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{ "A Family Tradition for 131 Years" f PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 4, 1997 -5 By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Residential growth over the next 25 years should be direct- ed south in Port Perry rather than west, township councillors agreed at their regular meeting last Monday. Commenting on the report "Preferred Growth Option" prepared by consultants The Planning Partnership, council- lors also stressed that new housing should be at a moder- ate rate of about 95 to 100 units each year until the Port Perry urban area reaches a popula- tion of 14,400 people by the year 2021. It is now 6,400. And new housing in the rural areas and hamlets should move at even slower rates to reach a population of 14,076, compared with the 12,500 now living outside Port Perry. "People are telling me that the growth this year has been too rapid," said Ward 5 rep Karen Puckrin. But she agreed the appearance of lots of con- struction activity in 1996 may be somewhat misleading, because the township is just now coming out of a five or six year period when new develop- ment virtually came to a stand- still because of the recession. They call for a ceiling of 95 to 100 new homes a year in Port Councillor Puckrin said 95 housing units per year "should be the absolute maximum." In fact, Scugog building per- mit values hit just over $20 million in 1996, about double the amount in the previous year. Other councillors agreed that Scugog should adopt a moderate growth pattern in the decades ahead. "We don't want to have everything covered with (new) homes," said Ward 4 rep Joyce Kelly. "That could happen if we're not careful." Growth areas identified The overview report was prepared by consultants Ron Palmer and Bruce Hall, who identified three specific areas for long term housing develop- ment on full municipal sewer and water services. Two of the areas are south of King St. in Prince Albert (west of the school and south to the Oshawa Rd.), and coun- cillors agreed with these areas as preferred. A third area, defined as on both sides of Hwy. 7A west of Cawker's Creek, was ruled out by council for residential growth, mainly because cur- rent growth patterns in the urban area are on a north- south axis rather than east- west. A portion of the discussion on growth centred around whether new housing should somehow be tied to new indus- try in the township. "I believe the community wants some kind of linkage (houses to industry), and we should explore this," said Ward 1 Councillor Doug Moffatt. Mr. Palmer said efforts by other municipalities to directly link housing with industrial development don't work very well. "There is no way you can force (developers) to build something (industry) that they don't want to build," he noted. And Mayor Howard Hall said efforts by the Township 20 years ago to demand that a housing developer first put up an industrial building were not very successful, as the building had vacant units for quite some time. The developer eventually came to the council and demanded the okay for residential development, said the Mayor. Ken Carruthers, who chairs the council's economic develop- ment committee, said he wants to see new industrial assess- ment, but admitted the idea of direct linkage "makes me ner- vous." "We have to be very careful about the type of industry we want in the Township. And a home builder just may not be able to develop industry," said the Ward 2 Councillor. An eye to job creation Regional Councillor Marilyn Pearce said job creation has taken on a whole new face in the 1990's compared to the more traditional methods of" decades gone by. More and more "industries" that create jobs are starting in private homes, she said, as opposed to the typical manu- facturing factory of 20 years ago. She suggested Scugog must recognize this change in how employment opportunities are being generated by this "new industrial way of thinking." And the township must put new policies in place "that reflect" the fact that people are working out of their homes, she said. Mr. Palmer said he will pre- pare a follow-up report on future growth options and pat- Council likes 'moderate' approach to growth terns for Scugog that will reflect the suggestions and comments made by councillors at Monday's meeting. Obviously all municipalities in Ontario are going to start paying a lot of attention to ways of generating new assess- ment to increase taxes in light of the recent announcements from Queens Park. Local politi- cians learned that school board costs will be carried by the provincial government, while municipalities will be forced to pick up half the cost of social assistance, day care, subsidized housing and homes for the aged. There are dire predictions from some that off-loading the so-called soft service costs onto municipalities will mean an Increase in property taxes as the population generally ages, or when a new recession batters the economy and forces more people onto welfare. Critics of the plan don't believe this disentanglement of who pays for what will be "revenue neutral" or lead to property tax reductions, as municipal affairs minister Al Leach has predicted. | Mother Earth will play Port continuation of Concerts '97, Big Entertainment presents EMI recording artists I Mother Earth at the Port Perry Community Centre on Friday, March 7, 1997. This all ages, licensed event will kick off the 1997 March Break. Tickets are $15 each and can be picked up at The Boom Box and Jayson Callan Music. The doors open at 8 p.m. and opening acts are still Everyone Welcome 10am Saturday, February 22 Holiday Inn, 1011 Bloor St. E., Oshawa, Ont. NOTE! - This is the Association's Annual Auction Competition, Banquet and Dance. In addition to a wide variety of new merchandise (tools, crafts, household goods, furniture etc.), being offered at unreserved public auction you will be entertained by approximately 50 past & future Ontario Champion Auctioneers. Stay with us for a superb banquet followed by a dance with the "Heather Smith Band" Auction - FREE (except for what you buy) Banquet - $32.00 -- Dance - $12.50 AUCTIONEERS ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO For information or tickets call Ross: 905-432-2836 or Joyce 905-951-1628 being worked out. Monday 10) | RILAL it 00am Saturday at 8:00am Restaurant and Wining Lounge Canadian and Butch Cuigine Enjoy a traditional Canadian breakfast or savour our Dutch-style specialty Uitsmieter. IST Queen St, Port Perry 85-2066 % 85-2257 t Twin Size Sleeper Need room for unexpected guests! There's no need to worry. Underneath its plush traditional styling with rolled arms and a tailored skirt lies a twin- size maltress. It also features a matching storage ottoman. "Hartford" SNUGG A Whole New Generation of Comfortable Seating From Action/Lane' SE-R-1- R Hidden Storage ST EL -N [EYL Ottoman Stop by today and get acquainted with the "Snuggler" series. Settlement House 183 Queen Street * Port Perry * 985-8234 RN