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Be Eka os aah TT -------- 8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 25, 1969 Letters to the editor Unfair all snowmobilers pay for the sins of a few rotten apples To the Editor: I would like to address the pro- blem brought to our attention in the Scugog Township area regar- ding the use of snowmobiles in built-up areas. I know the Town Council has a problem with com- plaints of people driving their machines over other peoples lawns, on the sidewalks, around schools, etc. The same old thing always happens when dealing lumped together as one big rotten bunch. We have a small percentage of petple causing all the problems ut we all must suffer for this, If Council has its way and bans or greatly restricts the use of snowmobiles in their jurisdiction, we will all have to pay a high price for the few. I believe a fair solution to the problem can be worked out. First, if the people who are breaking the law were dealt with to the full extent of the law and charges laid by Durham Regional Police and heavy fines laid. The residents of Scugog can also help ~ by charging people with trespass if they know who is doing it by taking down I.D. numbers and turning them into the police. When problems came up involv- ing skateboards and bicycles awhile ago, the newspaper ar- ticles suggested that we provide with snowmobilers; we all get | LOVE PORT PERRY There's been a lot of crying the past couple of weeks about the demise of Port Perry as a nice place to live. : Hogwash! I'm not a lifetime resident of this area, but having lived here for almost a quarter of a centu- . | still can't think of a better place to live. Port erry remains a small, friendly rural town which anyone could be proud to call home. You can still walk down the street and be greeted by any number of people. Yes, people still do say "hello" on the streets of town, al- though some would like us to believe otherwise. Maybe those same people who "bash" Port Perry; complain of a deteriorating town and its insensitive residents should make a little effort to correct that and say "hello" first. I'm sure they would be greeted by a warm, friendly response . Sure Port Perry is having some growing pains, but then what small community within communting distance to the sprawling metropo- lis of Toronto isn't? New people to this commu- nity don't make it a worse place to live, its the growing trend to be negative about our commu- nity that accomplishes this. | fully agree that there is a shortage of af- fordable housing in Port Perry, but we are not isolated in this respect. Toronto, only one hour | from here, is having the same problem, along with all small rural communities in the golden horseshoe. Just what the solution is, I'm not sure. Un- fortunately the very high cost of land in central Ontario is making it harder and harder for con- tractors to even consider low cost housing. Ob- viously governments are going to have to get more Tread, but with the debt being piled up, both at Queen's Park and on Parliament Hill, it's oing to got more difficult to extract dollars from e politicians. It's easy to sit back and blame someone for what's happening all over the area, but are these accusations fair? Just who really is to blame for the situation? Is it the government, big business, contractors, or just fact that central Ontario is growing so fast nobody has been able to keep up with the growing demands of people who all want to own their own home? | can't answer the questions in regards to low income housing. They're too complex, and putting blame on any individual group would be Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten too easy. It's very unfortunate that many families are being put into a "squeeze", and in some cas- es being forced out of their homes and communi- ties in the name of progress. But what | really find offensive is the attitude recently that Port Perry is an unfriendly, uncaring town. Those kinds of blanket statements put a stigma on the community that are both unfair and untrue! } I'm sure there are hundreds....no, thousands of people in this community who feel much differ- ently about Port Perry. Just for a change, it would be nice to hear from some of those residents, old or new, who don't agree with the sentiments of those who feel Port Perry has become an insensi- tive town full of insensitive people. _I still love Port Perry, do you? If so, let's hear. from you! NCEE TORONTO'S SKYDOME | spent half a day in Toronto last week, and during that few hours, had an opportunity to talk to a number of "cabbies". Taxi cab drivers are good people to get a quick pulse on what's good and bad about the city, and all three of those | spoke with are la- menting the decision by the politicians to allow the "Skydome" to be built on the railway lands. EVaryukels you try and travel in the core" area of the city, you're faced with heavy traffic congestion and construction and according to the cabbies, it's only going to get worse when the dome opens in July. Travelling from my parking ot around Har- bourfront to the Hilton Hotel on Richmond Street cost me $4.25, of which | figured about one dollar was accumulated by waiting in traffic. The same trip, in reverse at 3:00 PM, (the start of rush hour in downtown Toronto) cost $5.25. In both cases the drivers took the same route, only on the re- turn most of the time was spent waiting for traffic to clear and construction crews to allow us by. _ The always felt, allowing the Dome to be built in downtown Toronto was one of the biggest polit- ical mistakes of the century. That very "political" decision will come back to haunt them a few years from now. In fact, | would be willing to bet that by the end of this sum- mer, there will be screams from those who were opposed to the site from the beginning saying "I told you sol" But unfortunately, it's too late now. areas for people to use their skateboards and bicycles. There were no recommendations to ban these things. Motorcycles, big trucks and crowds at the ball diamonds cause noise; there was no talk of banning them. Instead we spend large amounts of money to help these people enjoy their sport or recreation. Council has had more complaints about ice fishermen parking all over sideroads and private property but nothing in the paper about banning their recreation. The last two seasons have been hard on snowmobilers in our area + with very little snow. The streets are kept bare so people ran on sidewalks and lawns, This is not right, but this is why the com- plaints have increased in the last year. If the police and everybody else involved do their job, we can solve this problem. Yours truly, W.R. Harper, Port Perry, Ontario Comments courageous Editor's Note: The following let- ter was sent to Star reporter Ca- thy Olliffe, regarding her col- umn in the April 18 issue of this paper. Dear Cathy: Your words are the thoughts of many people in Scu- gog, but you were more coura- geous than most of us. You said we must remem- ber our roots, the reason for moving to, or staying in Port Perry and Scugog. Remember more than even that, you said. A few years ago, a local Township councillor was dis- mayed at a proposal for other than single family, one-lot-one- home units at the north end of Cochrane Street. He felt there was some kind of s risk in allowing people who live in such dwellings to cree into 'the community. I wish I could quote exactly, but the mindset remains. There are a few semi- detached and non single-family dwellings in the Township, but their inhabitants are well dis- guised. I can't seem to pick out their third eye, or horns or whatever it is that makes them so distinctly and dangerously different from the rest of the residents in Scugog. The last one in shut the door. It is certainly a natural thought to want to preserve for- ever that which is charming, beautiful and good, but those qualities don't have to disap- pear with change. It just takes planning and an awareness that isn't very in- teresting or alive, or even much fun, without diversity, in every sense of the word. There really is room for all of us, because if there isn't, we are in for more problems than just garbage or affordable hous- ing. Yours truly, Andrea Jones, Prince Albert. Unfair that all snowmobiliers Caters i Loa lo geoyy being punished To the Editor: We are writing in regards to the article on April 11, 1989 Re: Snowmobiles Under Fire. Having lived on the main street in Port Perry for 12 years, we can certainly sympathize with the problems caused by some mindless people on snowmobiles, but we as snowmobilers feel we are being punished for the actions of these law breakers. (Turn to page 10) ter to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col- umn helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to'with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. ; For Better or For Worse® TALK TO MARTHA. by Lynn Johnston MAKES THE NESE BE PRIEAOS Rapin ~|T8, LIKE, SO STUPID! Es | TAAT FOR VenRrs EMME INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED 193 QUEEN ST., PORT PERRY, ONT. LOB 1NO (416) 985-7306 ALL LINES OF | GENERAL INSURANCE | | 1 : | HOMEOWNERS - FARM - AUTO | COMMERCIAL | SON * »