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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday March 5, 2003 - A 7 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Town staff, councillors show good stewardship Reviewing your newpaper's reports of the OPA 198 pre-hearing at the OMB is of interest to the Trafalgar-Chartwell Residents' Association (TCRA) for a number of reasons. · The disheartening feeling that a better outcome would have been achieved for Oakville had OPA 198 been passed in time to avoid the devel opers' appeals is inescapable. Groups urging more environmental study contributed great value to the development of the OPA, but it remains to be seen whether the constant recy cling o f the same demands, which resulted in the delay, won't in the end have done more harm than good. · Oakvillegreen now appears to have come out in the open that its demand for no growth north of Dundas Street (Hwy. 5) comes with a corollary: all the new population destined for Oakville should be accommodated in greater density south of Dundas. For residents south of Dundas. this would mean more traffic on our roads, more stress on our infrastructure, more parking challenges, and of course more high buildings: buildings like the devel oper's fantasy proposed for Sharkey's would be tough to resist on this model, in spite of the protections against them in the Official Plan, as you point out in your editorial. · Others have come out against growth in the north, while nonetheless being opposed to the Sharkey's devel opment. This, too, is a fantasy, like more services with lower taxes. TTiere are no forces on the horizon likely to slow pop ulation growth in our area in the fore seeable future. TCRA has gone on record with its view that our mayor, the majority of council, and Town staff showed good stewardship, both of the environment and of the Town's sovereignty, in the crafting of OPA 198. The same kind of good stewardship we hope they will show in the manage ment of intelligent and appropriate intensification of the established areas, so as to protect the natural environment as well as protect and enhance the resi dential environment and quality o f life it now affords. TRAFALGAR-CHARTWELL RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION CHRIS STOATE, PRESIDENT Time to support Oakvillegreen, Clear the Air Coalition at OMB pre-hearings OPA 198 is a watershed. At stake is not just the future of Oakville, but the destiny of communities throughout Ontario and beyond. Though the battle is about land use, the war relates to policy, process and power. That the outcome should be deter mined by the Ontario Municipal Board, an appointed body accountable to no one, is a complete and utter repudiation of the democratic process. The time for scrapping this vestige of colonial paternalization has long since past. But that's another struggle. Energies must be focused on convincing OMB chair J.L. O'Brien that planning and environmental issues advanced by resi dent groups Oakvillegreen and Clear The Air Coalition are legitimate. To suggest the playing field is uneven is an understatement. On one side, devel opers are demanding OPA 198 be imple mented so they can realize a return on investment, while the Region of Halton and Town of Oakville argue OPA 198 is not only consistent with the Planning Act. but was adopted in the wholly trans parent and democratic matter. On the other, two resident groups who claim the impact of OPA 198 will be nothing short of deleterious. David and Goliath. With millions at stake in terms of profit and development charges, those pushing approval will spare no expense overwhelming the OMB with legal and expert testimony. Their pockets are exceedingly deep. Clear The Air/Oakvillegreen, lacking similar finan cial resources, rely on principles and fun damental justice, pinning hopes on the fact quality of life does indeed matter. Somehow, the OMB must be con vinced of the need to halt the pernicious cycle of urban sprawl which threatens irreversible harm to the environment, and worse, irreversible damage to human health. OPA 198 is not just another Official Plan amendment, rather it's a rallying cry for local citizens everywhere to let their voices be heard about who really controls the agenda: developers, who's interest is purely monetary; elect ed representatives, who lack the will and imagination to enact pcoplefriendly/environmentally-sound public policy: or the people themselves, whose ongoing efforts make our community the desirable place it is. If history repeats itself, Goliath will fall, but not without help from the people of Oakville. Contact Oakvillegreen and Clear The Air to express your support, and at the same time, your local and regional councillor expressing your con cern. Attend the next OMB pre-hearing conference scheduled for March 20, and let your presence be felt. The stakes couldn't be higher. PETER D. PELLIER OAKYIL LE C O U N C I L & S T A N D IN G C O M M I T T E E M E E T IN G S M onday, M arch 2 4 , 2 0 0 3 Tuesday, M arch 25, 2 0 0 3 Planning & Developm ent Council Meeting Council C ham bers 7:30 p.m. M onday, A pril 7, 2 0 0 3 Council Meeting Council C ham bers 7:30 p.m . H alton L in e n O utlet 'Jjnrn ~ T h an k y o u f o r voting us #1 lo/rt/Cabin//* j Halton Lnien where your decorating dollar goesfurther 481 N o rth S ervice Rd.W ., O A K V IL L E ( b e tw e e n D o rv a l D riv e a n d 4 th Line) Community Services Committee 7:30 p.m. - Oakville Room Administrative Services Committee 7:30 p.m. - Trafalgar Room M onday, A pril 14, 2 0 0 3 (9 0 5 ) 8 4 7 -2 2 7 4 MOM - FRI 10AJ1 - S:J0 PM · SATURDAY I0 A M .4 PM. · SUNDAY. 12 A M · S PM Planning & Development Council Meeting Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. R EQ U ES T FOR Q UOTATION FOR ONE (1) FULL SIZE MINI-VAN, 7 PASSENGERS Q U O T E N U M B E R Q -1 7 -2 0 0 3 SEALED QUOTATIONS, on forms provided, will be received by Purchasing Services (Finance Departm ent), 1225 Trafalgar Road (1*' floor), Oakville, Ontario, L6J 5A6, until 12:00 N oon, Local tim e on: M O N D A Y , M A R C H 17, 2003 Specifications, quotation forms and quotation envelopes m ay be obtained from Town of Oakville Purchasing Services (Finance D epartm ent), 1225 Trafalgar Road (1` floor), Oakville, Ontario L6J 5A6; Telephone (905) 3 38-41 97. The Town of Oakville reserves the right to reject any or all quotations and the lowest price will not necessarily be accepted. Leslie Brown Manager, Purchasing Services Making healthy food choices for you and your family can be chalenging. That 's why the Heart and Stroke Foundation created the Health Check program This a d v e rtis e m e n t m a y b e v ie w e d o n th e fo llo w in g To w n o f O akville a p p r o v e d w e b s ite : w w w .v a x x in e .c o m /o p b a TENDER FOR TH R EE (3) 40 FT. HEAVY DUTY, LOW FLOOR, URBAN TR AN SIT BUSES, 102" WIDE TENDER NUM BER T -1 3 -2 0 0 3 SEALED TENDERS on forms provided will be received by the Town Clerk, 1225 Trafalgar Road (2^° floor), Oakville, Ontario, L6J 5A6 until 2:00 p.m ., local tim e on TUESDAY, M A R C H 18, 2003 Specifications and tender forms may be obtained from the Town of Oakville Purchasing Services (Finance Department), 1225 Trafalgar Road (1 Floor), Oakville, Ontario L6J 5A6; Telephone 905-33 8-4197. Tenders will be opened publicly at a meeting of the Tender Opening C om m ittee at the Oakville Municipal Building, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, Ontario, on Tuesday, M arch 18, 2003 a t 2:30 p.m ., local tim e. The Town of Oakville reserves the right to reject any or all tenders and the lowest price will not necessarily be accepted. Leslie Brown Manager, Purchasing Services This a d v e rtis e m e n t m a y b e v ie w e d o n th e fo llo w in g Tow n o f O akville a p p ro v e d w e b s ite : h ttp ://w w w .v a x x in e .c o m /o p b a Top of Third Line a dangerous area, says concerned resident I am writing in support of a letter that appeared in The Beaver on Feb. 21 enti tled An accident waiting to happen. The changes that have been made in the road at the top of Third Line have indeed been for the worse. Where it used to be a nice straight road there arc now several tight curves with ditches on both sides. The Town held an open house to ask residents what they thought o f this change. I went and filled out a form which voiced my concern. So did my daughter who drives this stretch of road daily. Some time later, there was a report in your paper that stated that there had been no complaints! This is indeed a dangerous area. If there have not been any accidents yet, it is a miracle. Something has to be done before someone is killed. On top of that the Long Term Care Facility that sits in the middle of the road is anything but attractive. It may be nice inside but from the outside it is downright ugly. IRENE WEDELES The Health Check symbol tells you a product meets nutrition guidelines for healthy eating. For more information, visit www.healthcheck.org or call the Heart and Stroke Foundation at 1-888-HSF-INFO ... (§ ) Health Check"1 ·"o s a r f p M L A W A N O S T H O U K M O A H O N 00 M A lA O ttA D U C O M tells you it's a healthy choice 1 2 2 5 T R A F A L G A R R O A D · O A K V I L L E , O N T A R I O · L6J 5 A 6 (905) 845-6601 w w w .o a kville .ca AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE & Elections Ca na d a FROM ELECTIONS ONTARIO AND ELECTIONS CANADA S E W IN G M A C H IN E S T O R E R E P A IR S T O S I N G E R ttu fi till o th e r m a k e s d r m o /le ts E X P E R T P IN K IN G S H E A R S & S C IS S O R S H A R P E N IN G WE MAY BE VISITING YOU BETWEEN MARCH 1 & MARCH 9 Elections O ntario and Elections C a n a d a are w orking to g e th er to gath er d ata to use in com piling our voters lists. A tea m o f revising agen ts m ay visit your ho m e over th e next fe w days to ask for your co -o p eratio n . They w ant to be sure that information about you and other eligible voters living at your address appears correctly on both provincial and federal voters lists. 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