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Wednesday, September 12, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Symposium attracts 100 Oakvillegreen wants OPA 198 scrapped By Kim Amott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER They were expecting 30 people, hoping for 50 people and ended up with 100 peo ple. Ward 1 regional Councillor Kevin Flynn says the turnout of citizens at a meeting held last Saturday morning far surpassed organizers' expectations, and reflects the concern the community has about Oakville's future. Billed as a Citizens' Symposium on Growth, the meeting was organized by Flynn, and two other regional council lors Fred Oliver (Ward 2) and Allan Elgar (Ward 5). It allowed participants to hear a number of viewpoints on growth issues, particular ly relating to Oakville's planned expansion north of Dundas Street, and to express their concerns and viewpoints. With at least a dozen people sporting Oakvillegreen t-shirts, the impact of devel opment on the environment was front and centre throughout the session. Flynn said that politicians need to real ize the importance citizens place on pro tection of the natural environment. "Any politician, at any level, who ignores the environment, does so at their own peril," he said. "People are genuinely concerned and that crosses all political par ties and, I think, it crosses all age groups and income groups." A comprehensive presentation by Oakvillegreen appeared to sum up the majority of concerns outlined by people who have expressed opposition to Oakville's Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 198, the plan that is being offered as a guide to future town growth. The grassroots local organization is telling the town that OPA 198 must be scrapped, and before it can be re-written, eight conditions should be met. Mike Lansdowne, vice-president of Oakvillegreen, outlined the conditions for the audience: A detailed hydrogeologic study of the whole development area, including the Trafalgar Moraine, must be completed, to make it clear what effect development will have on Oakville's creeks and groundwa te r^ Oakville must have an Environmental Management Plan in place, which will involve residents and develop an environmental vision and benchmarks; The current review of the Region's Official Plan should be completed before the town looks at an amendment regarding growth in north Oakville; Analysis must be done to show that growth will pay for itself, and not cost cur rent residents; Further information must be gath ered to support development in north Oakville, including the need for infrastruc ture and the cost of environmental degra dation; An effective and efficient mass tran sit plan must be designed and funded by appropriate regional and provincial bodies; The Town must reconcile the densi ty numbers used in OPA 198 with histori cal density numbers that are reflective of the traditional character of Oakville and; The final location of the CN Intermodal must be known. As well, Lansdowne told the audience that Oakvillegreen believes significant changes to OPA 198 must be made when the time comes to rewrite it. Lansdowne said the amendment must include the following: A commitment and plan for creating a Natural Heritage System, which will link environmental areas north of Dundas Street; A specific intention to eliminate any potential need for a BumhamthorpeRoad Bridge; A clear strategy for attracting specif ic businesses that would allow for viable live/work situations; A new designation for the protection of environmental features; A commitment to exploring ways in which existing residential neighbour hoods, such as the Bumhamthorpe Road properties, can be appropriately integrated into development; Regulations to ensure vacant employment lands south of Dundas Street are used before development of new lands begins in north Oakville and; The rewrite of OPA 198 must be couched in clear and unconditional word ing including, but not limited to the preser vation of the Natural HeritageSystem, the Trafalgar Moraine, air pollution reduction and reduction of traffic congestion. Lansdowne told the audience that the onus is now on the town to convince resi dents they are prepared to properly man age the growth. "We are not willing to take this on trust anymore," he said. "It is the town's respon sibility to prove to us that this will work." Municipal politicians like idea of tax rebates for campaign contributions By Kim Amott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Oakville mayor Ann Mulvale says she would be in favour of offering citi zens property tax rebates in exchange for contributions to the election cam paigns of municipal politicians. It's an idea several other Oakville councillors also endorse. The Oakville politicians made their comments after the mayor of Ajax told a local audience that his council has passed legislation offering the property tax rebates as a way of reducing the influence the development industry has on municipal politicians. Steve Parish, now in his third term as mayor of Ajax, noted that the devel opment industry has long been the only consistent financial contributor to the campaigns of local politicians. He suggested that the property tax rebates could encourage the public to donate money to candidates they sup port, and reduce political dependence on money from developers. "The only thing that is going to off set the tremendous impact of all this money is the involvement of people," Parish said. Parish was speaking to a group composed largely of anti-development interests, gathered last Saturday morn ing to discuss Oakville's proposed future growth north of Dundas Street. After the meeting, Mulvale said she would support having Oakville council look at adopting similar legislation. "I happen to think it has real merit," she said. Mulvale added that the majority of her campaign contributions have his torically come from individuals who purchase tickets to fundraising dinners and events. Individuals running for municipal office cannot currently write their elec tion costs off their taxes. Councillors Kevin Flynn, Fred (S e e `D o ' p a g e A 5) A3 Photo by Barrie Erskine Dr. Pedro Pereya, one of the guest speakers at the Citizens Growth Symposium, points to a map of the rural area slated for growth. A ja x m a y o r says O M B h a n d c u ffs m u n ic ip a litie s By Kim Amott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is a flawed body that benefits developers at the expense of taxpayers, says the mayor of Ajax. Steve Parish, who is in his third term as mayor of the GTA community, told an Oakville audience that the OMB has effectively taken away the ability of a municipality to manage growth and development. He believes that the board, in com bination with changes made to plan ning regulations under the Mike Harrisled provincial government, has made it difficult for Ontario cities and towns to control growth. "Since 1995, the rules of the game in the planning sphere have been changed to put almost all the cards in the hands of the development industry and very few cards in the hands of the munici pality," he said. In 1999, the community of Ajax, with an annual budget of about $25 million, had to spend about $1.25 mil lion to justify planning decisions that were appealed to the OMB. "That's a crime that a locally, democratically-elected council should have to defend the decisions it has made by spending that kind of taxpayers money," Parish said. He added that councils are often forced to compromise with developers, simply because they can't afford to undertake major battles against compa nies with much deeper pockets. "We have a basic flaw in our plan ning system today in Ontario," he said. "Councils are no longer the real ulti mate authority." Parish was speaking to a group com posed largely of anti-development interests, gathered last Saturday mom(S ee `M u n ic ip a litie s ' p a g e A5) As authorized bv Perrv Krieger & Associates Inc., Receiver and Manager. Inventory has been augmented to offer better selection. BANKRUPTCY SALE FINAL 5 DAYS P IN N A C LE M IN T Q U A L IT Y GOLF BALLS 3 $' M U S T B E DOZEN C L E A R E D FOR S T O R E ALL MENS SHOES A C C E S S O R IE S ! ALL GOLF O ita K -N d IPiKd N FL LIC EN C ED G O LF in d ivid u a l I · xdudinq Tl Driver* & Putter* $A " $14^9 I f .. OAKVILLE Speers Rd (at 4th Line next to Tim Horton's) GLOVES 1029 CLUBS ALL LADIES A L L S GOLF WEAR SHOES Q tH )K -H ,« Onq K-N»l ftli# Ona K-Nn fttct M l L k liiU iJ i` ` I- W W W . C e n t u r y s e r v ic e s in c . A U C T IO N E E R S L IQ U ID A T O R S A P P R A IS E R S B ·i T - y m F T l Oakville HOURS: f t T n p i Mon-Fri...9-8pm .< i*. liitJif.A 'n lm I H I com Sat...9-6pm Sun...11-5pm Terms: Cash, Debit, Visa, Mastercard