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4 - The Oakville Beaver W eekend, Saturday March 25, 2006 Town came up empty on help from others Continued from page 3 powers into disrepute/' said Pepino. She argued the Town had applied fairness and consisten cy and Palm Place had not. Noting Mayor Ann Mulvale had written to all levels of gov ernment seeking many differ ent ways to acquire the proper ty, but came up empty. During the hearing town planner Peter Cheatley testi fied the town was led to believe the land wasn't for sale after the developer supplied a confi dential figure that "made our collective jaws drop." Donato Salon + Spa is happy to w elcom e Leo Cornacchia to o u r aw ard w inning te a m a t S q u a re One. Visit D onato S alon + S p a 's internationally acclaim ed g ro u p of hair d e sig n e rs, a e s th e tic ia n s and M a ssa g e T h e ra p ists today! 905 566.5900 . d o n a to .c a A council call to the province to declare a provin cial interest in the site, earned what Pepino called "a stun ningly peculiar response" from the minister of municipal affairs and housing, who declined because the matter was before the OMB. David Crombie's Royal Commission on Waterfront Regeneration said more than a decade ago the land should be secured for public use. "Everybody said nice things and nobody put their money where their mouth is," said Pepino. The lawyer went through how Palm Place had filed its application in November 2003 with "the skinniest of support ing material." It then appealed inaction by the town. The town claimed it couldn't make a call based on the lack of information. "Everybody said nice things and nobody put their money where their mouth is." Jane Pepino, lawyer for Town o f Oakville Pepino said the application was "a moving target." The 1,000 units became 400 on the west side of the property and `future develop ment" earmarked for the east. Jackson has scrutinized council's final action in which it held a public hearing and heard delegations on the appli cation in February 2005. It then went behind closed doors, continued on another night in March and then came out saying its position at the OMB would be to support lowdensity residential. It also left the door open for further negotiations with Palm Place. Council also specifically sub jected the east half of the prop erty to Official Plan review, since no application had yet been made on it. Jackson has delved into whether council was making planning decisions in private, but Pepino said it was giving legal instruction. Pepino said the ability for council to make a planning call had been pre-empted by the OMB appeal. She noted Oakville has "a culture of broad public consultation" so it involved the public as though it still had jurisdiction. The OMB called Cheatley as a witness when neither side did, but Palm Place argued his testimony supported their appeal. In a report to cotmcil in early 2005, Cheatley said it was his professional opinion the best use of the property would be as public park. Failing that, he said, 300 units in a five-to-eight storey trio of buildings would be acceptable, in exchange for half the site as a park. Pepino said the evidence showed Cheatley had believed that to be acceptable to Palm Place. However, when Russell said this wasn't the case at a public meeting, the town moved ahead with its low-density position. Py the time the case was before the OMB, the east half had come back into the fray as Palm Place offered it in exchange for 370 units on the west -- and not one unit less. When Jackson questioned what may be seen as a lack of town interest in the east half as a park, Pepino said the OMB See So-called page 9 CARPET CARPET · O RI EN TA L R U G S · V I N Y L · H A R D W O O D · C E R A M I C S O a k m lle Q u a lity , a t 'W arefiwm & T r ic e s ! Limited Stock H eavy Berber O a k v i l l e 's F i n e s t T o b a c c o S h o p M A T um N G . * Danhilf * Colibii CIGARS · CIGARS · CIGARS · CIGARS · CIGARS · CIGARS SOoz Nylon Twist, Com pare $5 .4 9 SF C om pare $ 3 .9 9 SF Includes Installation and Under Pad *S1 D upont *Por*ihe *X ipjw *H um idor;, ' Yktonrwx *Lamp Ikrgcr *liintfgM eH ouse * &rigi?*m Pifn'*. Area's largest selection of area rugs, handmade Persian Rugs and Designer rugs | H U M ID O R S *Nterson *$Unwd! »D & ft C artas *S«r *M fotdhm m i *M « jr$luggage f lottery «m B ulk x Tinned Tobacco Flooringca Trafalgar Village (905) 849-4472 · SUV9I3 · SNV9D · SNVDD · SUV9D · SNV9D · SHVDD · v A cross from the n e w H om e D e po t or visit Huae Super Store DOWNTOWN HAMILTON 2 2 8 K i n g S t . E . West o f Ferguson (9 0 5 } 5 4 6 - 1 9 2 1 O pen Sundays 12-4 B S B S 3 3 B Located across from Oakville GO Station 117 Cross Avenue, Oakville, Ontario 905-849-3845 IL ife(P r o d u c t s ] "Only at Mooro Life Products will vou find sloop rooms, you can fast our selection o f b e d s in the privacy of clo sed doors, snuggled under a duvet, w hom you can take m u r time, " .