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Whitby Fro. Prou, V wsa, JuIIuMy96o1904. Page DEBATE OVER DBIA IWhitby Couneill agenda (s) Planning and Development Committee That the Town of Whtby has no objection to an application tram Pebbiestane Mufti- Services Inc. ta amend its certificats of approval for a waste processing and transfer site at 2000 Wentworth St. Pebbleston'le, which pracesses industriai and commercial waste for transter ta sther a reyciing depot or landf lii site. is seeking ta change certain conditions of the certificats of appraval, including an increase ln the hours of operation and type and amount of material whilch can be processed and stored. Planning staff have no objection pravided the applicant compliles with p rvincial regulatians. Peommnended to council That a condominium application t ram 806885 Ontario Mt. for a 70-unit apartment building at 121 Ash St. be closed. In 1989, applications for rezoning and a condominium were macle. lthe six-starey dwelling was eventualiy bult, but is now operated as ca-aperative housing and plans ta form a condo were abandoned. Recommended to council That a public meeting be held ta change the name af Elizabeth Street ta Deiong Street. A short section of road connecting Harriet Street and Carence Drive ln çentrai Whltby, Elizabeth Street was named ln 1957. However, a Harriet Street resident has writtencauncil asking that it be changed ta avoid confusion with Elizabeth Crescent ln east Whitby. Both the tire iepartment agree with the iame change, a staff report ~tates. Deiang is the name of f amlly whlch has mesided In ahitby since the mid-1l 8008. Recmmended to coundil Operations councllioriSsay the figure is- StI far too high, andi are asking for the publie's help nIn reparting people they see damaging Town property. There were 163 Incidents of vandaiism ln 1993, according ta the repart. R.eclved for Wnormaion Most at info session support association By MIk. Kowaiukl Sparke flow and tempors flared but littie was resolvei ast week on the future of Whitby's downtown business association. For more than two hours cri- tics and su pporters dobateci the monits of the Downtown Busi- ness Imiprovement Area (DBIA) during a meeting at the Roôyal Canadien Legioni hall Wednîes- DBa. foos arguod that it has becomne too expensive te main- tain in its curent form and should ho scrapped. Su p porters countered that the DBf£ is crucial te the down- town's survival and that oven its detractors benefit fromn DBJA in- itiatives. But the two factions could not settle their differonces and as a resuit, Town council may ulti- mately decide the fate of the 16-year-old organization.. a Describing the evening «a waste of time," DBIA op1,onent Gene Peacock said council must stili deal with the issue which prompted the meeting -- a peti- tion demanding a hait te the special tax paid hy downtown businesses. Mayor Tom Edwards, however, felt thore was a "healthy exehange» of views and said counicil will consider the petitioni "son.» Billed as an information ses- sion the meeting was çallod 1by the IBRIA management board in response to a petition circulated by Peacock and other disgruntled merchants. T~1he petition demandu that a tWo-year moratorium hbè placed on the: tax levy- which mnuet ho paid by ail retail outiets and professional offices located within the DBIA boundaries. In addition, the _petition stipu- lates that a two-thirds-majonity vote of DBIA members ho ohtained beforo the tai can be reinstated. (The tax funds the DBIA's annual budget which last year was $155,9 74. the mioney s used to improvo the downtown's appeàrânde and& te spoitisor pro- motions aimed at attracting qhoppers.) Organizers dlaim that 85 per cent of th.e more than 400 DBIA members signed the petition and they requested a meeting with Town council last November in order te present it. But rather than deal with the inatter thon, council ppted to wait until after DBIA members could discuss it. Despite their claims of over- whelmingL support from the membès ,BIA qpponents were outnumbered at ýhe meet- infà... of the 70 or so people who attended the meeting apeaied te ou aretaining thie ma~ment board chair Sean .4~udiid off the prcodings by listing ovents tue DBIA -has spon il over the, yeairs.-- many or w eJh won provincial and national awards. «Can you envision Whîtby without a BIA? Wouid: thero ho Heritage Day? Halloween, Christmas promotions?" Hogue asked. «Without a BLA we wouldn't wishes of its mombers. "Tlhe DBIA in mandated to, use our money and ho accountable and to do ihings individuals can't do on their own » ho said. Hogue conceded that tho DBIA is «not perfect,1 but said any volunteor organization is only as strong as its members. ai dont& feel the DBIA has run its course. We need te continue te work together and fight the oconomic stagnation and decay that threatens downtown Whitby,» ho said. Kathy McCrory, owner of The Old Country Toaroom & Bakery argued that paying the DB LA lovy is one of the factors màking it tougher for downtown mer- chants te survive. "I'm fed up te here with paying unwanted taxes. Doesn't council or the DBIA understand that's what 85 per cent of the people want?» she asked. McCrory also dis uted the value of DBIAhbeautification pro- jects. Such measures are worthless without the co-operation of store ownors, sho said. uUnless the people who own the building malco it beautiful, it won't be,,' said McCrory. "Io it fair to waste mone4y to beautify something that cant bho made beautiful?» she asked. Hobby store owner Paul Savage said DBIA promotions did flot bring more custemers into his shop. «I'm sorry, but your p ne- motions are a joke. Youdon't know what you'ro doing, as far, as rmff concerned," hosWid Savage rejected Hogiee's claim that the levy -- about 87 cents a day on average -- is needed to fund projects which help down- town stores cope wîth competi- tion from area shopping mails. 'Mhe extra tax will cause empty buildings,» ho sad. 'Mhe DBIA in not doing any- thing for me other than taking extra money,» ho said. Board member David Johann owner of Whitby Audio, agreed that "no one wants te pay more SREPAGÉ il DO YOU HAVE A BROKEN WINDSHIELD?