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WITFTy MREplRSS WEDNESDAY, jULY 4, I1GM, PAGE?7 PAGE SEVEN PI,»NNING BY SPECULATION Afler several year o phenomenal growth, the development pressure tbat Whitby bas been experiencing je about ta to taper off. The breather is coming none too soon. Rapid growth"is always accompanied by land speculation which benefits onl y the quick-buck artiste who buy and selU properties -for a living. The average guy who wants an affordable house te, live ini or a place ta locate his business je forcod to, ither mortgage bis seul or do without.. But even more imprtantlyp spoculation corrupte the long ,rmplaningprocosa. a'e prryba been inflatod boyonýd its real value a buvor vL try t ethe zoning concessions wbich wili justify bis- purchaso. ThCs zoning concessions can froquently bewoth sovoral hundred thousand, dollars in evoentual profits and so a buyer can afford te pay a lot of lawyers and consultants ta back bis case. Residents of the area who are tho ones most affected, or other concerned citizens, bave little hope ofmatcbing those slick presontations. One recent case in point involved the Florence Hoard hous on Mr St. E. The original doveloper hadt agreed ta presorvo tho 'house but thon sold the proporty instead - undaubtedly at a good profit. The new owner, now shouldering tho extra cost of the property, applied ta tear the bouse down. Their consultants were quite prepared ta fudgo reality in order ta win their point, and the planning dopartmnent bought thoir arguments. Fortunately LACAC, the Town's own heritage watchdog, blew the whistle. Anothor case involvin an bistoric building was scheduled ta corne before the Planning and Development Conxmittee last night, Tuesday. It concerne the hous at 506 Brock St. S. To fully understand the statua of this building, let's first look at the building immediately north of it at 500 Brock S. at the corner of Ontario St. This particular property was in the nows a couple of years when local barber Saxii Princiotto wanted it rezoned commercial. His application rosulted in tho Brock St. corridor study which concluded that the two properties at 500 & 506 could be rozoned commercial under tightly controlled guidolinos - the maimum floor space at 500 Brock was supposed ta be only 3500 sq. ft. Princiotto proposod a building of roughly 5500 sq. ft. and was turned down. Ho sold it ta Steve Wagner who in turn sold it ta Goldbawk who thon sold it ta, a group of real estato agents. Pritnciotto bougbit the property in October of 1986 for $95,000. The real estato agents bougbt it in Juno of '89 - less than threo years later _ for $428,000, a 450% incroase. Because of the increase in value, Council was under pressure ta a prove an evon greater donsity than tbey bad earlior treTdown. By an interesting bit of sleîght of hand, the original gidelinos were remntorpreted. The new building could contain 3500 sq. ft. of commercial plus 3500 sq. ft. for apartments.- In addition, the building bas a full basement which is being rented along with the main floor, so in fact the building bas '7,000 sq. ft.ý of commercial plus 3500 sq. ft. residential for a total almost double what counicil turned down only a year oarlier. Now back ta its neigbbor at 506 Brock. Lorna Cheah bought the property from Orma Hardie in August 1984 for a more $69,000. The faxmly bas been living in it ever since. Pheo Lorna's husband, sella rosI estate for Century 21 Bock in Osbaw and hias the listing for bis own bouse. Ho is asing $599 000 and the rezoning application before Counicil is an effort ta justify tbat price - ho wants approval for basically the samoe density as bis neighbor ta the nortb. $5999000 wrould represent an 850% incroase in value ini les than six years, woll worth any expenses involved in tbe rezoning application. Bu h ropert hason of the most important remaining bhistor homes in Whitby and LACAC bas recommended its preservation on site. The rea question je: does Council bave any responsibility ta holp a land owner justify the inflatodl value of bis property? I think tbe answor is resoundingly No!1 Perhapa if Council bold the lino a little mnore often, speculatars migbt be more cautious about Whit bybsbti b Moet of the historic buijgstht hi" las'ot n h last twonty were demlished because speculatars drove thie price of the land se highl that they were able ta convince the planners and polticians that prosorvatioli wasn't feasible. But historic buildings am re ly pr of the problem. The contant pressure ta increase deneities, reduce frontagos, reduce parkig, etc. lea ai the samoe probleni. Onlythofedera*-and provincarnmnents are m a -I MOCK TRIAL AT WHI'LBY CENTENNIAL CELEBIRATIONS, JUNE 289,1955 Deputy Reeve Stan Martin (in top bat) was the judge at the trial of Charles Stafford Who was accused ai stealing a banana.-Terence Marre was court clerk, J.R. Kahn; crown attorney and jury members included Bill Hurley, Lyman Hems and Aime Rousseau. Whid1w ArdlvoS Pboto 10 TFEAXS ADO &cmn the WdnesdaJl 2,1980 edition of the e Consultants bave recommended cboure ad the emergency departmentai the Dr. Joseph 0. Raddy General Hos3pital. e Ontario Minister of Health Dennis Timbreil announced tbat $500,000 bas been allotted ta redevelop the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital. * Povicia oficils ay O Tanst wiil netb. expanded E of Pickering for at least four yr. *The Kiwanis Cluîies' reat Ride for Cancer on May 3 raised $7,000. 25 TEAIRS ADO fromn the Wednesday, June 30, 1965 edition of the WH1TBY WEEKLY NEWS *A defective valve in the water pumping station tbreatened ta eut off Whitby's water Buppl st week. " Thirty people wil ho hired wben DuPont adds 23,000 square foot ta its Whitby factary. " Rev. Canon F.G. Ongbey of Osbawa wiil b. guest preacher at the ll9th anniversary of St. Johuse Anglican Churcb on July 4. " Downtown Wbitby was invaded by thousands of swarring bees last week, forcing some stores ta close. e froni the Thursday, June 29,1865 edition of tbe m. Smnitb's Nanniùe Craddock7 won the hurdle race at the Whitby races on June 23. The Ontario County Counlcil is being cbarged witb mismanagement of its funds. James Jewett bas been fined $10 for selling liquor on a Sunday. The fine in the Court ai the Justice of the Peace for being drunk and disorderly is dollar and fflfy cents. o n e 1 ~1j-J 1.I j Ir law ]ýLxx4k"tw 11 a M, - 25 nmoiwmlo.& levm, liq a Il,