Page 22, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, May 17, 1995 Thebig b ike TOTTEN SIMS HUBICKI employees ride through downtown Whitby -on the 'big bike' recently. Employees from Investors Group, Whitby Insurance Brokers Association and National Trust also rode the 50-foot, 30-seater bike, raising between $9,000 and $1 0,000 in pledges for the Heart and Stroke Foundtion.Photo) by Rwk Reesor, Whltby Free Pres way clearedfo rt ofdevelopment FR OM PAGE 1 have formed their own splinter ru -Concernad Citizens for MeieÃarsh (CCLM) -- te carr on the fight. "Ouir hope is te have the two goue working tegethar,»' said CL founder and former SLM member Johanna Ito. However, "philosophical dif- féences» in how protection of the environmentaily-sensitive wet- lands can bast ba achiaved led te a break in the ranks, ite. exWhend you're the referring paLrty, ,you have to ha more rea- lstic. Tinga can corne crashing down on your head,» she said. Tito, was one of the three Whitby residents who initially referred Town council's approvai, of the subdivision plans to, the 0MB. Frank and Susea Eggert aiso filed objections, but they, too, have withdrawn their appeal of the. provincial and Durham Region componants of the pro- ject. Tito told The Free Press that the Region and province, through its agent the Ontario Reaity Corp:. (OiiC), agreed to certain conditions in return for hier appeai to ha withdrawn. Durham and the ORO wiil not deveiop any land within 120 metres of the inarsh until an environmental impact study has been undertaken, Tito said. The study wili determine whether or not the marsh will be deterimentally affected by their portions of the deveiopment. In addition, te Region has agreed not to occupy n build- ings in the industrial par% (north of Victoria Street, east of Jeffi-ey) closest to the marsh untii next eswill enable sufficient in- formation to be collected for the benefit of the proposed commit- tee to monitor t he affects of developmant on the open space areas batwean the marsh and housing, Tito said. "One 'of our biggast concerns GRASSCYCLE YOUR CLIPPINGS Now that grass-cutting season is almost here, Durham Region and the Town of Whitb , here the grass clippings are sent urge ail homeowners te leave cippings on the lawn te, act as a free and naturai fertilizer. As Whitby residents now know, grasscycing encourages a deeper root system te provide better resilienoe during dry weather. In fact, clippings actualiy reduoe evaporation of water, thus maintaiming a greater suppiy of moisture te feed your lawn. They also release back ite, the soul valuabie rnitrogen, potassium and phosphorus which feed and protect iawns against disease. If grass has flot -been spraýyed with pesticides a small amount of clippings can aiso ha used in a composter. AId a thin layer of dry grass te your composter or dig it into your flowerbeds or vegetabie gaden for fertilizer. s.. The Region of Durhanm works department recently received two awards for its waste reduction promotional materiais. The Assocation of Municipal Recychng Coordinaters; awards prograin received hundreds of entries from municipalities across Canada. 'The ads include graphic work by local artist Randy Timis, the creator of the Region's logo character. The ads are great, but my own criticisin about the grssyLing advertisement is that a hand push lawnmower shouldhv been illustrated rather than the gas mower. was that the monitoring commit- tee would have no background data to base anything on,» she said. (A staff recommendation to appoint citizen mambars te the monitoring committee came bafore Town council's planning and deveiopment committea on Monday but the matter was deferredý until after the 0MB haaring.) Tito applauded the province and Region for "acting rasponsi- bly" and was hopeful that a similar arrangement can ba wor- kad out with te Rse Corp. «Having the province and Region say that they're adharing te the watlands policy is a strong statement,» sha said. Raprasantatives of the Rose Corp. were not available for com- ment Monday.. But on previous occasions, the company h as maintained that it has complied with ail necessary provincial and municipal requirements for developmant neara wetlands. The company has repeatedfly stressed that the 1992 provincial standard of 120 metres took effect aftar ail land use proposais for the proect were approvad. The buffer zone contained in tha -plan varies from 30 te, 200 metres. ORO solicitor James Harbeli said his client is "vary plaased» with the agreement, but h e doub- ted that the Rose Corp. will strike a similar deal. Difféent issues are at stake with respect te the company's holdings,THarbell said. Durham Region assistant soli- citor Kate MacGregor also ter- med it a "good settiament» in which "everyone gave some- thing." But not pleased are Tito's for- mer colleagues in the SLM. "I think we stili have the same vision (te save the marsh),»" said SLM member Tom Moore, "but we could not in ail conscience sign.» Moore said the agreement will not adequately protect the marsh and this point wiii be stressed by his group when the 0MB hearing commences on May 29. SLM chair Pat Perkins concur- red with Moore's assessment. "We've been teld that bacause it's at the plan of subdivision stage now, the board is limitad in what it can do,» said Perkins. "What Johanna settled for is what she feels is aIl that can be achieved at this level. But we féel that you can't ignore what's gone on before.» Parkins said Tito was within her rights te settie with ORO and Durham Region and she harbours no resantment. Although SLM has been given 'party' status te ailow the group te pr.oduca evidence and cross- examine witnesses at the hear- ing, it wiii be seeking raferrai status as wall, Perkins said. Part of Laes in receivership FROM PAGE 1 tive entities and there was no reason to continue.» The Town of Whitby also has to shoulder part of the blame, Idon't think we have a very repnive town downtown... ;WenI look over the five-year period (since Pearson was com- pleted), I just figure that I couid bein the samne place rive years from now. "TMat worries me a bit and it had a lot to do with my decision. There's lots of (support) in the planning report, there's lots in the officiai plan but it's just there for lip service." Little put Pearson phases one, two and four up for sale earlier this year. «I wouid prefer to have just sold it and if there was a bit of a loss there I would have looked at eating it, hut it didn't sell in this economy. Despite the way it's çone Lit- tle doesn't regret building Pi'ar- son Lanes ana developing Mont- gomnery Place and says it' s pos- sible hie will eventually buy them back. "TIhe whole thing, was neyer built for money, it was built to build something that we wanted to build... We're proud to have done it.» ULflce many other commercial real estate developers, we con- sider ourselves casualities of the economic situation, but in no way has this circumstance dam- pened our enthusiasm towards creating a better Whitby and Brooklin. "We are optimistic people who thieon the positive and although saddened by the events, our spirit of entrepreneurship is once again renewed by reiieving ourselves of this burden.» "We paid ail our creditors,» Little toid The Free Press, "and it's what we cail a private recel- vership. It's not somebody ?ut- ting you into receivership, it s a mutually-agreed thing with thE bank.» The drop in commercial rea' estate values -- they've decrease<. as much as 60 per cent -- uhai been a devastating thing for coin- merical landlords," Little says. SALES REP Evelyn Rivest shows aspects of the Victoria- ville Mansions condominiums to be constructed at Garden and Dundas streets. So far 71 (65 to Whitby residents) of the 289 units have been sold from the sales office at Thicksn Plaza. Photo by Pets Nm. Whtby Fme Press