HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DA Y Despite warnings,warehouses approved BMike Kowalski' Loca businesses will suffer if two huge warehouse-style stores proposed for south Whitby are aproved, opponents warned Mnday. Instead of creating an estima- ted 540 full-time jobs, the Price Club and Aikenhead's ware- houses will cause job losses else- where, Town council's planning and development committee was told. But despite predictions of dire consequences for area merchants and their employees, the commit- tee affirmed its previous support for the project. Committee recommended that applications from Invar Indus- trial Ltd., for a rezoning and amendment to Whitby's official plan to permit the development, be approved. Invar is proposing to build the $5.5-million warehouses on 22 acres of vacant land on Victoria Street, east of Thickson Road South. The buildings' tenants would be the Price Club and Aiken- head's -- wholesale/retail/ware- housing operations which spe- cialize in bulk merchandising. The Price Club is an Ameri- can-owned chain which does not cater to the general public but operates on a restricted member- ship basis. About 55 per cent of its sales would come from food, with the remainder coming from non-food and department store-type mer- chandise. Aikenhead's, owned by The Molson Companies, is a building supplies and garden centre geared to both consumers and profession al contractors. A market study prepared in support of the application anti- cipates Price Cl having sales of$100.2 million and Aitken- head's $35 million in the first year (1994) of operation. By the year 2001, those figures would be $125 million and$4" million respectively. Although their decision was SEE PAGE 3 Merchants form association By Mike Kowalski A group of downtown Whitby mer- chants are banding together to resolve common problems. A merchants' association has been for- med to romote the interests of businesses based in the downtown core. Although still in its infanc, organizer Dave Johann of Whitby Audio Video is optimistic the fledgng group will play an im portant role in t he downtown's future. Re said about 14 people have attended the association's early meetings and the initial response has been encouraging. "We have some fabulous ideas we're working on...I think you will see improve- ments downtown," said Johann. Johann said the idea of forming a merchants' association came to him dur- ing the recent budget meeting of Whitby's Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA). (Earlier this month DBIA members ap roved a$155,974 budget for 1993. (Businesses and offices based in the downtown core pay a special levy in addition to their municipal roperty taxes to hel pfund the DBIA. Membership in the DB IA is mandatory.) Johann said a few DBIA members attending the meeting questioned certain expenditures in the budget and he agreed with some of their comments. "When 1 feund out the amount of funds allocated to the DBIA I thought if we could only use these funds better," he said. But rather than just criticize the DBIA for what it should or should not be doing, Johann was prepared to take action. "Some people felt there was a disparity between what people pay in taxes te the DBIA and what it's used for," he said. "So I say, 'join the merchants' associa- tion and have some control over it."' Johann was quick to point out that the merchants association was not formed to oppose the DBIA. He said the association will work in conjunction with the 400-memben DBIA, but because it is a smaller group, the association can be more effective in deal- ing with downtown problems. "They (DBIA management board) are volunteens, thene's only so much time they can put into it," said Johann. "A merchants group can respond quicker, make comments faster." Johann said the association has already prepared a list of concerns of downtown merchants to work on in the months ahead. "One thing we're trying t upush is much more negular foot patrols from the police," he said. A sub-committee was scheduled to meet last week with Durham Region Police Chief Trevor McCagherty to put forward the request, Johann said. "I remember as a child, police coming into the stores to talk to t he owners...it has that home town feeling of security," he said. Other issues the group is addressing are store hours and parking, Johann said. "We're tring for more consistent open- ing hours from downtown business, we'd like it more unified," he said. "We realize everyone is independent but let's be more cohesive." As for arking, or the lack of it, Johann admits t ene's only se much that can be done in providing enough parking spaces downtown. But the association would like to sce a more "humanistic" attitude b the Town's parking enfoncement off icers , e said. Johann suggested that a notice or map directing shop pers to the larger parking lots be placed on the windshields of cars parked at expired meters. SEE PAGE 8 Letters . 6 Business 8 Entertainment - 10,11 Brooklin 16 What's On _- -17 Sports __ _18-21 School news -_22,23 Obituaries 27 Crimestoppers_ 27 Recycler's Report 27