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>» cermed have an opportunity for a fresh start to present 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 19, 1989 EDITORIAL @he Porf Perey Hla Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ Darlene Hlozan Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Annabell Harrison Trudy Empringham BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Editor - John B. McClelland Accounting - Judy Ashby 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO News/Features - Julia Ashton Billing Department - Louise Hope Co PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 News Reporter - Rob Streich Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the ADVERTISING Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Advertising Sales Representative: Anna Gouldburn (echa = : _ Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment RIGHT DECISION || The Ontario Municipal Board ruled last week that a li | I a | I IN ! I J Lf \ | a by-law relating to a seniors citizens apartment project in Port Perry is invalid because ratepayers who live in the vi- cinity of the proposed building were not notified prior to Township council approving the by-law last March. In our view, that decision was a proper one under the circumstances involving this project which first came in front of the local council more than three years ago. In her decision to quash the by-law passed by council last March for a 38 unit seniors apartment, the OMB com- missioner essentially ruled on a legal technicality: i.e., the lack of formal notification to interested ratepayers which would have given them the opportunity to comment, raise concerns, and let their council know of their concerns i in i I] | UR I | 7 prior to enactment of the by-law. What this means, is that the project is back at square one as far as the approval process is concerned. A re- quest for a new by-law must be submitted to the council, it will be circulated to interested ratepayers, a public meet- ing held, and if the new by-law is endorsed by the council, the ratepayers have the right to appeal to the OMB. Like- wise, if the council turns down the by-law, the applicant, the Catholic Diocese of Toronto, has the right to appeal to the OMB. The 38 unit seniors building is proposed for land at the rear of Immaculate Conception Church on Highway 7A in Port Perry. - There have been concerns expressed by ratepayers living in the vicinity and some members of council about such issues as parking, traffic flows, and whether the site is large enough for such a project. These and other issues of a purely planning and technical nature were not addressed by the OMB at the hearing last week. Now, that the approval process must start all over again, presumably the residents who are concerned will have a full opportunity to review the de- tailed plans, make suggestions and let the council know what their concerns are before the issue is put to a vote. If they are still not satisfied, the appeal route to the OMB re- mains their option. Last week's decision is an important one for more general reasons. The OMB commissioner went to consid- erable length in her verbal decision to stress the impor- tance of public involvement in by-laws that relate to zon- ing changes. The public has a right to be notified officially and for- mally when zoning changes are contemplated. In this spe- cific case, while finding that the Township council failed to notify interested ratepayers, the Commissioner also said she is convinced the ommission was an "oversight" and not based on any "malice" on the part of the council. That was an important observation, and one that we are pleased to see was made. Scugog Township councils traditionally have dealt with their citizens in a fair and open manner (thank goodness) Citizens may not always agree with the final decision of the council, but lack of information is not a beef they can make. In this case, the oversight was indeed unfortunate, but in defense of council, the members believed they were not dealing with a totally new by-law last March. With the process now back to square one, all con- their arguments and concerns. That this community needs apartments for seniors is not the issue here. ABOUT LOONIES "Leave home without them" is what Ameri- can banks are telling Canadians. The reference is aimed at Canadian "Loon- ies", the new metal coins which are replacing our one dollar bill. Apparently American businesses and banks are less than pleased with the new coin, citing they are too heavy to handle and time consum- ing to count. In fact, they are disliked so much, the exchange rate on our spanking bright new coins is about 20¢ less than our dollar bill, which is quickly disappearing. That means if you are changing "loonies" into American dollars, the exchange rate is prob- ably going to be about 65¢, if you can find a bank willing to take them at all. So the message from the U.S. of A., is leave the "loonie" home. This really shouldn't present any hardship, as it's very unlikely any- one would be walking around in the United States with $100 in loonies in their pocket. THOUGHTLESS LOONIES And speaking of loonies, have you ever no- ticed how many people don't pay any attention to signs? They don't stop at "stop signs", don't yield when there is a sign instructing traffic to yield, they walk across streets against red lights and worst of all, they park in areas designated for handicapped parking. Now I'm not sure who "they" are, but it doesn't require a lot of intelligence to under- stand these signs. And in fact, | would suspect "they" must be able to recognize all of these signs in order to obtain a drivers licence. Last week, my young lad Matt and | drove up to Country Style Donuts before | took him to daycare. As | pulled into the parking lot, | no- ticed a half ton truck parked in the spot desig- nated for handicapped parking. We went inside, got our coffee, juice and muffin, sat down and were enjoying a father-son talk, when the truck pulled away. It was only a matter of minutes before a car pulled into the same handicapped parking spot. A woman and young boy jumped out of the car and entered the donut shop. | almost felt like saying something, but | Random Jottings 'W by J. Peter Hvidsten didn't. Finally after getting her coffee and good- ies, she pulled out of the parking lot leaving the spot open again, only to taken within a few minutes by another fellow in a truck. The same is true for other designated spots around town, in particular in front of the Post Of- fice. | just can't tell you how many times | have gone by that spot only to notice it was occupied y someone Fle capable of walking from be- hind the Post Office. There have been many times, when | couldn't find' a parking spot, that | have been tempted to park in a handicapped parking spot, but never have. | think most people are the same, they respect and understand the reason for these designated spots and leave them for those they were intended to serve. A friend of mine told me she was in the park- ing lot at the Oshawa Centre one day this sum- mer and walked by a man who had just parked his car in a spot designated for handicapped parking. She looked at the car licence plate for the fa- miliar handicapped 8 symbol and seeing he appar- ently had no physical handicap turned to the man and said, "these Spoks are for the physically handicapped.....not the mentally handicapped." She never did have much tact, but I'm sure she made her point, although the guy apparently just shouted back a few unprintable profanities and proceeded into the mall. : It seems there are a few "loonies" out there who don't seem to give a darn about anything but themselves, and until they get a 05d hefty fine for breaking the law, they'll probably continue to pull into the handicapped parking spots. If anyone who makes it a habit of parking in these spots is reading this column, think twice before you do it again. Please leave these spac- es for the people who really need them. Who knows, someday it may be "you" who needs a parking spot on the front street, but, will be for to struggle from behind the Post Office in a wheel chair or on crutches. * NOTE: The latest "Streetfinder" book of the Greater Toronto Area now includes a map show- ing all of the streets in Port Perry. Not sure if that's good or bad, but it means that Port Perry is now considered to be par of the sprawling metropolis of Toronto. Ehhh -------------------- TAP ITLVTE TITAN SLR A pa >, Bo I A HATTA A TT BB A Ri