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Housin.g tooý exp ensiv e,. report eaim s f >MmVol. 12, No. 25, Wednesday, June 23,.1982 20 Page@f>M -a .------ lo loi cric By 1986, 60 per cent of the families living in the Town of Whitby will not be able to afford the current prices of single detached homes. That was just one of Many statistics found in the draft Town of Whit- by municipal housing statement that was pre- sented to council's ad- ministration committee Monday night. The report, prepared by Paterson Planning and Research Limited, also said that unless the town changes some of its planning and en- gineering.requirements féwer people will be able to buy homes in Whitby if mortgage rates do not come down. "A substantial portion of the town's families will not be able to afford this type of unit unless it can be produced- at a lower cost," the report said. " This will be parti- cularly true if the new units continue to be higher priced large lot singles," it continued, "it is estimated that only 44 per cent of the town's households will be able to afford these." The consultant also said that by 1986, 19 per. cent of the town's house- holds will be non-family and that households of six or more persons will decrease. "This re- flects a trend towards smaller family sizes." The report also claims that people on the lower end of the income scale will not be able to afford even the lowest priced homes. "Some 26 per cent of the households will not be able to afford the lowest price ownership units in the town, but only five per cent of the units in the development pipeline are apart- ments," it said. While the town's growth over the last de- cade has been rapid, the report points out that it has not been constant. Between 1976 and 1981 Whitby's population grew by an average of 1,705 people a year. "Growth has not been constant, however," it said. "Population growth rose to a peak in 1979, with an increase of 2,650 persons in that year, but has since declined with an in- crease of 1,400 persons in 1981." The town's growth in terms of population has exceeded the growth of employnient opportuni- ties. "It has been estimat- ed that only 27 per cent of Whitby's labor force now works in Whitby whereas the proportion was 49 per cent in 1971," the consultants said ad- ding that this develop- ment was in keeping with the town's policy of maintaining balanced industrial and commer- cial development. "It decreases the self- containment of the town and it is wasteful of energy." In an effort to meet these goals while pro- viding affordable housing, the consultant suggests that Whitby- make changes in its offi- cial plan to reflect changing housing needs. "The central conclu- sion to emerge from this analysis is that Whitby will have to broaden the choice of new housing available just to ac- commodate the same socio-economic 'groups as in the past," the report said. The consultants sub- mitted a list of 20 recommendations that they believe will accom- plish this. However, members of the administrative committee were not overly pleased with the report. "I have some drastic problems with this report," North Ward Councillor Ross Batten said. "It's asking us to go in a totally opposite direction." "I'm not happy with the report in many ways," Mayor Bob At- tersley added saying that he had numerous concerns especially with the recommenda- tions to change engineering and plan- ning requirements. The 239-page report was tabled by the com- mittee until its first meeting in September to allow both politicians and town staff to study its implications. - Free Press Staff Photo Seniors honored Jimmy Wilde, 82, a veteran of both the first and second world wars is seen here enjoying the ac- cordian music of Dorothy Manderson, president of the Ladies Auxiliary of Branch 112 of the Royal Canadian Legion. The ladies auxiliary held an open house last Thursday afternoon for Whitby senior citizens as part of Senior Citizens' Week. Manderson said that over 120 senior citizens from Sunnycrest Nursing Home and Fairview Lodge as well as others were entertained for an af- ternoon as guests of the legion. Wilde has been a member of the legion for over 60 years and prior to his retirement worked for the old Whitby Public Utilities Commission for 35 years. This was one of many events held during Senior Citizens' Week. Man charged with perjury A local businessman has been charged with perjury and attempting to obstruct justice in connection with a dis- pute with a tenant. According to a spokes- man for the Durham Regional Police Force the businessman had desired to evict a tenant from his building at 421 Brock Street North. Police said that the tenantIs water and sewer facilities were shut off and subsequent hearing was held under the Landlords and Tenants Act on June 18. The spokesman added that the justice of the peace hearing the case was told that a plumber had disconnected the service. Charged is Joseph Ot- tenbrite, 55. He will ap- pear in Whitby Provin- cial Court on Friday, June 25.