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WH-ITBY FREE PRESS. WÉDNESDAY. FEBRAY4197PAE "Ihave sworn upon the altar' of God eternal hoastility againat every form Of tyranny over temi'd.of man@" Thomas Jefferson. Advse andI es ný h.1 TOWN PLANNING: PART 111, RESIDENTIAL CONCERNS When, a person buys a house'he buys only a building on a piece of land. Nevertheless, he has certain realistie expectations which go far beyond that bill of sale. He should reasonably expect, that his new neighbors are also homeowners and that the neighborbood character will remain essentially the same for. the foreseeable future. lHe should feel secure that the house next door will flot be tomn down and replaced with an apartment building or rooming house or worse. WMen a person pays $150-$200 thousand on a house and mortgages his soul in the process, he should feel secure in bis decision. Yet the bull of sale gives, him nothing but a building and a piece of linnd. The peace of mind that he needs is supposed to be provided by the local government tbrough its, officiai plan and zoning bylaws. Consider then the Town of Whitby and its. old core area. Far from providing jthat security, our Town's zoning bylaws flot only permit that neighbor's house to tbe tom down and replaced by an apartment, tbey even encourage it., jThe Town of Whitby is currently engaged in what is .called a. secondary plan development for its downtown area which includes most of the older residential areas of the core. The secondary plan will provide more detail for the Officiai Plan and when finished, tbe zoning bylaws will be amended to conform to it. The planning department bas recognized that the present zoning (which'allows eigbt-storey redevelopment over most of the area) is unrealistic; however, their proposed reduction in these beigbts to six and five storeys over part of the area provides no more protection than tbe original - there is stil a monetary incentive to a dev eloper to te ardown and build higher. .The-only *zoning which will protect these residential areas is to zone them for what they ar, density, single family residential (RI), maximum height, two storeys. Wit that zo *ng, a developer has nothing to gain and will put bis money elsewhere - unless lie s looking for a nice stable neighborhood in which to live. With-protection of t e neigbborhoods, homeowners will be encouraged to, put more money into fixing up their homes and these neighborhoods will become even more attractive. It lias been an act of faith up 'til now that these areas remain largely intact. Some apartment buildings bave been built, but most have been only two or tbree storeys hfgli and hence the effect on their neigbborhood bas not been too bad. Fortunately, tbey are relatively few. It is interesting to note that the only highrise btfil«dings in the dowrntown area are the seniors apartmenît buildings on Green, and Coiborne Streets and the Regency Towers, aIl built wit h large amounts of governmnent money - the bureaucrats are obviously out of step. Port Whitby, the other "old" ares in Town, is a perfect example of what lack of planning.controls can do to an ares. Once a fine residential area, more than hall of it is now occupied by three storey walk-up apartments most of which were built cheap and look it. The few remaining fine houses are lost in this apartment j jungle. If it were flot for the scarcity of rentai uits, Port Whitby would be a slum. This does not mean that progress and redevelopment sliould grind to a haît and tbe old Town should remain just as it is. There are several empty parcels of land which need to be developed but even these sites should be controlled s0 that the new buildings biend with their neiglibors. The garden condominiums being built by Sorchetti at Byron and Mary are an example of a good in-fill development. That development conforins nicely to the scale of its neighbors - two storesy- but there are sites where a higlier density miglit be permitted provided the buildings were well designed and suite their surroundings. The only way to ensure good development in such cases is to trest escli as an individual exception to a low density zoning, subject to public review of its merits. If. the secondary plan were approved as it stands, there is not only the possibility that the complimentary residential neighborhoods would be lost. but also that the commercial ares miglit find itseif strangled witb nowhere to expand. Currently, many old bouses on sidestreets adjacent to the commercial area have been tastefully converted to shops, offices, etc. This is the logical way for tbe downtown to expand - gradual, controlled infiltration into adjacent residential areas. If those areas were to be replaced by higlirise apartments, expansion would become stifled. Whitby needs to protect its downtown residential areas in order both to enhance the character of the commercial core to ensure its longterm viability and to protect the interests of the residents wbo have invested SO mucli in the unique character of that part of Town. A two-storey limit on development is the easiest way to achieve development control - if a developer wants to build anything higher, it will be subject to a rigorous approval process which would include compatibiity, design, landscape and overail desirabiity. Sucli a process would hot stifle development but would ensure that the quality of the core ares would be maintained and enbanced. A two-storey limit would remove the monetary incentive to cash in on higher densities and would ensure the integrity of the tree-lined streetscapes. Good new. developnients like tbe Sorichetti garden condominiums at Byron and Mary would still be built - bad ones like the new medical cinic across from Ail Saints' Cliurch would not. The secondary plan that is currently underway is not the end of the road - if higher densities are needed down the road they can be created as they are needed. For now, the plan should recognize the reality of today - stable high quality residential neigbborhoods whicli enhance the historic fabric 0f the commercial core. Planning is meant to be a dynamic process and Official Plans and zoning bylaws are not carved in stone. Indeed the Planning Act says that municipalites should rev ew and update their officiai plans every five years - after more than 10 years, Witby is still trying to put some substance into its '\\' f A "-N f.' .~ I 'IH EGRim REAprzR, 1987 WITHOUR FEET: UP By Bill Swan-, This is a tale of youth gone wrong, of life in the big city, of dreams'gone sour. A tale to make mothers sob and macho males ooze sait in their draft beer from misty eyes. The tougli only need resd on. It us the story of a deligbtful child who became a promising schoolboy, the- perfect highschooler, the pride of the campus. Mlas, the promise only failed, the pride only fell. Only the tough need resd on. 0f ail the words in the English language, only he could dling to his place unbidden; chameleon-like, he changed meaning with eve ry new position, like a harlot in heat. The tough need only read on. Let us begin at the beginning. He was born at an early age, the unexpected son of a grunting gerund and a copula verb. They called him Only. No surname. Just plain Only. As an infant lie performed only as expected. In grade school, only Only became properly attributive. Only he would finish liomework perfectly. He only parsed sentences properly. He teased girls only. But bis true talents began to show only in high school. "Who would like to qualify this modifier?" the teacher would ask. Only Only would reply. "Are there any attributives in the class?" another would ask. After eternities of silence, only Only would wave his hand. "How about an adverb? " Now in higli school there are lots of adverbs. The- competition got a little tougli. Only neyer made- first string, ' coming up as lie did against the big guys: words like 'stunningly' and 'courageousiy' and 'stupendously'. But Only always made the bencli squad, the coach confident lie could throw Only into any sentence, in any position,- and know Only would corne out smeiling of phrases. Only Only could do the job. Only could only do- the job. Only could do only the job. Only could do the only job. OnIy could do the job only. Only could do the job, only... That's about the same tiine Only began to be called Lonely Only. And perhaps many should then have known that there was something différent. By eleventh grade many were the whispers about whicli locker room you miglit find hum in next. One day lie took phys ed with the adjectives, and lie was happy to be one ofý them. But the next he miglit be, flicking towels with the adverbs; and the next, tittering in the lockers with the participles. Aýhd even once lie was stumbied into the staff room. But the verbs in their corduroy suits- deaît Only only glassy stares and lie stumbled out- of their' smoke- fiiled presence with a cough. In coilege lie flitted chameleon-like across the English language, a butterfly of sense, a caterpillar of grace. In computer class, though, lie became lost and confused, trying to find a spot between GOTO and OPEN and finally getting lost in the AND/OR statements and getting lis tokens ,lest un the GOSUB routines. Before. extricating himself lie ended up in a sordid affair witb PEEKS and POKES. After college lie got invoived in politics. It took him no 'timne to realize lihe was being used, bis precision blurred against a half-trutb, wbat remained of bis purity pilloried in 4n advertising. Only now Only showed signs of not caring. If only Only... The end came when hé finally landed a staff job with the -CBC. At first lie was happy. The many gerunds, tougli, street-wise, reminded him, of bis father. And thecopula verbs were pretty, the way lie remembered bis mother. Only too late Only found out the toughness of their subjective completioiis.' But then the real slips began. A mispiaced modifier in the CBC National radio' news came first. Only wasn't concerned win the error was repeated, weekly. it wa 's only radio. But When the errors began on TV, on The National, lie sensed the end. 'Only Brian Mulroney knows the next move.' Brian Only Mulroney knows the next move.' 'Brian Mulroney oniy knows the next move.' 'Bil*an Mulroney knows only the next move.' Brian Mulroney knows the only next move.' 'Brian Multoney knows the next only move.' Brian Mulroney knows the next moveonly.' OnIy Only noticed the floating 'only.' Only Only felt only betrayed. Only Only only contemplated suicide. OnIy Only only-resigned only himself to bis only fate. Only now only goes througb the motions 0f bis job, a cog in the bureaucracy. Only Only now cames oniy for other Onlys. It need not bave been so. If only.. e __Rem_