The Oakville Beaver. W e d n e sd a y F e b ru a ry 12, 2003 - A 3 Oakville will take billboard appeal to the Supreme Court By Howard Mozel ( >.\KVILLK BEA V ER STAFF The Supreme Court of Canada has granted the Town of Oakville permission to appeal last year's court decision striking down the municipality's sign bylaw pro hibiting billboards. "We're pleased with this deci sion and we intend to defend our sign bylaw vigorously," said Mayor Ann Mulvale. Bylaw 1994-142 prohibits all third-party signs and regulates ground signs in order to allow only those signs which measure less than 80 square feet. Standardized billboards are 200 sq. ft. The originating lawsuit was launched in 2000 when the Town's sign bylaw was chal lenged by Vann Niagara Ltd.. which applied to display bill board signs in Oakville contrary to the provisions of the Town's by-law. Vann Niagara - an Ontario corporation in the business of erecting billboards and selling advertising space on them applied to the Town to establish billboards at 52 locations around town, primarily along hydro and rail corridors. The company argued that the bylaw contains a `blanket prohi bition' that's an infringement on freedom of expression. In 2001. the Ontario Superior Court of Justice upheld the bylaw, only to have the Court of Appeal deliver a split decision to reverse this judgment in June 2002. " If we let the appeal decision stand, it calls into question the ability of a mqnicipality to regu late matters that impact the aes thetics and character of the Town," said Mulvale. "Signage. such as billboards, has a signifi cant impact on the streetscape. Large billboards can upset the ambiance and quality of life in our community," she said. During the last municipal election, ballots contained a question on whether or not local voters want billboards within its borders. Voter turnout was less than the 50% necessary to make the results binding but of the 24.(XX) votes cast, a mere 3.711 voters were in favour of bill boards. The case will mark the fourth time the municipality has appeared before the Supreme Court. The first took place in 1917 over a pothole issue. In I960 and 1975, the issues involved contract law. In 2(X)2, the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down sections of the bylaw, a decision which over ruled a previous decision by the lesser Superior Court of Justice that upheld the Town's sign bylaw. The latest ruling was a 2-1 decision by a panel of judges that the sections of Oakville's sign bylaw violated a " commercial businessi freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The Court of Appeal ruled that billboards are a form of expression and that regulation of their size, content and location is an infringement on property owner rights. However, the dissenting judge concluded that restricting bill board size was in the municipali ty's jurisdiction and was rational ly connected to the issue of road safety. In July 2001 the Superior Court of Justice, Ontario, dis missed Vann Niagara's applica tion that the bylaw violated the firm's right to freedom of expres sion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In handing down his decision against Vann Niagara Limited, Judge J. Waters said "there is no question here that the Town of Oakville has acted within its juris diction in passing the by-law in question." Judge Waters rejected the "blanket prohibition" and free dom of expression arguments and stated that the by-law' does not in fact prohibit third-party signs or all sizes of signs, only those ground signs that exceed 80 sq. ft. Both sides in the case agreed that billboard advertising is "expression." but the Town dis puted the idea that this kind of expression is protected by the Charter. In rendering his decision. Judge Waters wrote that Vann "has not laid the evidentiary basis necessary for the court to deter mine whether or not the expres sion is protected." " The courts have made it very clear that Charter decisions can not be made in a factual vacuum," wrote Judge Waters. The Judge went on to write that he saw no evidence from any advertiser or potential advertiser about " any hardship or negative impact arising from the effect of the bylaw." Later he said. "It may be that billboard advertising may be more effective than another type of advertising, however, that is not evidence of a Charter infringement." Next. Judge Waters examined the intent of the bylaw: "In this case, there is no question that the purpose of this by-law is not to prevent freedom of expression but for the legitimate purpose of preventing urban blight and pre serving Oakville's unique charac ter." Barrie Erskine* Oakville Beaver IT WON'T HURT A BIT: Adam Farrow , 4, has Baby X-rayed by Beth Bauer, a medical imag ing technology student training at O T M H at the Teddy Bear Hospital at Hopcdalc M all on Saturday as part of the Good Health Expo. About 200 children brought their teddy bears or favourite stuffed toys to the "hospital' to learn about different types of treatments. The Teddy Bear Hospital is a hands-on educational initiative to introducing children to hospital care, injury prevention, and good health practices. Sheridan gets higher designation (Continued from page A1) Therapy, Illustration. Informa tion Systems Security, Music Theatre - Performance, New Media Journalism. Photo Imaging, Advanced Manufactur ing, Internet Engineering, Film and Video Production and Educational Technology. The 1TAL designation also reflects Sheridan's leadership among Ontario colleges in under taking applied research initia tives. primarily through its Visualization Design Institute and Sheridan Elder Research Centre. Through industry partnerships and successful applications to federal and provincial funding agencies, Sheridan leads Ontario colleges and several universities in funding dedicated to applied research. " As the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, we look forward to providing more choices for stu dents. and to meeting the needs of employers for graduates w ith the highly specialized skills and expertise necessary to compete effectively in the global market place," said Turner. "T his desig nation firmly establishes Sheridan as a centre for polytech nic education offering a full range of academic credentials, from apprenticeship programs through to baccalaureate degrees, while maintaining our well-established and successful partnerships with the University of Toronto at Mississauga. York University and University of Guelph." The Spring Issue of @ your libraryTM is now available! C o p ie sa re m a d e availab le FREE a t yo u r lo ca l lib rary b ra n ch a n d to su b scrib e rs o f th e O akville B e a v e r. T h e sp rin g is s u e co n ta in s in fo rm a tio n o no u rC h ild ren 's a n d P re sch o o lp ro g ram s, w h a t's n e wa t th e lib rary, o u r se rv ice s, a n dm o re ! We'd love to hear from you! W em a yc o n ta c ty o u b yp h o n e fo r y o u ro p in io no n th is fa b u lo u s & in fo rm a tiv e p u b lic a tio n . Library offers new take-out service The Oakville Public Library has introduced new feature that makes visiting the library fast, fun and easy -- Bookpack Take-Out @ your library's a new program that provides fun reads for families on the run. In an age where conven ience is key and time is of the essence, the Oakville Public Library is bringing the idea of take-out to Oakville with its new Bookpack Take-Out pro gram. Bookpack Take-Out w ill make visiting the library easy the Oakville Public Library's children's specialists are taking the guesswork out of choosing what books to read next. Five carefully selected picture books for preschoolers are tucked away in a handy backpack. " Brightly inscribed on the back of the Bookpack is the invitation to 'Read with M e' and that's exactly what we warn families to do together." says Daria Sharanewych. Children's Advocate for the O akville Public Library. "Research shows ihat 20 minutes a day of shared reading offers a huge advantage to a child as he or she acquires emergent literacy skills in preparation for school and readiness to read." she adds. This new program has been made possible with a donation from Procor Ltd. "It is extremely fulfilling to see that our donation w ill bene fit young children in our com munity by helping them strengthen their literacy skills," says Margaret Ashfield, Donations Coordinator of Procor Ltd. Each of the Oakville Public Library's five branches w ill have 50 Bookpacks located in the children's department avail able for borrowing. Each Bookpack has a three week loan period, with a limit of one Bookpack per library card. Books w ill be rotated between each branch every few months. Cabin Fever open house this Sunday The Ontario Martial Arts Centre, in conjunction with the Halton Regional Health Department's Winter Active Cabin Fever promo tion is hosting an Open House on Sunday, from 2-4 p.m. Participants can try a martial arts class and rtx'k climbing. Call 905-825-4223 to register Ontario Martial Arts Centre is located at 461 North Service Road. Units 43-45. Visit us online: www.opl.on.ea 1 .1BRARY You can now afford a new Mercedes. Or two. T H E C -C O U P E & C -C L A S S . With these lease rales, consider making a little extra room in your garage. First, for the C240 Classic Sedan, with 5-speed automatic and Touch Shift control, and luxurious leather seating inserts. And second, for the C230 S(mrt Coupe, with a supercharged lR9-hp engine and a sleek, head-turning body. Two great deals so you can make a little extra room in your wallet, too. Mercedes-Benz. You're ready. 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I i m inn >n(tK>ation jpo tcanae Cuatomar to maka J6 equal pare n t» ol $39* tor ih* C230 Sport Coop* tot · Ida* ol S 14,144 or tot the C240 Qaahc M a n tot a tolat ot *17.964 ptut applicable U u i and f**t*t»abon I n i Customer u n o rnpona.tHe tor tnaoranra. malnt*n»cc* and <*pa»» !Quebec t w t n w i tre .efetwd to pap I ol th* t*a» document to* furlhr partojiati c* the :arm» and conditnni: i` quatnmet dacaia* no! to prchaw It* »*h<l* at lease *nd, cutunet mu« return the » to lha d***e< and i table tor a IMotnatra tharf* ol $0.?D/»m ovar >4,000 »>Wnatra». d t t t i aieai and uaa il any |Quebec cu*tom**i ar* rvWrrao to P*|r 2 of me laau docinant to« partlrjliri of Ih* limit* on lha tl**«** to wtucfc th* veSOa wiay b* uaad $ntt tha 00*1 ol u«a bayend tr^t lim# ] Cu*tom*r ha» th* option to buy the *%h<x at i t i u maturity lor $21,703.50 tor th* C2J0 Sport Coupe or $25,697 for ma C240 Cliiac Sedan put any official toea and l u r i encept n MaiwoO*, wr*re euatomet haa no option to putcftaae tr» vahcia Opttoru at* eitra Daate' mar *ea#e tor M i 5 « d«al«» lot correlate daU>U C230 Spo't Coup* ahown optonal fm OW M autuoof C240 Ehrgai>^« tlXTnn wah optional 8>-Xcno>i hndlampa