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Ay it To an, . e aS Ta a 3 ry Sg at Te 3 BUST? Vol. 112° No. 20 Fortis FAN > } ve ' we A PRT N } a EE ana ee TE a lL. LL SMe ao Seg Wednesday, March 22, 1978 32 Pages With the business community of downtown Port Perry now in the process of deciding whether or not to proceed with a Business Improvement Area, the Port Perry Star last week spent a day in Acton, Ontario, a town of about 7000 people, which last year set up a BIA, and is now into the second year of a five-year plan-to revitalize the downtown commercial section. The Star talked to several people, including downtown merchants and those who were instrumental in setting and managing the BIA, in an effort to find out what the BIA has meant to Acton, a community similar in many ways to Port Perry. Situated some 10 miles from Georgetown and 15 miles from the city of Guelph, Acton in the 1970's is a community in transition. While its traditions are small-town rural Ontario, it has in the last few years undergone signatificant changes. Like Port Perry it became part of a regional municipality (Halton) and it was amalga- mated with Georgetown into a new com- munity called Halton Hills. * : Local industries such as a large tannery and leather goods manufacturer provide about half the jobs for people living in Acton, but more and more, people who are moving into the new subdivisions "work elsewhere; in Guelph, Georgetown, Milton. - to the south, and the western fringes of Metropolitan Toronto. Shopping Plazas " Although the community so far has resisted the development of "a shopping plaza within its immediate borders, one local businessman told the Star last week that Acton is in fact "surrounded by shopping - centres," within easy driving ~distance.- rey This fact, coupled with the influx of new residents who had no traditional or psy- chological ties with the commercial core of Acton, were the underlying reasons for the formation of a BIA. : Henry Stachyra owns a television sales and service shop on Mill Street, the heart of the commercial core in downtown Act- on. He has been actively involved with the Acton BIA almost fromthe outset, and he says quite simply that "we want to keep people shopping here." He also reasons -that the development of flourishing down- town commercial area would act as a deterrent to any developer with plans for a shopping centre in the immediate area. Mr. Stachyra, who says he is by nature not a joiner, initially stayed out of the plan to get the BIA off the ground. But like "everyone we spoke to in Acton, he says he ~recognized that something had to be done for the downtown core. In August, 1976 he took . the job as chairman of the BIA steering committee. A couple of months later a public meet- ing was held and 50 of the 78 business people in the proposed designated area turned out. It was an information meeting, and by a vote of 48-2 those present made the decision to go ahead with the circulat- ion of the necessary by-law to set up the BIA. No Objections The notice of intent was mailed out to the 78 business people within the designat- ed area and after the waiting period, there 'were no formal objectors. ground-work very well," 'explains: Mr. Stachyra. , = -In- February "of 148t year the Board o Management was set up (six businessmen and one member of council), and the establishing by-law got formal approval from the Ontario Municipal Board in May. Written into the by-law is a maximum budget that the BIA can set each year of $20,000, with this money raised through the business assessment of those in the desi- gnated area. © Mr. Stachyra feels that setting this maximum budget in the by-law helps to guard against runaway spending on grandiose schemes. At the same time, the Board of Mange- ment opted to seek this maximum budget of $20,000 in 1977 because it was felt that it was necessary for the BIA "to make a "We did our visual impact in the first year of operation. With the two main streets in downtown Acton slated for a major upgrading last summer, the Board of Management decid- ed to dove-tail the construction of new sidewalks. They agreed to lay down some Continued on page 10 Tr ED EE RT Fr ae rT re ere eee (HH HEREC TT It's almost Easter once again and pretty young girls like four-year-old Shari Lee eagerly await the arrival of the Easter Bunny. Shari, daughter of Mr. 'and Mrs, Larry Lee, Port Perry was more than 0 Subdivision Agreement Approval close Van Edwards Invest- ments Ltd. of Port Perry expects to sign a subdivi- sion agreement in the next couple of weeks with Scugog Township for development of 43 lots for single family housing units. : 3 EY Pretty Easter Smile willing to pose with the soft fluffy bunny and Easter With Spring officially arriving last. Monday, it wont be long until the short, cold days of winter make way for the warmer days of Spring. bonnet. A spokesman for the company said last week that only minor details remain to be worked with the Township regarding the formal subdivision agree- ment and eonstruction work will get underway this E FEE a spring. The lots will be developed on a 10-acre parcel of land west of Centennial Lanes Bowling Alley on the south side of Highway 7A in Port Perry, and access will be Continued on page 2 R UI THREE HE HHH HTH TT Hinman (HTH HERI (TTT ERT EE RTE EE REE ni HHHHHHTHH HHH