Residents oppose rebuilding Plans to rebuild the residents have also ac- apartment units on the use status. efl irz Foods Inc. meat cused him of con- site. "In, considering this ,re *ocesslng plant have travening the town's Short also said that in new information in con- b in into a couple of bylaws by having two the. original bylaw junction with earlier [no sangs during the apartments on the site. establishing the original files we must conclude At st two weeks. According to a report meat processing plant, that the second apar- th.- Pirstly, two residents submitted to» Whitby whlch. was destroyed in tment is illegal," Short shi Myrtle Station, where Town Council by plan- an $800,OOÃ" fine earilier said in his report. Th e plant will be rebulît, ning director Bob Short this year, that was The planning depar- Ku ýve filed objections to last week, the bylaw en- passed i 1971 mention tment wants Kurz's tht e rezoning application forcement officer was made of one apar- ýlatest application to be shq company president visited the property on tment unit which was tabled until this issue coi rl Kunz. One of these Apr. 4 and found to given non-cnnformine abee1wn healt u41h ,n ------ , .. -ýA& - . &ali D)owntown board adopts $5l'lo,0000 revitalizatio nplan ,By JONATHAN LOCKE Free Press Staff One hundred per cent approval was given1 the Downtown Business Improvement Arc (D.B.I.A.) Board of Management for thei proposed revitalization of Whitby's downtow area. A meeting held last Tuesday evening at th Whitby Municipal Building ended with unanimous show of hands in support of th project. In attendance was the membershipc the D.B.I.A., the downtown merchants of Whil by. .Ed Buffett, chairman of the D.B.I.A. boardo management, thanked the merchants. "This ii tremendously heartwarming, " he said. Buffett was also pleased with the high turnout. 46I think tonigbt's meeting undera.cores the faci that there are a lot of very valid concerns," hi said. "We (the board) will be meeting with cour. cil in the flot too distant future to report tht feelings of the downtown merchants." And, hap pily for Buffett, those feelings are over- whelmingly positive. The revitalization wlll be largely paid for, it is hoped, by provincial funding tIhroujh the dom- mercial Area Improvement Program (C.A. I.P.). The program has projected the total spending of $500000 over a four-year time frame (1985 Uo 198M). 0f this, the province wll hopefully provide $250,000 in grants and low interest loans. Included in the $500,000 expenditure is a $130,000 allocation for streetscape enhancement in the D.B.1.A. This portion of the proposal cails for the provision of new boulevard trees, a brick paving- strip, decorative tree guards. and pedestrian seating areas. A doubling of the levy paid by downtown merchants is nec essary to help fund this portion of the project. Prior to the vote in favor of the projected revitalization, a number of officiais made presentations to the merchants outlining some of the specifics of the plan. The increase if the downtown levy, which is based on square footage, is only, one of the con- siderations, Buffett said. "The langer Issue is whether or flot we make decision to maximize the potential of the downtown. There is no limitation on what we can ulthnately accom- plish."t The cunrent lack of downtown parking and the "proliferation'of a wide variety.of signs" are among the problems the board is addressing. But there is another problem which Buffett feels must be overcome before another step is taken. "There seems to be an overriding feeling that we can't get it ail together," 1'he said.- "But if you view this project in the boradest sense, it can have a tremendous impact on this community. " Buffett contends that the revitalization wil bolster pride In the downtown, increase shopping traffic and lead visitors to compliment the area and visit more often. "There are alneady people who have shown in- novation," he continued. "lWe are not going to tell people how to run their businesses. " Buffett went on to outllne a number of specific steps the board will take. He said the board wil: -design a survey to find out what wil make. shoppers want to come downtown; -hold a public forum annuaily te get feedback and ideas; -design a promotional program to advertise downtown Whitby as " a place te shop and a place to have fun"; and, -participate in the beautification of downtown public buildings. Two reasons Buffett cited forý implementing this program now are, the availability of provin- cial funds and the current proliferation of shop- 1 WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, of Kurz meat Ku pri ru pal Of1 the hai the Of Kai 01' pli sel sie the re2 byl he res brij ten us ago 46W sho but act A con secc no,w kzio ther any tion. towi illeg the vira ning Ri Moc lette chas Ither thrlough another e-zoning application or 4aw enforcement. ýHowever, Mayor Bob Lttersley is quick to say Lat the two issues hould be, separated. ie possibility that arz has contravened ie original' bylaw LouId flot; hamper 'uncil's consideration the new re-zoning ap- lication. "We must make sure eact on them as ,parate issues," Atter- éy said last. Friday, Ve can't hold rnebody Up because of 3e bylaw, its got )thing to do with the, zoning. fowever, while the ayor said that the Iaw will be enforced, was critical of area sidents for, flot inging the infor- tiofl to the town's at- itiofi earlier. Why didn't they teill about this a year o?" Attersley asked. Ve didn't realize, we Duld have been on that tthe town can only on complaint. "' %nd since no one has riplained about the ,ond apartment until Ythe town has flot )wn about it and, ýrefore, hasn't done ething about it. bhile one of the objec- is received by the n addresses the gal apartment issue, other addresses en- nental and plan- g issues. à yma and Frank mn told council in a er that they pur- sed a three-acre lot across from. the Kurz plant a year ago and, if they had known aà fac- tory was to'be erectfed opposite them, they, would flot« have pur- chased property in Myr- tle Station. "It would seem totally, unreasonable to con- sider changing what is now a lovely.,*'and'- peaceful community by permitting the iéair, tObe polluted by a factory, " the Moons wrote, "'Also, perhaps someone should consider the aesthetic Works 'M start ~ May 20, to, May 26 ýhas been proclaimed Public Works Week by Whitby Town Council. The week will offer an opportunity for the general public to inspeet and be'shown 1through' the operations centr~e located at 120, Taunton Rd. E. Guided tours for« school children will also, be arranged, both for the operations centre and . for the Corbett Creek Water Pollution Control Plant.> Public Works Week is meant to recognize the' "4contributions that public, works officiaIs and staff make every day to the health, safety and comfort of our lives;" noted a drafted proclamation. Displays- at the Operations, Centre will include equipment such' as snow plows,*salters, stret ' sweepers, fluûshers, refuseý collec- LM > APRIL 18, 1984, PAGE 3 pl1ant, value 0ft Me ares. " .The couple told coun- cil' that they have $100,000 invested in thier property' and didn't ap- preciate finding out "that just over night someone was daft enough, to allow a beautiful residential ares to be turned com- mercial." Whitby Town Coun- cil's -administrative committe. will hold a special meeting on Apr. 30 to consider the Kunz re-zoning application. veek [ay' 20, 'tion trucks ani various other machinery. Displays will also be set up showing various bouse designs and details; of >building requirements within the »town. ,ý : ÃŽMorning and after- noon t ours will be ,arranged for May 22 through May 25. Post office holiday There wlll be'no letter carrier -or wicket ser- -vices'from the post of- fice over, the Easter 'weekend, from, ,Fn., April 20 to Mon., April 23, inclusive. Rural routes and mobiles also wii not be operated. The box lobby is open continuously, however, and while there wiil be no street letter box collection on Friday, it wl resume on Monday. mý cial governmen t will be at "hall the province's usual borrowing rate," he said. "And we as a to group have to realize that we cannot compete ea with the shopping maills head on." ir "There is a feeling that if we don't do it now, vil we're neyer going to do it, " he continued. " We as a community have got te put aside some 0f our he individual -needs and reach a concensus. The a plan is not etched ini stone; we want feedback à e and ideas. " Of Bob Short, director of the town's planning t- department, spoke to the gathering on the nuts and boîts of the proposaI. "This prograin is a of part of the Commercial Ares Improvement [s Pnognam (C.A.P.E.)," he said. "Council has given ifs endorsement, in principle, to such a project."$ Short aiso outlined the three purpose study ie toardwhich $15,000 has been budgeted. This e- study wiIl be designed to get feedback on a ie stneetscape design concept, storefront facade guidelines and a marketing strategy. "The finat part is the application to the provi- S ce," Short said. 1"Preliminary approval from the province can be expected in July of this year. $500,00 is the sum thajt wHi be put- into the ap- f plication, but experience has shown us that the province is likely to make some adjustments to this sum." Scott Konkle, a, representative of the engineering firm Totten, Sims, Hubicki, outlined the succesa of downtown revitalization programs in orner communities throughout North America. The- firm worked with the management board ýand the planning depar- tment in establishing the proposal. "LIancaster, Pennsylvania, has a population of >55,000. Ten yesrs ago it was on. the American federal government's:distressed cities list. In the' late 1960's, a shopping mail opened there and the downtown lost three large department stores. "They developed a ýplan of action re-establish »its viability,"1 Konkle continued. "'The money used was private-funding, with government sup- port." The result was a -drastic incressein the number of downtownemoes and the establishment of more restaurants, thestres and other services in the ares. Mfter a short speech, Robert Morton, vice- president of the D.B.I.A.,'led a brisk question and answer session. Merchafits took tunns ex- pressing a number of concernis they had regar- ding the proposai. Among the concerns ex- pressed were: -that benches and trees not be placed too closely together in such a way that sidewalk traf- fic would be impaired; -that industrial traffic be redirected 'away from downtown; -that municipal laws alnesdy in place regar- ding garbage dlean-up be enforced; -that the merchants not be expected to make up the difference if the province lowers the amount of grant and boan monies applied for; and, -that downtown levies not incresse to an even grester degree in future yesns. The merchants received reassurances in esch of these aneas from the board members, and the fact that ail voted in favour of the plan is eviden- ce that their questions received satisfacteryý an- swers. Don Frise, president of the Whitby Chamber 0f< Commerce,. reported that- the chamber had passed a motion of support for the downtown, revitalization program. "The older. part of Whit- by, including the -downtown, is important to the identity of the town,"- Frise said. "It is essential that the downtown remain viable. ..«U 9.91VIVIII uqralq, WIUI p