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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 12, 2007 - 3 Councillors believed they would lose OMB appeal Continued from page 1 in the council chamber to urge their elected representatives to reject the deal, which they fear will congest their neighbourhood with traffic. "With this proposal you will approve 185 units per hectare, which is not consistent with the type of residential community that we have in this area of Oakville," said Ed Burcher in an address to council. "I believe you will fail your constituents if you approve this because you will not have fought this to the end of its process, but negotiated a settlement that is not good for the residents in the surrounding area." Burcher noted his disappointment at a suggestion, he said, was made by Town staff that residents should hire lawyers to aid them in defending their position. "I thought that's what we had you for," he told council. "We don't pay thousands or, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars a year in property taxes only to have to personally defend the Town's zoning and bylaws. I believe that is your job." In his closing remarks, Burcher said that the mayor was not living up to his election promises and called on him to do so. "Part of the election platform Mr. Mayor said that you would get good things done for Oakville such as controlled growth, no "We don't pay thousands, or in some cases tens of thousands, of dollars a year in property taxes only to have to personally defend the Town's zoning and bylaws. I believe that is your job." Ed Burcher more secret deals, people-first planning," he said. "I'd say that's not happening today." Resident Charles Johnston also criticized the Town for considering a deal that would allow the designation of the area to change from low density to high density instead of the lower medium density. He also pointed out that compromising to the developer in this way could set a dangerous precedent. "When we go to an OMB meeting to defend ourselves they're going to say, `Well you allowed development here, so why not there?' How are we going to look them in the eye and stop them? We're not," said Johnston. "We should establish a precedent where when we say, `the zoning is this,' then that is what it will be, but we're not doing that. We're doing risk avoidance, litigation avoidance." Mayor Rob Burton responded that this decision would not set precedence because the development application was submitted before Town legislation came into effect that prevents development situations like this from occurring. "We're caught in a space that's going to get better once all these things get through," said Burton. Another resident noted that the fault for the situation lies with the OMB and change is needed to stop this type of thing from happening again. "It's a sad, sad state of affairs," said the resident. "I don't mind agreements in the way of trying to achieve compromise, and I realize that the OMB is all powerful. What really surprised me was when I read about the OMB making decisions and that a decision could be made by the committee member(s). That means that one member could decide what goes on in this particular development and that member may not live in Oakville. We are at the mercy of the OMB. They've gotten much too powerful as far as I'm concerned, but I guess that is a matter for a provincial election." In total, the Town heard from nine delegates, all of whom spoke against the Town taking the deal. Their concerns focused on everything from mature trees that would be removed during the development process to the pub- lic's lack of inclusion when it came to drafting the deal. Resident Thomas Baxter even expressed concerns that the Town was facing a conflict of interest because the developer had paid for the services of the Town's planning consultant. Afterwards, Burton thanked Baxter for pointing out the extent of what he called, "An inherited mess." After the delegations finished, Duddeck reluctantly brought forward the motion calling for the deal's acceptance. "We're faced with trying to realize the best options that we can obtain for the community --the whole community. While I am extremely disappointed that we could not obtain all that we worked so hard to achieve from this development, I feel that the settlement is the best outcome that we could hope to achieve given the circumstances," said Duddeck. "I'll hold my nose and support this settlement." Ward 4 Councilor Allan Elgar was the lone councillor not to support the motion. "I can't support the motion because I feel we're letting the residents down in Oakville," he said. "I'm sure the motion will pass and I personally hope you don't take this out on your councillor (Duddeck) because she has done everything she could." As Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan voted to support the motion he noted that as a litigator he knows that when the cards are stacked against you, sometimes the only thing you can do is make a deal. "I firmly believe that if we go to the OMB we will lose," he said. These words proved no comfort to the Maurice/Garden Drive area residents who came to the council meeting. While many stared daggers at council members as they rose from their seats others could be heard uttering, `That's so disappointing,' and `That's just great.' If you have a news tip or story idea, call the Oakville Beaver at 845-3824 VISIT US ONLINE Need Help Creating Something Unique? See our design team! Looking for something different? You'll find it here. 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