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1^ o T-- I C M Proposal `an a tta c k ' on Livable O akville: B urton continued from p .l In his remarks at the end of the meeting, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton called the proposal an attack on the Livable Oakville Plan, the Town' s Offi cial Plan, created by the Town and the community to guide growth. He said permitting this develop ment to proceed would be a betrayal of all the residents and stakeholders who consulted with the Town to make the Livable Oakville Plan a reality "The application asks us to ignore Provincial, Regional and Town landuse policies in no small way" said Burton. "If we did that, we would break the very social contract that we created and nurtured with our com munity with so much public consul tation and so much time. It was years and millions of dollars in the making. We got to know each other and our hopes and aspirations very well." The development application drew considerable interest from the com munity with more than 100 residents attending the meeting. Many wore green shirts or pins fea turing the slogan `Save Glen Abbey' Dozens of members of the Save Glen Abbey Coalition, a residents' group, which has gathered more than 8,400 names on a petition to stop the development, gathered outside Town Hall prior to the meeting. Council' s decision was well-re ceived by the group' s spokesperson Fraser Damoff. "This is the result we were look ing for. It is obviously good that all of council voted unanimously to protect the course," he said. "The fight is not over, but it is another step in protect ing the course that we were happy to see happen last night." Town staff had called on council to refuse the development application for a number of reasons. One reason focuses on the preser vation of cultural heritage. On Aug. 21 Town council voted unanimously to issue a notice of in tention to designate the entire 229acre property citing its significance to the town' s cultural heritage. Arguments for the heritage desig nation focused on things like the golf course' s `spoke-and-wheel' design and the fact golf legend Jack Nicklaus de signed it. Town staff said any proposal that would remove the golf course would not conserve the cultural heritage value and heritage attributes. Town staff also pointed out the pro posed development would essentially turn the Glen Abbey Golf Course into an unplanned growth area. They argued this would cause problems, as the area is not served by any significant existing, or planned, level of Uansit service. It was also noted attempting to fix these Uansit and infrastructure prob lems may draw resources away from other planned growth areas. "The significant impact that this would impose on the cultural heritage landscape that has been identified on the property is so significant that staff feel the application should not pro ceed," said Mark Simeoni, Town plan ning services director. "The changes that it imposes on the urban structure are so significant that staff feel the application should not proceed." ClubLink lawyer Mark Flowers also spoke during the meeting. He attempted to outline the reasons he felt the development was in the pub lic interest, noting that 54 per cent of 0 .Q E C O 0 Q. 0 "O fi? DC L U CD L U < o E c .c The application asks us to ignore Provincial, Regional and Town land-use policies in no small way. If we did that, we would break the very social contract that we created and nurtured with our community with so much public consultation and so much time. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton the overall site would be preserved as publicly-accessible green space. "In its current form the only people who are able to enjoy the use of this site are ClubLink members, golfers who are prepared to pay the relatively high greens fees or those who might attend during the one week of the year when Glen Abbey might host the Ca nadian Open and of course we know that Glen Abbey' s days of hosting the Open are numbered," said Flowers. He also noted the proposal would achieve a tree canopy of 42 per cent and generate $ 126 million in develop ment charges. "Given the site' s location within the build boundary its ability to readily access and efficiently utilize existing infrastructure, the proposed redevel opment will both pay for itself and contribute to other planned infra structure projects by both the Town and the Region of Halton," said Flow ers. Residents who delegated, which included representatives from the Joshua Creek Residents' Association, Clearview Oakville Community AlliMayor Rob Burton Oakville o ro <S) g ance, Oakville Lakeside Residents' As sociation, Fairway Hills Community Association, Save Glen Abbey Com munity Coalition and Oakvillegreen Conservation Association among others, spoke overwhelmingly against the development. Some residents voiced concerns about Uafhc while others worried about the loss of a world-class golf course. Another resident asked where children living in the development would go to school, stating schools in the immediate vicinity are either at, or over, capacity One resident told council ClubLink' s offer of publicly-accessible green space is hollow, noting the area is a flood plain, which is why it can't be developed. They also suggested that because of the valley' s steep walls, the public would need grappling hocks to enjoy this green area. Others rejected the idea that Glen Abbey Golf Course no longer has the capacity to accommodate the Cana dian Open, pointing out the Open keeps coming back so "Oakville must be doing something right." Oakville' s Peter Longo said the de velopment would "tear the heart out of our amazing town." Former Oakville MP Terence Young said Oakville residents should have the right to feel safe from this type of development. Young said residents should feel safe from people in a hurry to make money, "tearing up the greenery to build roads and towers that change the entire character of the environ ment and local community." "They should feel safe from too many people and cars being put in one place and safe from losing privacy and peace and losing the vistas that we all enjoy. People deserve to live without fear he character of their community will be demolished," he stated. While council may have rejected the ClubLink development applica tion, the matter is far from over as the developer can appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Oakville council will also have to contend with an application filed by ClubLink Monday (Sept. 25) to de molish the Glen Abbey site. That proposal would see ClubLink remove the golf course and demolish all buildings on the site with the ex ception of the RayDor Estate House, which is currently leased to Golf Canada for its offices, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, and Stables. Burton told the Oakville Beaver the that Town of Oakville council will give the demolition permit applica tion the consideration it is due within the required timeframe of 90 days from completion of the requirements. C O N C R E T E Irim m in g s Ltd. 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