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condo buildings aimed at the rich or 133rd Year No. 16 Ginsler made to council included: fordable housing cannot be met j through the market. Nor can tf; hufiflhudfickv&fl ing a cor whid:';-nldvd.by.uifirfi_e rich, ‘he said. "We are well anm Al Waterâ€" hocibymmtobe of a mix of residential types and Wednesday, April 20, 1988 A Fairway Group Community Newspaper Area residents recently started a camâ€" paign to save a green area across from St. Louis School at the corner of Allen and Willow Streets from being turned into a parking lot by the Waterloo Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board. Despite the area being designated green space, the board plowed it and used it for parking cars over the winter. lan Kirkby Chronicle Staff Some of the residents of the Maryâ€"Allen Neighborhood are beginning to wonder if they are being deliberately offended by the separate school board â€" and they are getting angry. Then last week, three mature trees were chopped down along the southern edge of the "park". "It‘s almost .like the school board is deliberately trying to offend the neighborâ€" hood," said Gayle Johannesen, a resident of 34 Willow St. and the secretary of the Maryâ€"Allen Neighborhood Association. ‘‘They are old soft maple trees â€" they must be 100 years old. Tgey were dangerâ€" ous and a nuisance. They were falling on the fence and neighbors property. Tfiere was one big dead branch hanging over a garage â€" it was most of the tree." _ Howald says the chopping "wasn‘t done to take away trees." He left one marked Doug Howald, the controller of buildings and maintenance for the separate school board said he had the trees chopped down because "they were dead and dying. ‘"‘They‘re insensitive," agrees William Shalinsky, president of the association and a resident of 47 Allen St. E. "It‘s entirely possible they are going out of their way to alienate us; I don‘t know". ‘Insensitive‘ treeâ€"chopping? Gayle Johannesen, a member of the Maryâ€"Allen Neighborhood Association is angry about the separate school board chopping down mature trees in the only green space in the area. Neighborhood group is angry with RC Board Waterioo, Ontario Lavigne said the school board requires between oneâ€"quarter and oneâ€"third of the site. ‘"We are aware of the wishes of the neighborhood committee and we‘re quite prepared to coâ€"operate with them and the city in terms of the remainder of the site," he said. Public meetings on the matter have been deferred while the city studies the recreâ€" ation needs and traffic patterns of the area, said city Commissioner of Planning Tom Slomke. The neighborhood association will parâ€" ticipate in the studies. The green space tree standing "to make them happy. It will come down in a snow storm," he said. "I had poor timing"‘. Yet the neighbors are concerned that anything was done on the property while its future is in dispute. ‘"We don‘t want them to do anything to the playground area," said Shalinsky. The two acre green area is now used for organized baseball, as well as adult baseâ€" ball and football. It has been used as an outdoor skating rink for the neighborhood in the past, and is frequented by adults taking walks and by children fAlying kites, said Shalinsky. The school board has applied to the city for a zoning change to allow a parking lot on the site. Bill Lavigne the superintenâ€" dent of business and finance for the board says additional parking is required to accommodate people who commute to adult education programs at the school. ‘"We hope the city will end up with the land and turn it into a park...Because it is the only green space in our area, it‘s only reasonable use is to be taken over and used as a park"‘. 35 Cents "So the neighbors have come to expect the retention of school yards as open space."" However, when money becomes a crunch for school boards, as it has recently, "they have to ask themselves what busiâ€" ness they are in. So the future may have a different role for school boards." Slomke cites historical reasons for the desire by neighbors to prevent a reâ€"zoning. ‘"School boards have historically provided green space with their schools for public use. They are public bodies; they are not private businesses. Asked whether that means staff would recommend rejection of the reâ€"zoning apâ€" plication Slomke replied, "the planning documents including the central residenâ€" tial distribution plan and zoning byâ€"law would work toward retention of that land." While the city has established standards for park areas in the official plan, it is "common for older areas not to meet the standards," said Slomke. In 1981, the neighborhood was identified as a "parks deficiency area‘", he said. across from the school is the only green recreation area within the boundaries of the neighborhood â€" which encompasses the area bounded by King St., William St., Willow St., Erb St., Moore Ave., and Union St. The neighborhood association is not willing to accept any compromise, said Shalinsky. A negotiated settlement beâ€" tween the city and school board allowing some parking is not acceptable. ‘"We want it all as a park," he said. With such areas, "council and staff watch for opportunities for deficiencies to be eradicated...Certainly, we‘ve got red flags up when opportunities are available or there are threats upon existing open space." lan Kirkby photo