'. "t ~ -p- WIUTBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6,199ô, F~AGE 9 OffÃicaiPlan guidelines iýgnrec4 says CARA. president Concl achdôg qu estions town tree Polic By Mike Kowalskj The Town of Whitby bas been accused of ignoring its officiai Plan guidelines concerning the preservation Of trees within the municipality. Pat Dooley, _pesident of the ciation, levé] els hrge flot just the current Town council but every ne since implementation of the Town's officiai plan in the early1970a., Doole>y's accusation stenmsfrom council's decision last week to have Town staff investigate the feasibility of a tree preservation. policy for Whitby. If approved b y ouncil, such a policy would one part of ftiiure subdivision agreements between the Town and develo- pers. It would prevent a repeat of a recent incident in wbich a stand of trees was removed from a subdivision despite the develo- per's promise k> preserve them. However, Dooley contends t bis would not be necessar if a pre- vious council had followed the officiai plan. Section 2.2.6 of the officiai plan states the following: "It is the policy of the Town k> ensure the preservation of trees and forestedi areas through the implementation of a bylaw re- stricting and regulating the cut- tigof trees in accordance with e prvsions of tbe Trees Act and Section 457, Subsection 4, of the Municipal Act.» However, the referenoe k> the Municipal Act is no longer valid as that section was repealed by the provincial government in 1984. "Who bas benefited from no tree policy in the town?» asked Doolev. Choose from hundreds of quality fabrics! Victorian Parlour Furniture For Sale! AppraisaIe Cail 655-8739 "WËy, bas the planning depatrt- ment and council refused k> im- plement a policy since tbe crea- tion of tbe ôfficiai plan?" Dooley noted tbat council bas undertaken a $437.000 review and updating of the official plan. "If the officiai plan is so impor- tant k> warrant a review, wby don't tbey' know wbat's in it nowr» Dooley sfressed tbat be is not blaming tbe current council and planning staff solely for tbe lack of aby aor pohicy, but feels tbey must sbare the iresponsibi- hîtyýwith tbeir predecessors. Mayor Bob Attersley dismisses any suggestion tbat Whitby bas intentionally ignored its own offi- cial plan. "It's a little more complicated tban tbat,» said Attersley, wben asked wby a bylaw or olicy bas neyer been passed in Witby. Attersley said Wbitby's officiai plan was approved prior k> tbe creation of regional government in 1974 and believed an actual bylaw would fali under the Region'sjurisdiction. (Attersley sugqested cbecking witb tbe planning department for a specifle expianation but director %ob Sbort was not avail- able for immýdiate comment.) Attersley pointed out tbat a motion by j councillor Maroel Brunelie cafl ng for a bylaw wýas witbdrawn a~ last week's meet- ing for tbat riason. Attersley said tbat despite'no actuail aw: or policy being in place, planning staff bave always insisted on perserving trees wberever pssile. urve ben bere for 25 k>, 27 years and bave neyer noticed trees k>rn" out of the ground for no reason,» said Attersley. "I tbink tbe planning depart- ment will take it ail ink> conside- ration and deal witb it itbeir report. I tbink we aIl want k> save trees." Brunelle, tbe prime instigator of a tree policy for Whitby, ter- med tbe officiai plan passage cited by Dooley a "mice all-encom- passing statement.» «ýBut tbe nitty-gritty is wbere rmn at. I want it written ink> eacb subdivision agreement wbat's required,» said Brunelie. Brunelle said planning staff bave exercised control aver deve- lopers but wonders k> what preaxnble. lengtbs staff bas gone k> protect «Particip trees. servation)1 "I want to put in the plan a basic re (subdivision agreement) where cants of,% trees are and wbat's done k> sion," it reà preserve tbem." Penaltieo Brunelie bas provided staff developers with a model tree preservation out written program based on tbe polic fol- Town. lo>wed fr, tbe Town of Pickermg. Hie proposai aims k> «preserve Penalties asniny quality trees as is rea- developer r sonal possible in a manne r bis cost or tbat is practical and. economi- developer's cally feasible,» according* k> the for tbe repli >ation itheTree Pro- Programme shouid ho uieent for ail appli- rft plans of subdvi- iwould ho imposed on removing trees witb- ipermission from tbe Swould include tbe replacing the tree(s) at -e Town cashing the 3letter of credit to pay lacement. Torch Run ends Thursday Durbam Regional Police are tbe Torcb. Run. Call 579-1520 or taing pa th te 'Adopt-a-Cp make donations at police stations fundraîsing portion of tbe in Durbam Region. Ontario Law EnforcementToc Run. Durham police will take part Mie Torcb Run, beld tbis in tbe Torcb Run. Eigbt separate week, raises funds for tbe relays wili start froni various OntarioS ecial Olympics. parts of Ontario, al ending at nderAdopt-a-Cop,' residents tbe Skydome in Toronto on can mae donations in support of Thursday, June 7. oldandGUIBoutique UNE, SPECIASi ýy 1