rooms comp- letely with modern up-to- date furniture, not sterile nursing-home furniture." The residents who could afford this "comfortable lifesiyle" would be asked to pay between $550 and $600 a month for a room which would be "'including meals, hosekeeping, laundry - the whole works." Private rooms would cost a little more. Developer Towrj Council received as information* recently ' a report on an application to amend the Durham Regional Official Plan for the former Planning area of the Town of Whitby. The location of the deve- lopment in question is east of Highway 12 in a north- easterly direction from the built-up area of Brooklin. The purpose of the amend- ment application is to permit residential development. The Planning Committee of the Region of Durham met Wednesday morning in the Boardroom of the Plan- ning Department to consider the application amending the Durham Regional Official Plan. Their recommendation was considertd by the Regional Council.at a meet- ing to be held in the Council's Regional Chambers today. The report to the Whitby Town Council stated that the purpose. of the application, submitted in July 1974 was to seek the reduction of the permitted minimum lot sizes in the infill lirnits of the hamlet~ (Brooklin) from 15,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, by amending policy statement of Whitby's Official Plan. The Whitby Planning He said that the cost of the apartments in which resi- dents would be more self sufficient would "probably be a little higher than other apartments in Town." There was concern expressed in regard to the inadequacy of parking facili- ties which could lead to on-street parking problems and heavy traffic. "We are going to have a lot of problems with kids walk- ing to and from school if cars start parking on the street," drops housing proposai Director Kevin Tunney's report to Council stated that having contacted the Regional Planning Staff the Town's Planning Depart- ment has been advised that Somer Rumm on behalf of the owners has submitted a letter indicating they are not interested in pursuing this application. ' The Region's Planning Department will, by report, recommend that this out- standing application be closed. The Whitby Planning De- partment originally recom- mended that the reduction in the minimum lot sizes for the Brooklin area "be denied." The report was tabled pending the submission of a detailed engineering and service study by the applicant. Mr. Tunney stated- in his report that "no report has been submitted in this regard by the owners to date." The information report to the Council from the Whitby Planning Department stated that the application for the reduction in the minimum lot size was accompanied by a subdivision application to the Town of Whitby. The Region of Durham recognized certain water supply restrictions in the hamlet, (Brooklin area) and prohibited the creation of new lots. This subdivision and three othes in the infill area of Brooklin were the subject of the Planning Director's report in 1976. At that time the Town Council concurred with the report and passed a resolu- tion' in 1976, requesting that the Minister close the sub- ject subdivision filesi and that the applications be con- sidered as input into secon- dary plan study. Backstop tender. accqumpted& Council has accepted the low tender of Peel Fence (Pickering) Ltd. to provide softball and baseball back- stops in the town's parks. The town has included in its capital budget two soft- ball backstops for Iroquois Park, and one softball and one baseball backstop for Pringle Creek Park. The prices are '$4,688 for each softball backstop and $4,958 for each baseball backstop. Kent Stephenson of 29 Harri- son Court said. Mr. Grad pointed out that the complex would have its own bus service for the residents taking them daily to and from the downtown shopping areas. This service would elimi- nate much of the traffic. He pointed out that the average age of the residents of the Retirement Home would be between 73 and 76 years when few people drive their own cars. The parking lot on the north side of the building would be more than suffi- cient to handle parking for the staff and visitors. Plans are for the home to have a full-time staff of 40 people which would include nurses who would be on the premises around the clock. Grad Realty Management presented a market study prepared for them which stated that during the past five years at least 171 people of 60-years of age and over have left Whitby. "One of the reasons they are leaving is because there is not enough housing," Mr. Grad said. There are five nursing and retirement homes in Whitby and they are full. At present there are 47 people in Whitby 'who have applied for ent- rance into one of these homes but they have been turned down, "because they make too much money." Mr. Grad with his Retire- ment Home proposal hopes to capture this market. The Town's Planning Department Staff is to report back to the Administration Committee April 17 after studying the Grad proposal.