WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19,1988, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN PLANNING FOR THE 1990's Most of the issues of the Nov. 14 municipal election come down to planning. In the interviews that the Whitby Free Press has been conducting with candidates, I have been surprised at hqw little 'understanding there is of the dynamics of planning. Of the six candidates, both new and incumbent, we had interviewed when this was written, all 'had opinions on specific planning questions but couldn't discuss the general concepts. They offered'gut'reactions: "I don't like it." "It's too big." "It doesn't blend in." etc. without being able to offer the technical definitions of what they thought should be allowed. They displayed lots of interest and enthusiasm, but not too much analysis. EVERYTHING about your home - its size, what it's made of, how big you back yard is, how far you are from the street and your neighbours, how high your fence is - was detenined by. town planning, and any changes will be governed by the same process. The restrictions on your property and your neighbours that prevent you from operating a business, from your home, or renting out apartments areidetemined4by plannimg. EVERYTHING about your neighbourhood - its character; its mix of housing, its street pattern, the location of its schools and shopping - is determined by planning. The appearance, the quality and the quantity of commercial space is determined by planning. Strip parlors,' portable signs, gas bars, used car lots, heritage.preservation are all planning issues. Virtually every candidate has felt that it was very important to preserve the character of our community and cited the downtown in particular, yet they were unable to articulate how it to achieve it. If Whitby was somewhere in the boonies with a stagnant growth rate, planning would not be an issue. But Whitby is growing by more than .5% per year. By the time the next election is upon us our population will have passed 60,000 - we will have a couple more subdivisions the size of Fallingbrook and Bluegrass, a lot more highrise apartments, and one or two major shopping plazas that are still only a gleam in a developer's eye. Planning is a priority. And yet we are asked to choose among candidates who have little understanding of the planning process and are likely tW get swept aside in the tide of development pressure. Knowing what you like is very nice, but being able to articulate it in abstract terms is something very different. When the new Dundas Centre medical building was built, there was not a single member of council who had the foggiest idea what it would look like (and several didn't care) or what impact it would have on the downtown. I looked at the plans and was aghast. You will recall this newspaper published a rough composite of what was proposed and only then did the public and members of council realize what they were dealing with. But it was too late already. The purpose of planning is to organize the use of property for the mutual benefit of each property owner and the community as a whole. This is supposed to be a protective process which ensures that, in already developed areas, the transition to new uses is controlled and is not detrimental to the neighbourhood. That doesn't happen in Whitby. Planning involves a balance between the rights of the individual property owner and the rights of the community to control the use of that property. Not a single candidate so far has been able to define in general terms what he or she feels that balance should be. Because neither council nor, I suspect, planning staff have considered the philosophical basis for their decisions, planning is based on 'gut' reaction and has become a slow and tiresome process. The downtown secondary plan has already taken close to three years. The zoning will take at least another year, probably two. Until that is finished, planning in the downtown is still based on zoning from the 1960's when the consensus was to tear the whole lot down. Even when the secondary plan is fully implemented, the heritage buildings still have no protection. The planning department's preferred course for that is district designation under the Ontario Heritage Act, a process that would probably take another year. So perhaps in the next election we will still be dealing with the preservation of the downtown - but there will be fewer buildings to preserve. Every candidate has expressed the urgency of updating Whitby's Official Plan, but apart from knowing that it's out of date, there is little concept of what needs to be done. There is considerable agreement on what should be achieved but little thought as to how. Whitby cannot afford to wait three years - or five years - for a new official plan. Planning is Whitby's biggest priority - it is something that every candidate should be well versed in. Ask questions when they calI on you, go to the ail-candidates meetings, state your opinions, get feedback. If they haven't thought about it yet, make sure they do before election day! F½rr-ý"n THOMAS WILLIAM BROOKES' GENERAL STORE, MYRTLE, C. 1910 The T.W. Brookes' General Store stood at the north-east corner of Highway 12 and the Myrtle Road, and was demolished in 1967. Mr. Brookes became Myrtle's postmaster in 1903 and after about 20 years as proprietor of the store, he moved to Oshawa. Whitby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, October 18, 1978 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • Walter Jackson has written a history of the Presbyterian Church in Whitby, 1833 - 1975. • A proposed expansion of the Family Kartway was tabled by town council for two months. • Councillor Gerry Emn wants an interchange at Highway 401 and the Whitby-Ajax Town Line. • Don Vipond was named a Master Kinsman by the Brooklin and District Kinsmen Club. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, October 17, 1963 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • The first shipment of vegetable oil into Whitby harbor, destined for an Ajax chemical plant occurred last week. • Town of Whitby Deputy Reeve George Brooks is head of Local 494 of the United Rubber Workers at Dunlop Tire. • Earle J. Bryant of Whitby is President of the Eastern Ontario Municipal Electric Association. Whitby's Harry Simpson is Secretary-Treasurer. • Tom Tushingham of Whitby is a track and field star at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, October 19, 1888 edition of the WHITBY CHRONICLE • Farmers John Duff and Thomas Manderson of Myrtle won many prizes for seed grains at exhibitions around the province. • Brooklin is described as "dead" by a local correspondent. All the young men are leaving the village as there is no employment available. • William Bailey has opened a cider mill ii the north-west part of Whitby Township with a capacity of 75 to 100 barrels per day. • Thirty-five years ago (1853) the first deed was registered in the Whitby Land Registry office by the Registrar, John Ham Perry.