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Volume 72, Number 25 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday June 24, 2009 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Registry causes flap There is something wrong when property owners find out second or third hand that their homes are on a municipal registry of historically significant properties, according to Councillor Charlie Trim. "It is wrong," Trim said at Monday's General Purpose and Administration Committee meeting. "If that's the way we are going to operate, then there aren't going to be very many places on that registry." Clarington's Planning Director, David Crome, agreed there was a communication mix up with this issue that he would fix. The push to get two Beaver St. homes -adjacent to the IGA parking lot in Newcastle -- on the registry, according to Crome, was triggered by the fact that the drawing submitted by an IGA consultant four weeks ago showed a parking lot where the two homes now stand. Placing buildings on a registry of non-designated properties that council believes to be of cultural heritage value or interest, gives the municipally 60 days to negotiate alternatives to demolition with property owners. This is a different process than placing a historical designation on a building. The municipality has no authority to place a historical designation on a building without the owner's consent. Building owners apply to the municipality for a historical designation of all or part of their heritage buildings. PROPERTY see page 3 Over 70 men walked Bowmanville's main street Saturday morning in high heels, for the "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event. The event, organized by Bethesda House, a shelter for abused women and children in Bowmanville, is an international men's march against rape, sexual assault and gender violance. Councillor Willie Woo, pictured holding the left side of the banner, was voted the best dressed man in the walk. Developers reject naturalized corridor There are no important natural features to be preserved on the Smooth Run and Brookfield Homes development lands in north Newcastle, according to the developers. Roslyn Houser, the lawyer representing the two developers, appeared before Clarington's committee of Council meeting Monday and said it was unfair to saddle the land owner with the responsibility of creating a naturalized corridor where none existed. "No portion of the Smooth Run and Brookfield Homes land are classified as ineligible for development," Houser stated. The 269-acre property north east of the village of Newcastle, slated for the development of 1,567 homes, was actively farmed for many years. Two Foster Creek tributaries that flowed across the property were diverted through an underground drainage system. A 2001 Foster Creek Subwastershed Planning Study recommended the buried Foster Creek tributary north of the railway in the vincinity of Arthur Street be uncovered and restored. It further recommended that a 100metre wide corridor be established to connect the Graham Creek and the Foster Creek Valleys. According to Houser, the municipality decided in 2001 not to act on acquiring these lands to create the wildlife corridor, and it was unfair to expect the developers to do so. Her clients purchased the property in 2003 without knowledge of any natural features, and Clarington's Official Plan did not show an Ecological Restoration Designation on that land, Houser told councillors on Monday. The developers launched an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in August 2008, for the municipality's failure to make a decision in respect to their development applications. They filed a second appeal with the OMB regarding development charges levied by the municipality. The proposed Smooth Run and Brookfield Homes housing development will, when built out, increase Newcastle's population by approximate 25 percent. Planning Staff and the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) have repeatedly requested that the developers amend their plans to include day-lighting and restoration of the tributary and the wildlife corridor. GRCA staff is of the opinion that a properly restored and naturalized stream channel is the preferred alternative to the current proposals -which is a piped watercourse. The developer is proposing that a new bypass pipe be constructed within the road system of the subdivision to convey the water into existing culverts and tributaries. Through ongoing negotiations and a number of OMB pre-hearing conferences, the municipality and developers resolved a large number of issues related to this proposed development, according to Clarington's Director of Planning, David Crome. However the issue of uncovering the creek is of central importance to the Planning Department and the developers, and remains at an impasse, accordDEVELOPMENT see page 4 What's Inside See page 5