PAMGE 4, WEDNESDAY MY4 98,WITVPEý~R~ whitby Voice of the County Town The only Whitb-v newspD nnni-ntlv innUm Michael Ian Burgess,Publisher - Managing Editôr Published every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography lnc. Phone 668-6111 The FreePress Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. PO. Box ~O6, Whlthy, Ont. Regatration No. 5351 TIMOTHY SAINES Communlty Editor ELIZABETH NOZDRYN Advertlslng Manager Second Clase Mail Registration No. 5351 Council right in refusing change A local housing developer is attempting to change a zoning bylaw which stipulates that a backyard must be 35 feet minimum depth in all new subdivisions. Thedeveloper, Whitby Towne Estates, original- ly wanted the bylaw amended to 25 feet but the planning department was not agreeable to this standard and offered to town council a suggested compromise of 29.5 feet (nine metres). Council voted down the compromise last Mon- day night at the regular council meeting. It refused to grant the request that the rear yard set- backs of the 309 lots in east Whitby be made smaller to the developer's specifications. Town council are sticking by their guns. It has agreed to a 10 metre (32.8 feet) minimum but the two sides cannot come together over the one metre difference. Whitby Towne Estates are now threatening to take the matter before the Ontario Municipal Board. Atrfirst glance, it may appear that counci is taking a hard-fisted attitude in lieu of the current housing shortage in Whitby, but there is more at stake if council had changed the bylaw. Precedent is a key factor in council's decision. What you give to one company, another will cer- tainly also want. If the developer was granted its request, anotper developer will ask for another zoning changè and this could continue right on down the Une. A pyramid effect will have been caused where one developer gets Its way and others will'quickly follow with their requests for change. it is necessary for council to show they will not be railroaded into any decisions. It has to look at each situation and weigh the pros and cons. In this case, it figured that the zoning standard was passed as a bylaw for good reason and it should stay that way. "We're conscious of the need to satisfy the housing demand, but not at the cost of departlng from the planning principles that we'vedadhered to, " said counci 1lior Tom Edwards. Councillor Marcel Brunelle said the developer's proposai would create "postage stamp-sized lots~" "Ten metres is a minimum standard and even that is smali. When you have a standard, you should stick by lt," he said. It is ridiculous to think that homeowners, especially ones with children, would want their residences crammed onto a lot with the house behind as close as 50 metres away. The planning department warned in its report that a reduction in rear yard setback would cause shadowing effects and deteriorationof privacy. There is 50 much undeveloped land ln Whltby- that Itseems senseless to try and cramas many houses as possible into this subdivision. Whltby haá established a special, friendly at- mosphere within the town. Its spaciousness does not allow for the crowded feeling that one gets while visiting a congested area such as Toronto. It must be possible to sacrifice one or two homes and go ahead with the development under current zoning regulations. We do have something special in this commu- nity, so let's hope our future isn't an urban centre with its lack of privacy. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dt Dus counts to Seniors Dear Sir: i arn puzzled, by the opposition of some well fixed seniors to the co- operative efforts of the Seniors council and the merchants of Whitby to stimu- late the spending in the stores of this area by offering dis- counts to seniors. The store owners feel that even a five per cent increase in their gross sales could make a big difference to their businesses. That is why they are co- operating so will- Ingly. Our program ls modelled on the one used so suc- cessfully by the Scarborough Sen- lors Councilwhere 500 merchants have been using it for 4 years. According to government statis- tics published on television, national savings are at an ail time high, 18 per cent higher than they have ever been. We seem to be rather lacking in governmental lead- ership to assist business to survive in this present re- cession, and rather than sitting on our hands, we are trying to do something. As seniors, we have been tember- ed by existing through the depres- sion of the Thirties, when it was drilled into you that you had to conserve to survive, and to look out for the future. The ultimate aim In life was to get the home paid for, no matter what sacri- fices you made to pay the mortgage and to set some- thing aside for our old age.,As a result of that Ingrained at- titude, many are now comfortably fixed as the opposi- tion. AccQrding to gov- ernment statistics 68 per cent of seniors are widows. Many seniors owing to circumstances beyond their con- trol; for example, sickness, unem- ployment, widow- hood etc., are having to tive under oppressive rents in rented quarters on bare governmental pensions. These are the people we are fighting for. To these seniors these discounts are a tre- mendous help. As a veteran R257090 i do not feel degrad- ed in asking the merchants to aid these seniors. No one is compelled to carry our ident card or to take the gener- ous discounts offer- ed. The ident card provides a potential mailing list of seniors who belong to clubs or who are independant, to whom the Seniors Council can send a proposed monthly news letter to keep them Informed of current events of in- terest to them, emergency phone numbers etc. Frank Jenkinson, Claremont. - . - - ---i------ ~r'- 'y oweu a'umnu upmratead byWDUDby resktents for Whltby residents. ÀON i