Whitby Foee Press, Wecfnesclay. November 24, 1993, Page 19 Council refuises -to hear petition By Mike Kowaiuki Downtoewn Whitby merchanta dernanding' an end te a speci1 tax on their businesses wili have te, wait te make their case before Town council. Requests by two downtewn business owners te appear before council have been put on hold until council decides how it wili deai with an issue invoivinq the future of the Downtewn Business Improvement Area (DBIA). For thé second tume in two weeks, local merchant Gene Pea- cock has been denied an oppor- tunity te, present the resulta of a petition signed by more than 360 businessea in the D)BIA, that represents about 85 per cent of the DBIA membership. The petition demands that for a two-year period council refrain from charging the assessment ievied against businesses located within t he DBIA boundaries. It aiso stipulates that a two- thirds majority vote of al businessles imn the DBIA must be obtained before the tax can be re-introduced. Peacock had asked te jiresent his petition te council a ope- rations committee on Nov. 15 and then to, council on Monday. Both times he was inforrned that his requost te, make a depu- tation would be deait with under the correspondence section of councii's Nov. 22 agenda. Ini a letter te Peacock froin Town cierk Don McKy, Town staff were recommending that council meet in 'comittee of the whole te, discuss how te best handie the inatter (see.separate stry). Meanwhile, a separato request te, address council on the saine issue froni Doug Anderson pub- lisher of the Whitby Free t>rea, received a similar response froni McKay. Although Peacock tormed the deiay a "stalling action,"Mayor Tom Edwards and councillor John DoIstra defonded the pro- cedure. «What council wili net do is act in a pre-emptery fashion,» said Edwards. «What we rnust do is make sure ail sides are given an oppor- tunity te be heard,» he sid. Edwards denied that councii was tryixig te avoid making a decision. He noted that a recent letter te Peacock explained that the mat- ter wouid be dealt with Nov. 22. "There's ne indication in my latter that council wouid try te, avoid it,» said Edwards. «We want te ensure that ovoryone gets due precess," ho said. Doistra, council's reprosonta- tive on t he DBIA management beard, concurred with Edwards' remarks. "If it turnseut that 85 per cent (of the DBIA members) don't want it council has te respond,» said Doîstra. «But everyone has te have a fair opportunity te submit infor- mation,» he aaid. Since' the issue involves another body -- the DBIA board __ it is not typical of the standard requests te make a deputation te council, McKay teid The Free Press. «If the request was te instaîl a step aign, it wouid go te corres- pondence with a recommenda- tien that it go tepublic works and from there tethe operations committee,' McKay explained. 'Mhis dosen't falli mte that type of category. The question is, should council deai with it alone or <jointiy with the DBIA,»" he By referring the matter te 'committee of the whole,' council can thon deterinine the best venue for handiing the issue, McKay said. Whatever format it decided upon Monday council wiIl make the ultimate decision on whether the 15-year-old DBIA survives. Peacock and others have coin- g lainod for years that the UBIA as outlived its usefulness and bocome too oxpensive te, main- tain. This year's DBIA budget was $155,94, which was il1 per cent iess than the 1992 budget, but considerably more than the orn- ginal $10,0 00 budg et in 1978. Suppo#rr counter that hav- ing a BIA has improved down- town Whitbf and is necessary te the surviva of businesses threa- toned by area shopping mails. The DBIA uses the special tai which is mandatory for businesses in the DBA geo- graphie area, te, beautify and promote the downtewn area. Althouh DBIA supporters have ten ed te dismiss opposi- KIWANIS CLUB The Kiwanis Club of Whitby meets every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Cafe Vienna, 209 Dundas St. E. (at Green), Whitby. For more information on the club, cail Jerry Jung at 668-4993 or Brick Evans at 668-2241. tion to the concept authe grurn- blings of a few disgruntled mer- chanta, the Iatest petition cain- paign has prompted an organized response frorn th e DBLA board . Leter outines benefits ofBIA A two-page letter touting the benefits of having a BIA has been circulated to downtown businesses recently. DBIA chair Sean Hogue said the letter was drafted te point eut what the DBIA has accomplished in Whitby and te also clear up any misconceptions mule may h ave. 'Mhe in*pression I get is that they (merchants) have the im- pression that their taxes are r in% Up because of the BIA ev, sad Hogue. It'snot. The average BIA tax is $7.29 per week which is not a lot of money,» he said. Hogue noted that while pro- perty tai bis are issued on a quarterly basis, the DBIA Ievy ia only included on one bill, thus ieading to possible confusion. Hogue also reitorated pro- viously statod commente that the «amaîl group» in opposition te, the DBIA aeerns te, corne frern the retail sector. This is one group which stands to lose the most if the DBIA folds,-he said. «Seventy..five ker cent of thoir income cornes froni Christmnas promotions. They (morchants) tell nme their businesses wouid die without it.» Peacock, however, charges that the DBIA levy is a "penalty tai» for beinq located downtewn. He said many chain steres and businesses inzentional1y avoid the downtewn areas of Ontario communities te escape paying a BIA assosarnent. «It looks like niP have te go down te the industriel mail and do retail thore,» said Peacock, if council rejects the petition. «Thore are people doing that now," he added. Fraud attempt foile A man who showed a Semali passport as identification failed Thuraday i a second attempt te defraud the downtewn Whitby Reyal Bank branch. Police say the suspect wont te the bank around noon and tried te obtain a cash advance on a Visa card, but was recogmized by an aiert employee. It seema h e ad tried the sanie thing two days earlier with anothor credit card, both of which turned out te be stoien. ThesuspetyWhospoke broken Engiisfe once ho saw the transacton was taking tee long, police aaLy. He's described as a 61ac kmran in his eariy twen- ties, with dark hair and a bit of a moustache.