6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 6, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Time to move forward Probably the only one happy about Town Council's settlement regarding the Bronte Quadrangle is the developer -- Birchgrove Estates. While we tend to agree with Ward 3 councillor Keith Bird who said, "You hold your nose and vote for it," there are a few positives from this settlement. First and foremost is the fact Oakville taxpayers won't be spending any more money on an Ontario Municipal Board hearing that the Town appeared destined to lose. All signs pointed towards another costly defeat for the Town. In February, the board ruled that the developer could move Glendella House, over the Town's objections. A second phase of the hearing, scheduled for September, was to consider the actual details of the development on the Quadrangle. However, the board had already indicated on a preliminary basis that a combination of apartment buildings and townhouses would be appropriate on the site. With that in mind, it appears the Town of Oakville salvaged what it could by reaching a deal with the developer to end the costly exercise. In its settlement, the Town did manage to keep the historic Glendella house at its current Ontario street location, rather than relocating it as the OMB had ruled last February. On the down side, the restored Glendella house will only be 20 feet away from a 10-storey building. But at least the settlement will now allow the disputed area to be developed. While many feel the terraced, 275-unit residential condo tower is too much for the area, few would argue that the current abandoned lot and vacant buildings have become an eyesore in Bronte. Although not in the most ideal direction, the settlement will at least allow Bronte to move forward. This is good news for Bronte area merchants, who have been hoping for some sort of resolution to the dispute. While some may view the settlement as an opportunity lost, it does save taxpayers money and provides for the creation of a heritage street front along Ontario Street. Under the circumstances, the deal struck by the Town is likely better than what would have followed a lengthy and expensive OMB hearing. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Park Plaza Hotel condo plan will add to traffic congestion Re: Condo plan drawn up for hotel site, Oakville Beaver, June 27. The proposed triple highrise 900-unit condo development, plus five-storey commercial and office building to replace the Park Plaza Hotel is unrealistic. It is far too massive for the 1.8-hectare (4.5-acre) site, which depends on Iroquois Shore Road and the North Service Road for access. A population increase of 3,000 people in the area would be a disaster. I am a long-time resident in the Falgarwood area, from the days when it was an isolated area on the fringe of northeast Oakville. I know how much we depend on Iroquois shore Road and the Eighth line for access to the QEW westbound on Iroquois Shore Road and the Eighth line for access to the QEW westbound and the areas of Oakville to the south via Trafalgar Road. The exit from Iroquois Shore to Trafalgar becomes extremely congested at times, and the traffic can back up at least to the North Service Road stoplight. The reverse can be true in the afternoon rush hours. It's a very dangerous area. Adding more population to the site in question would only exacerbate existing problems. Any viable solution would cost multi-millions of dollars. How much would the developer contribute? Traffic is not the only consideration. Other serious objections could be raised including the lack of schools in the area and the cost of providing adequate infrastructure to the site. Town Council should squash the whole idea. F. J. SMITH Developers want too much Pud Re: Lakeshore West development - Maurice to Dorval. Where is the vision the plan? I am most concerned about recent proposals to change the designation for the Lakeshore Road west area from low to high-density with BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com precedent-setting high-rise development. When I enquired about the Town's plan it was stated that this was not an area slated for intensification. However, this does not seem to register with developers. It seems because this "vision" is not officially in place, developers are trying to push through high density development before that happens. Then it will be too late for Oakville because the precedents will have been established. This is not right and I would hope the council will show visionary leadership and stop any movement to high-rise See Proposals page 16 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.