Whitby, Free Press, Wednesday. Octobor 18,1996, Page 5 Residenits fail to stop ýBrooklln project rby Mlikfe KowaiakiU An attempt' to stop a high-density residential and commercial complex in downtown Brooklin faied Monday. Town council's planning and deveiapment coémmittee rejected a roquest te change Whitby's new - but not yet iegai - officiai plan se that the. proposed project cannat be built on the southeast corner af Baldwin, Street (Hlighway 12) and George Street. Despite r.ceiving a petition from mare than 100 ares homeowners, committee recommended that the mntend.d site retain its "mixed use" land designation rather than the iaw'density residentiil designation sougbt by the residents. Barring an appeal te the Ontario Municipal Board (0MB) by opponents, cornmittee's decisian (if approved by council next Monday, and ultimateiy Durham. Regian) clears the way for the deveiopment ta proceed once the proper zoning is in place. But by se doing, council will have helped destroy a littie mare of the. village's unique lifestyle, committee members were warned. "Ilis is totally inconsistent with the. area," said Baldwin Street homeowner Leslie French of the. proposed campiez which includes a shopping plaza, 99-unit apartment building and tewnhouses. "It will be amajor shock to this part of tewn. Our future will be in the. hands of the numbered company which owns it (site)," said French. "We're not looking forward te townhauses, apartments and a plaza that may not b. looked afler and well kept," she said. French 'was appearing before committee te seek a redesignation of three properties an the corner from mixed use ta residential. Under Whitby's eisting 1974 officiai plan (a document which stipulates preferred land uses in a rnunicipality) the site is designated residential. But under the new plan adopted by counceil a year ago, mixed use categories were given te several properties along Baldwin Street, north and south of the. traditionai, downtown core. Council fait a mare intensive mix of retail, service, commercial and office uses wouid better serve a projected population of 13,000 -in Brookiin by the. year 2011. But French pleaded witli the com tt t take a second look at Perry House Tutoingt Jr. & Sr. Kidergare DCentre what it will be peritting. "People ay one of the only thi.ngs going for downtown Brooklin is its atmosphere and charm," she said. "]But it's not the south end of Baldwin with its service stations that they're talkring about, it's the north end with its oid homes." French said it makes more sense te direct development south of Winchester Road. ."We don't want commercial properties te bleed inte the old part of tewn," she said, while adding that it will also "deai a blow" 'to eisting downtewn businesses. "It's not a logicai extension of the downtown, but an intrusion into an aid, established neighbourhood." In fact, French ciaimed the residents' views are supported by consultants hired by the Town te draft urban design guidelines for downtewn Brooklin. (The consultants' study was presented ta committee later in the meeting and will now b. circulated for public and agency commenta before coming back te comnittee in November.) French said the study states that land uses along Baldwin shauld be compiementary and that the Lynde Creek bridge be considered the northern limit of the downtown core. "W.e don't see how mixed use complements aur neighbourhood," she said. Following her submission, coumcillor Jo. Drurnm asked French te respond to, a letter from the Brooklin Business Association which supports the proposed development. "I agree with the business comnmunity, by thie year 2011 the IJiLA 1LU ýSi\IC IN(~ 436- 1800 'Your Sign of Distinction" population. will be 13,000 and Brooklin will need more commercial development," replied French. "rBut it doesn't have to be inserte into an established area." .Aithough their actuai proposai, has yet ta corne before committee, proponents Norm Picov and George Bacher, along . with planning consultant Bryce Jordan, were allowed to respond. Jordan rermnded the committee that when the officiai plan was being prepared, council's desire was to extend the commercial core both north and south on Baldwin. Jordan said the project's architectural design will be in keeping with the area and not be a detriment te the neighbourhood. "We don't intend ta destroy Brooklin. We want te retain its character," Bacher concurred. "I see tis as being a gateway to this part of Brookiin," he said. "It wiii keep things within the core and hub of Brooklin and help prevent strip maIls on the'outside." Aithough she was flot expecting te speak on the matter, business association chair Connie Heron agreed te answer questions about her organization's position after being invited to do so by committee chair Marcel Brunelie. Heron said that while the association supports the zoning change, "that proposal would scare the heil out of anybody." The association hopes ta have "some input"ita the propcttal and "would like te see the residents and businesses work together." Heron added that Brookiin merchants understand the need for more commercial floor space and prefer that it be "condenE;ed downtawn, rather than spread out ini corn fields." Heron noted that dowvntawn Whitby business owners have suffered from a preponderance of strip malse and her members do not want te experience the same fate. "No offence ta, downtewn Whitby merchants, but you can se. what's happen.d 'te it." In rnovin that the designation not b. changed, Drumm conceded that Frenchi made "sone cogent arguments." But as meniber of regionai councills planning , carnrittee, Drumm said h. will be fighting for approvai of the officiai plan when it cornes back te that committee in three weeks. "Inciuded in that is this particular application," he noted. Since the plan aiready has council endorsement, a last minute modification is certain ta be rejected by the 0MB and sornething entir.ly different couid be imposed by the board, Drumm warned. "As far as ]Pm concerned, if we don't do something about downtewn Brooklin we're going te, lose it," h. said. Drumm then referred te Heron's r.rnarks about downtown Whitby. 'Tie problem with downtewn Whitby marchants is th.y can't agree on what time of day it is," he said. "At ieast in Brooklin they have their act together." 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