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12 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 16, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Residents oppose high rise on Park Way Belt property By Melanie Cummings OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Neighbourhood opposition is accumulating over a developer's proposal to build a nine-storey, 207unit building on green space at Upper Middle Road, east of Bronte. About 75 residents filled Halton Region's council chambers recently to formally explain their reasons against the application submitted by Creekbank Developments. The evening agenda contained 25 letters in opposition to the project. Part of the five acres of property are still protect- ed by a provincial land designation called the Parkway Belt West Plan Area that limits use of the land for a future utility and transportation corridor, or for recreational and open space. But the region has given its okay to zone the space for urban development. Single detached homes are located nearby. The land is divided into four parcels with the addresses 2322, 2332 and 2362 Upper Middle Rd. Creekbank also owns part of a former right-of-way strip west of the 2362 property. It is 2362 that is at the centre of the debate. The other two properties were delisted in the last decade from the province's protective label. Win an iPod Nano (all students eligible for draw) A report presented to the committee by Greg Daly, of the planning and urban design firm Walker, Nott, Dragicevic Associates, stated that according to an environmental impact study development wouldn't be a detriment to the area. As well, all required studies, including environmental, traffic and servicing, are completed and each support development of the land, added Daly. Only 40 per cent of the site (2.1 acres) has potential for development and this will include a 50-foot buffer from the top of bank. The remaining 60 per cent of the area, according to the developer, will be dedicated to the town as `Greenlands B' zoning. Creekbank also agreed to remove the three houses, garages, sheds, man-made pond and inground pool on the properties that are thought to be disturbing the sensitive valley land. But Beatrix Morallee complains that slapping an urban zone label on the property would clear the way for Creekbank to erect the nine-storey building. Morallee formed People of West Oakville Residents Association (POWOR) in reaction to the project and has the support of 160 families who live in the surrounding low-density housing. She has also asked for copies of the reports detailing Oakville town council's opposition to removing 2332 and 2322 Upper Middle Rd. from the parkway belt protection. The protective designation was lifted off of the first property in 1996 and the second in 2002. "We, the customers and residents of Halton Region expect to leave here this evening with confidence that our input will become an integral part of the planning decisions made regarding the subject properties," said Morallee. Jennifer Doxstator, who lives on Stationmaster Lane, said that the region's official plan gives each municipality the authority to determine its own land use configuration. In Nov. 2005 Oakville's town councillors voted nine to one to keep the area as parkway belt. Elliot Dyer, a resident of Ravine Gate, told the planning and public works committee that many homeowners collectively paid over $500,000 in premiums to have their property back onto the 14Mile Creek land. Fred Springer and his wife Catherine were one of those residents. They paid a $30,000 premium for the lot on Ravine Gate, he told the committee. Oakvillegreen Conservation Association Inc. also weighed in on the matter. Diane Burton said that her group is opposed to rezoning the greenlands to urban because there is so little natural space left below Dundas Street. Regional staff is culling the public comments made on this issue, up to April 2, for its report to the May 2 planning and public works committee. 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