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Struggling to preserve neighbourhood Residents shocked by counc's action Residents of the Bow- man Ave. area have at- tacked Whitby Town Council for not hiring specialized legal coun- set in the upcoming On- tario Municipal Board hearing that was sought by Jovial Investments Limited and its part- ners. Jovial Investments Limited had sought to construct a Canadian Tire retail outlet on the northern portion of its lands on Dundas Street East, immediately be- hind Bowman Ave. un- der the property's spe- cial purpose commer- cial zoning. While the town-fathers unanimously denied the developer's.application, they refused to hire a lawyer with specialized knowledge of planning matters two weeks ago even though Jovial has retained such an attor- ney. In a written state- ment, 16 Bowman Ave. residents said that they were fighting to pre- serve their neighbour- hood's residential character. "For ten years, we have been struggling to have the remainder of the unused, unserviced land around us develop- ed for the enhancement of this small residential area of town," they said. The residents claimed that they were surprised to find themselves on the fringe of one of the town's sub-central commercial areas. "It came as a shock several months ago to learn that, because of Durham Regional planning, our street had become the fringe of a 'sub-central study area,' to be used for planning commercial, industrial, etc. growth in Whitby," they said. "For the last six mon- ths, homeowners have been fighting against developer's plans to build a 23,000 square foot, 15-bay Canadian Tire Store on a 'special purpose commercial' parcel of land," they added. The residents point out that the proposed access routes to the development would go through their neigh- bourhood. They also pointed out that council denied Jovial's application for three reasons: "The ratepayers and homeowners adamant and valid objections. to traffic flow through a single family residen- tially zoned area; "The increased volume , of' traffic on Crawforth Street on which a separate school is located; "The region planning designation for that parcel of land is 'special purpose commercial'. Canadian Tire is now virtually a department store (their own adver- tising depicts this) and requires full commer- cial zoning." The residents are par- ticularly critical of Mayor B'ob Attersley and West Ward Coun- cillor Joe Bugelli. "His Worship stated blatantly (on-television, incidently) that it was ridiculous to even bring such a motion before council. To request financial assistance for senior legal counsel was beyond imagination," they said. The residents were shocked. "This came as a fatal blow to us, as taxpayers in this town, as Bowman Ave., Crawforth Ave., Stewart Street etc. was one of théescattered areas of this town recently re-assessed, jumping our taxes over the $1,300 mark in some cases, on three bedroom bungalows." They claimed that in 22 years, Bowman Ave. has only been resur- faced once and has only three street lights per block. "We still grass and care for our plugged drain ditches, while we try to shovel out paths for the water run-off from the field where the developer wants to put an asphalt jungle," they wrote. The tone of their letter plainly shows that the residents are bitter over council's action. "There is a good chance that this Cana- dian Tire store could be dumped in the middle of our subdivision," they said. "Why not in thé park land of Pringle Creek? The town sold the park land for this subdivision that had been a virtual gift from our original builder. Or how about the 'Green Belt'in West Lynde? "Even better, Mr. Bugelli, how about con- vincing homeowners in Otter Creek would look better than town- houses?" CONT'D ON PG. 17 Vol. 12, No. 14 Wednesday, April 7, 1982 24 Pages w w w' We're the champions« The Whitby Consolidated Builders have won the All Ontario Juvenile "AA" Cham- pionship. The Brooklin-Whitby Minor Hockey 'Asso- ciation juvenile all star team won the title Monday night at the Iroquois Park Arena. defeating Georgetown, 5 to 2. They took the best of five series in three straight gamës winning the first and second matches 9 to 1 and 7 to 4 respectively. Stu Catterall turned in a hat trick for the Whitby squad while John Fusco and Scott Dazan added one goal apiece to secure the championship. Resident missing The Durham Regional Police Force is sear- ching for a 52-year old mentally handicapped resident of the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped. A spokesman for the force said that John Demster was last seen last Thursday (April 1) at 4 p.m. near one of the centre's resi- dential cottages. He is described as six feet in height, weigh- ing 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He may be wearing glasses. 'When last seen, he was wearing a dark brown coat and dark pants. Anyone with information as to John Dem- ster's whereabouts is asked to call the Durham Regional Police Force at 579-1520.