nimum property standards by- aw mak e owners cean-up their act The recently revised draft minimum property standards by-law wil be presented to the public for input at a Tuesday meeting. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambérs of the municipal building at 405 Dundas Street West. The by-law has been revised several times by the town's solicitor Hugh Nichol to accomodate public input. In short, the by-law prescribes standards for the maintenance and occupancy of property within the town. It prohibits the occupancy or use of property which does not conform to the standards. The by-law requires that property which does not conform to the standards be repaired and maintained to conform to the standards. Failing repair and maintenance, the site will be cleared of all buildings, structures, debris or refuse and left in a graded and levelled condition at the owner's expense. A property standard officer is appointed and given the responsibility of administering and enforcing the by-law. The officer or any person acting under his instruction has the authority to enter and inspect any property not used as a dwelling. In the case of a dwelling, entrance can only be made with the occupant's consent or with a search warrant. If the officer feels that the property does not conform to the standards set out in the by-law, he will notify the owner of the particulars of the non-conformity. The officer will provide the owner with a list of the repairs to be made or a statement that the site is to be cleared and notice that, if the work is not done within a specified time, the town will do it at the owner's expense. Anyone served with an order who is not satisfied with its terms or .conditions may appeal to the property standards committee, the members of which are ratepayers appointed by council. If the appeal is not made within 14 days of issuance of the order, the order will be considered confirmed. Contravention of an order is punishable by fine. On the other hand, if the inspecting officer finds the property in compliance with the standards of the by-law, he may, or on the request of the owner shall, issue a certificate of compliance. If a certificate is issued at the request of the owner, a fee will be charged. The foregoing is a very brief summary of the draft by-law. Copies are available from the clerk's office in the municipal building. R E E R E S Meetings Does the region want more input on official plan? Speeding increases Since May 1, the Whitby detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police has laid 933 charges against drivers speed- ing in the construction zone on Highway 401 between Brock Road in Pickering and Brock Street in Whitby. The OPP have set up radar in the area. Despite this crackdown, there were seven accidents in the zone between June 14 and 20. The seven accidents accounted for exactly one- third of the 21 motor vehicle collisions investigated by the OPP du ring that period. Camp X studied During the next two months the future of the Camp X lands on the Osliawa-Whitby border, will come under study, as preli- minary conceptual plan and master development plan are prepared for presentation to council. Council recently author- ized the engineering firm of Totten Sims Hubicki Associ- ates Ltd. to prepare the plans, at a total cost of $4,750, subject to the passage of a bylaw at the next regular council meeting. The cost of the study will be charyd>' to the town's development levy fund, and if council approves the final p ins, work on the site could begin in 1977. The Camp X property in Whitby consists of about 29 acres. Access to the property may be providçd by a local road extending from the future Oshawa-Whitby boun- dary road south of the Went- worth Street extension. Continued Page 2 Regional council, acting as the planning board for the region, hopes to adopt the official plan next week. Council hopes to adopt the plan shortly after public meetings on Tuesday and, if necessary, Wednesday. The meetings will begin at 10 a.m. in the regional council chan- bers at 605 Rossland Road East. Whether or not further public input on the plan is wan ted is unclear. Notices of the meetings in the form of advertisements in 9local newspapers do not do much to clarify the situation. Wording is obscure. According to the advertise- ments, "The Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham, acting as the Plan- ning Board for the Regional Municipality of Durham,... will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, June 27, 1976 at 10 a.m. and if necessary on Wednesday, June 30, 1976 at 10 a.m.- in the Council Chambers ... for the purpose of obtaining the participation and co-operation of the inhabitants of the Region of Durham in determining the solution of matters affecting the development of the Region of Durham and shall receive and consider the Draft Official Plan ... and to make a recom- mendation for the adoption of the Draft Official Plan ... to the Regional Council for forwarding to the Ontario Minister of Housing for his approval'. Conversations with various regional people do little to straighten out the matter. Accordlng to Jim Moyer, Manager of Administrative Services for the Department of Planning and Developmcnt, and Bruce Hogarth, the region's deputy-clerk, there is little point in someone going to the meètirigs with the hope of having the plan completely overhauled. A number of public meetings have been held in the past for that very purpose - to gather public input and incorporate it into the plan. Says Whitby Mayor, Jim Gartshore, a member of the region's planning and develop- nient committee, "To my knowledge, there will be no public participation." The meeting is for people to "come and listen" to the plan, according to Mr. Gartshore. Correction Emergency plan the brainchild of Ed Crouch The recently-established emergency operations plan and emergency control group was -the brainchild of Fire Chief Ed Crouch, not Director of Public Works Dick Kuwahara as we incor- rectly reported last week. Mr. Kuwahara merely recommended to Whitby Council that Mr. Crouch's idea be adopted. We apologize for not giving credit where credit was due. So, take a bow Ed. We still think it is a good measure and hope that it never has to be put into action. w w'