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u“mun1mmuuumumumuumuuluummmunuuuumm Besides battling a garage fire July 20, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gavan McKen- na, 2'72 Gretel Drive in Rich- mond Hill, that for awhile endangered nearby houses, two crews from the local de- partment, spent a total of 10 hours assisting the Mark- ham squad and two other departments in putting out an early-morning inferno at Philmar Lumber. RR 2, Markham, July 21. Richmond Hill firefighters had their work spread out for them â€" literally â€" on the weekend. Damage at the latter fire, which swept through vast VOL. 98, NO. 4. Council referred the let- ter fi‘ommittee for consi- de . Y onge St. Trees, Plants Die The owners of a new group of stores on Yonge Street South in Richmond Hill believed that if you plant some flowers and they don't grow you plant them again. They did. They didn’t grow. Hence a letter to Rich- mond Hill Town Council pertaining to what didn’t happen. It was written by Bernard Cooper and As- sociates. owners of the stores. “We are prepared to make a nominal one time payment, should the muni- cipality require us to do so. Since the planting sea‘ son is now on, we would appreciate if this matter could be dealt with expe- ditiously.” The letter noted that “upon completion of the premises (at 10133 Yonge Street and formerly 33 Yonge Street South), and in a desire to tie-in with the existing landscaping in the area. we, at our own expense. installed four aggregate planters and planted four new trees. The number “30” in newspaper parlance means the end, and so it’s probably only appro- priate that Richmond Hill Firefighter Bill Wilds, No. 30, sprays down the wall as a finishing touch to a fire in a garage at the "In the light of this ex- perience, and since this is for the benefit of the Town of Richmond Hill, we are petitioning that the municipality accept rosâ€" ponsibility and mainten- ance of planting suitable plants or annual flowexs. “These did not survive one season so we replaced them with new ones. We now find that the replace- ments ako have not pros- pared. It} "30" For Garage Fire Chief Smith said that 8,000 feet of hose was needed to make the connection which covered one concession, from fire hydrant to fire. He had words of praise for all four fire crews whose work and co-operation throughout he :aid were excellent. He said also that the four fire crews kept the fire from spreading to nine pre-fabri- cated houses, plus a plumb- ing supply warehouse, all lo- cated on the grounds. The Hill department was then at the scene within four minutes of getting the call. A total of 20 firefighters from Richmond Hill, plus their counterparts from Markham, Stouffville and Scarboro, joined forces and equipment to relay the water from distant hydrants to the fire. The Richmond Hill crew had two pumpers on the scene, using 1,200 feet of hose each. The Markham Department used Six trucks. with its members spending some 14 hours on the job. piles of lumber in the ware- house was estimated by Markham Fire Chief Meryl Smith as between $400,000 and $500,000. Insurance coverage amounts to $350- 000. Cause of the fire is un- known, but the Ontario Fire Marshall‘s office is investi- gating. The yard also experienced a minor fire about 6:30 pm Friday, apparently the result of spontaneous combustion 1n the mill’s sawdust box. Damage amounted to $50. However, the sawdust box was ruled out as the cause for the major fire Sunday. The fire also caused exten- sive smoke damage to the McKenna house and warped the shingles on the roof of the house next door. Cause of the fire is un- known. Monday morning. tempora- ry shops and offices were set up in the old buildings at the front of the property. CARPETS STORED The garage fire in Rich- mond Hill caused about $11,000 damage to the build- ing and contents, which in- cluded a quantity of carpe- ting, glue and stripping. Richmond Hill Fire Chief Robert Kennedy. said the alarm was first turned into the Toronto operator. who relayed it to the Vaughan Department. which in turn contacted Richmond Hill. The Markham Department o L4G [5115. 1 lo- un- Fire esti- nced pm asult ition ‘ box. 50. box ause ly. nora- a set s at I. lich- bout mm- 1 in- irpe- (ten- ‘1 the I rped: If 0f . The proposal, presented by Architect Tom Brown, was for an A-frame type of structure 10-12 stories high with a foyer extending. about a third of the length and reaching up to the top of the building. Some of the apartments would be two sto- reys and some one storey and access from one leg of the building to the other would be by bridges. Councillor Andy Chate- auvert pointed out that a number of applications for development in that area (the east side of Bayview) have been turned down recently because they have been considered premature because of lack of services. “I am not sure we will want apartments on the east side of Bayview until we have a look at that whole area from Highway 7 north. This information may not be available for some time.” Councillor Jack Major agreed with these remarks. An unusual design for an apartment building for the southeast corner of Markham Road and Bayview Avenue on a three-acre pieshaped lot adjacent to the courthouse, failed to gain approval July 9 at the meeting of Rich- mond Hill Council’s plan- mng committee. Refuse Apartment Building Adjacent To Courthouse “Would it be possible for council to indicate what it would like to see on that site?“ asked Mr. Brown. The answer was no, be- cause the planning staff is loaded down with so much other work at present. “It would be very remiss of us to indicate we would consid- er that type of development and very wrong for us to ask our planning staff to add this to their load. It would be unfair to mislead you." said Mr. Chateauvert as he The fire, which occurred about 8:40 pm, July 16, caused an estimated $20,000 damage to the building and two adjoining sheds. also was called out to ex- tinguish-a fire at a barn owned by the Ontario Minis- try of Housing, Concession 10. A fire that started on the premises of Moon Furniture Company, 678 Rivermede Road, Concord, July 17, caus- home of Gavan McKenna, 272 Gretel Drive, Sa- turday evening. Besides destroying the garage, the fire destroyed a quantity of carpeting, glue and stripping stored in the building. Grant Smith assists his fellow fireman. RICHMOND HILL, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1974 'In Essentials Unity; in Non-Essentials Liberty; in all things Charity" moved that the committee recommend to council that the application is premature, with which the committee agreed. Chairman David Stephen- son told Mr. Brown that he liked the concept and hoped it would not be too long be- fore something like it could be built in Richmond Hill. “I am quite impressed by the architectural concept and believe that it is about time Richmond Hill got some architecturally p 1e a sin g buildings.” ed extensive smoke and wa- ter damage to two adjoining buildings as well. Victims were Cross Tube Products, 668 Rivermede Rcad and Rescoe Hardware, 674 Rivermede. Vaughan Fire Department. which put out the fire, said the latter was thought to have started in a supply of foam rubber at the furniture company. Damage to Moon Furniture was $7,000. 1Ix1lnuuum1munumumnnmumummmuuuummumm Raymond Waflace, 18, of RR 1, Gormley, was killed in a two-car col- lision Sunday, in which two Richmond Hill resi- dents were hospitalized. In the intensive care unit at Toronto General Hospital, is Albine Noel, 160 ESSex Street. who was transferred there from York County Hospital. His wife, Eileen Noel. who was a passenger in her husband’s car, was treated at York County Hospital for injuries and then released. York Regional Police said they still had few details of the accident. which occurred about 6.55 pm on Concession 2. Au- rora Sideroad. Kevin Mulhollan. 55 Davis Drive. Aurora, was also taken to York County Hospital for treatment. The Wallace vehicle was proceeding north and Noel vehicle south when the accident occurred. Man Killed Pair Hurt (Photo by Ron Fawn) mmm The letter points out that “I Sincerely believe that you have a distinct obligation to any ratepayer to inform them, should any service be withheld, that they have a legal right to withhold part of the levy during the de- linquent period. Councillor David Stephen- son, who represents Mr. Handbury’s ward, brought the letter to council’s atten- tion. It wafi received and turned over to the municipa- lity's solicitor for comment. Former Councillor Eric Handbury, of 59 Centre Street West, had earlier in- dicated that he would “de- duct 1/26th part of educa- tional taxes payable to se~ condary school boards from my tax assessment for the first two weeks of the strike and 1/52nd part for every week £0110wing that the service is with-held. “Any attempt to retrieve these funds I shall cons- true as extortion and will take whateVer legal action necessary to uphold my actions.” Mr. HandburY’s most re- cent missive was dated May 17 and further explained his reluctanCe to be billed for a service that ‘he hadn’t received. “It seems to me common sense that the town is only obligated to make these pay- ments provided the Board of Education lives up to the contractual agreements which make necessary the payment of a 25 percent school levy.” Mr. Handbury said that it was his opinion that “any citizen has the right to withhold payment of a tax when the service that tax makes possible is not carried out. A Richmond Hill man's threat to withhold a portion of his taxes as a result of last spring’s strike of secon- dary school teachers in York Region came up before town council \Monday night of last week. Schiller Objects To Holiday Hearings Richmond Hill Council July 15 instructed Planning Director Hessie Rimon to proceed with gathering citi- zen input for the “Working Goals and Objectives" of the new Official Plan. These will contain long term goals and objectives to the year 2000, and will describe in general terms the need to promote the development of Rich- mond Hill as a separate and identifiable community. Pub- lic meetings will be held dur- ing August to gather the ci- tizen input and Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30 am to 12 noon and Tuesday nights 6 pm to 8 pm have been set aside by the plan- ning department to answer questions and discuss the working goals and objectives. “Whether connected or it has been ‘eamed- adjustment. ‘violations of the zoning by- feet. not, council has since held The council chamber is He stated the company law. There was a lack of Carol Martin of Thom- two in camera meetings- located in the town's office had poured $2.700 into the frontage involved in this ap- bill was third in the dis- (public and press excluded): building located on Don property to improve it and plication as well as other cus with mark of 164 feet and now, as reported in the Mills Road. thought that this Should problems. 3% inches. eummuumulmlml1mll1m\11mummn1mm\luummmmummmmmnumumunmmlmum1mmnmununumuuumlmlmm\mu\mmll\mmu“mmnulmunumumuuuuulmlmll11lxn11mimmmmlm1lumulmunummnumluummunumuumuuuumulmummlmmmumuunuummnmmma! “Many people are out of town in August,” he pointed out. “In addition. it is also suggested that all comments be received by the end of September â€" not nearly en- ough time for this most im- portant review." This week mayoralty candi- date David Schiller, a form- er councillor, has charged that council is only paying lip-service to encouraging ci- tizen involvement in the for- mulation of the town’s new Official Plan. “Council has suggested that meetings be held during August to obtain citizens’ views on goals and objectives,” he stated. Vaughan Wants Rural Land For Luxury Homes Ex- C ounci/Ior Three tens With/mid School Taxes A residential development in Vaughan that will eventually see an additional two people per acre. for a maximum of 520 people, will be considered by York Regional Council this week. Approval of an amendment to the Official Plan of Vaug- han. which would change the lands involved from rural to residential, thus permitting the development at the north- west intersection of Bathurst and Teston Streets, was given by York Regional Planning Committee last week. Vaughan Town Council first approved the amendment in November of 1973, four years after application was made by Millview Investments Limited. BASIC CHANGES Following that. however, the regional planning department recommended two basic chan- ges to the amendment: 3 more “As my municipal repre- sentatives, I instruct you to research thoroughly the Board of Education’s respon- sibility to the ratepayers of Richmond Hill and advise me if the service they pro- vide is a necessary adjunct to the payment they receive, and I want to know as quickâ€" 1y as possible, if the service is the dominant feature, why the town cannot withhold from its 25 percent levy an amount of money in propor- tion to the time that the Board of Education and its duties were not effective in our municipality.” Mr. Handbury concludes by saying that “your position in the community is to con- cern yourself about the in- terest of the ratepayers and not some provincial organi- zation. “I want to hear no more about your financial c'om- mitments. obligations or troubles with the Board of Education. I only want to hear whether the council upholds my right as a rate- payer to withhold payment for a vital and irretrievable service not provided." Mr. Hand‘bury’s letter was in reply to one sent to him by Councillor Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson told "The Liberal" that the letter in question had been originally addressed to council and had just recently come to his attention. “We are not robots or automatic cash dispensers, and you as our municipal re- presentatives, are expected, if not compelled to respect this attitude. This was the reason he brought the matter before council Monday night. “We should not be consi: dered as an undeniable source of money, paying taxes without complaint when the Board of Education or any of its employees is negligent in providing a utility that our money makes possible. uuunumummumumun1mummumunumuuuumunm A Lrpo rt A p peal press July 17, is beginning work on a new Official Plan," Schiller noted. “The process adopted by council, however, is simply window dressing the need and desirability of involving residents in the planning process. “Not only is the timing of the public meetings poor, but residents have not seen or digested the Region’s plan with which our Official Plan must conform. “To be meaningful, the town should allow time for residents to view the Re- gion's Official Plan pro- posals, schedule meetings for input during the fall or early in the new year, per- haps conduct surveys to re- fine views. and establish pro- cedures for reporting back to residents. “Nothing less is sufficient to begin the process of devis- ing a new Official Plan con- templated to guide the muni- cipality to the year 2000." The OMB Hearing on the appeal by Toronto Air- ways Ltd. for extension of the Buttonville Airport will be held in the Town of Markham Council Chamber Monday at 10 am, it has been learned. Maple Downs Golf Club ad- joins the western boundary and a trans-Canada pipeline is in detailed land use plan, listing open space, agricultural and residential categories; replace- ment of policies in Vaughan's Official Plan by a new set of policies from the region. Vaughan agreed to the firs1 recommendation, but not to the second. resulting in another look at the amendment by the region. r In a subsequent report. the planning department listed the area as being in “an arm of the Oak Ridges moraine. consisting of irregular topography and sandy soils, augmented by extensive woodland tracts." A small light industry and four houses have access to the west side of Bathurst Street, with several houses on the east side of the street, within the Richmond Hill planning area. HOME PAPER OF THE DISTRICT SINCE 1878 The local MLA said the widening proposal was dis- cussed with the Minister re- sponsible for highways and an attempt is to be made to readjust the plan-s to see if the department can meet the objections of the ratepayers. One of the questions is whether or not there is going to be parking on both sides of Yonge Street (Queen’s Highway 11) through Thorn- hill. Minister Rhodes will be calling a public meeting be- fore anything as tu Yonge Street widening is approved again, says Deacon. Rhodes previously promised to stop the widening proposal. Deacon had just come from a meeting with Transporta- tion and Communications Minister John Rhodes. Also attending were Markham Mayor Anthony Roman and South Thornhill Ratepayers' Association Executive Mem- ber Nick Belak of 5 Hender- son Avenue. Protesting Tho- rnhill citizens sought conso- lation on the Yonge Street widening proposal for which plans are practically finaliz- ed in the provincial depart- ment and have been exhi- bited at local information sessions. The public meeting will allow York Region, local municipal councils and rate- payers to have a say in the planning to handle north- south traffic -betWeen York Region and Metro. “This is so (local residents and municipalities) won’t have that (no consultation) complaint again. They not only opposed it (the widen- ing), but had nobody to talk to," said Deacon. The real barrier to finding a limited access through highway alternative to the widening of Yonge Street to seven lanes across Thornhill is a construction problem at the north end of the Don Valley Parkway in Metro, says Donald Deacon MLA York Centre, of Markham Town. Deacon was interview- ed this past week by "The Liberal” via telephone. A representative for the firm, D. J. Plitz, told council that the whole land area on Naughton Drive, north of Elgin Mills Sideroad West, comprised 2.51 acres. The splitting of the lot would leave insufficient frontage although the bylaw does permit the company to con- struct one dwelling. There were also a (RP) number of other violations. He stated the company had poured $2,700 -into the property to improve it and thought that this should The York Centre MLA says he‘s distressed to find the Transportation Ministry isn't changing its plan for High- way 404 north of Steeles Avenue. For the time being Mr. Plitz claimed that he had been unaware of the zoning violation and had been assured of a permit when his application was ap- proved by a committee of adjustment. The first one involved Jack Jacobsen Contsruction Limited of Pickering reques- ti’ng relief from a zoning by- law to split a lot for the purpose of constructing two single family dwellings. Two separate applications for land splits ran afoul of municipality zoning bylaws Monday night of last week at Richmond Hill Council. Zoning Changes Require Bylaw, Official Plan Study Rhodes Promises Public Meeting, Yonge Street DEACON DISTRESSED PUBLIC \MEETING BY HAL BLAINE the northern part of the rant. The golf club said the pro- posed development was not compatible with surrounding land uses, and the water supply might be insufficient to satisfy the needs of both the golf course and the subdivision. Lands to the south of Mills Road are used for ing purposes. The amended area would be served by a piped communal water supply and individual sewage disposal systems. OBJECTORS Objections to the plan were received from Maple Downs Golf Club, the Ministry of Na- tural Resources and members of the public. The Ministry of Natural Resources objected on the basis that development would inevit- ably damage and perhaps Council also rejected an application to split property owned by Dora Strachan on Gormley Sideroad due to violations of the zoning by- law. There was a lack of frontage involved in this ap- plication as well as other problems. “We have a big problem with north-south traffic now, it really distresses me to think we're not going to get Mayor Lazenby was sym- pathetic with Mr. Plitz sug- gesting “that you will pro- bably get your second lot eventually and pull out your expenses at that time. In the meanwhile you could go ahead with the single dwel- ling." it is to be built like a normal arterial road. not like High- way 400. This is because the engineers can’t find a way to get a clover leaf or other grade separation intersection put in at Sheppard Avenue and Highway 401. At that time, Ontario Mu- nicipal Board approvals were delayed and the federal sales tax rebate formula for new construction was reduced from 4.5 percent to 3 per- cent of the contract price. Mayor William Lazenby noted that approval would require a change in the zon- ing bylaw and proposed Of- ficial Plan. “We have the same prob- lem in the Richvale area which involves an 0MB hearing." He suggested that Mr. Plitz should wait and see how many “other people in your area want to change the zoning and join forces with them." Deacon says Minister Rhodes reports there’s in- sufficient distance there to connect Highway 404. as many believed was proposed, to the Don Valley Parkway. Because of the travel distance available, traffic couldn't sort itself out on such a free- way if it were built. Thus there isn't any reason right now to make Highway 404 into an expressway until af- ter east-west Highway 407 {along the present Highway 7 alignment) is built many years hence. This is since there won’t be the necessary traffic volume to use a High- way 404 expressway. WAS ONLY DREAM Thus the whole concept of Highway 404 as a traffic re- lief artery north-south across this area and into Metro ap- parently has been a figment of the imagination all along. But Deacon isn’t ready to give up on this yet. It all started when the last addition to Huron Heights Secondary School in New- market was approved by the former Newmarket District High School Board, but built by the county board. have some bearing on get- ting the town to relent. Finally 4V2 Years Later Federal Tax $43,221 Some relentless pursuit by the staff of York County Board of Education over .the past 4% years has finallypaid off._ _ 0 That’s the 'tthe spent by the staff and a tax consultant in going after a federal sales tax rebate of $43,221.45, which Ottawa at first refused to recognize. PARTS - 884-7716 881-2384 REPAIRS John Deere Mowers. Tractors, Welders â€" Inter- national Harvester Mowers, Tractors, Etc. â€" Tom Self Propelled Mowers, Riders â€" Lawn Sweepers and Special Garden Equipment â€" Chrysler Boats 8; Motors â€" Peterborough Boats. 43 FRANCHISES TO SERVE YOU SPECIAL â€" FACTORY REBUILT SUNBEAM ELECTRIC MOWERS - $43.00 Yonge St. N. (2 doors N. of Summit Restaunm) REID MOWER, MARINE & SPORT quad- Elgin farm- In making its report, the department took into considera- tion the various objections, in- corporating their concerns into a list of recommendations for consideration by regional coun- cil. At a public meeting three years ago, concern was ex- pressed about the loss of rural atmosphere, u r b a n sprawl, pollution, plus a “drawdown of underground water supplies in the area to the detriment of existing properties. Warning was also given to keeping the density of any development along the Oak Ridges moraine, low enough to prevent the possibility of any concentrated amounts of chlo- ride. etc. from septic tanks affecting the quality of water supply to wells in the area. destroy the quality and quantity of water flowing downstream. In announcing the top Ontario Scholar â€" Peter Barabash of King City Se- condary School, 95.8 per- cent average -â€" the board also reviewed some of the background necessary to be- coming an Ontario Scholar. To achieve this distinction 4Continued on page 8) lull“llllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Two Firsts In Britain PRICE 15¢ PER COPY The services of tax con- sultant R. G. McLean were then obtained, and a subse- quent rebate of $43,221.45 was received in May. Mr. McLean and staff are now pursuing a similar claim for Sutton High School in the amount of $10,000. However, staff didn’t feel that a fair decision had been made and continued to pur- sue the case through 1969 with little success. JOHN RHODES Highways Minister relief. I'm arranging another meeting with Minister Rho- des. We want to get the traf- fic off Bayview Avenue, Don Mills Road (Woodbine Aven- ue). Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue. Right now it appears there is no solution in sight. The highways builders will just have to keep on desecra- ting the local towns by wid- ening streets." he said. “But I still hope some solution can be found. Minis- ter Rhodes is a pretty sens- ible guy, so I hope I can persuade him." concluded This resulted in an under financing of the Huron Heights project of about $35,000, which was taken from the current funds in 1970. Government tax audi- tors wouldn’t recognize the higher rate. because they argued that construction on the project had not started before the date the formula changed. local MLA Deacon Carol Martin of Thom- hill was third in the dis- cus with mark of 164 feet 31/2 inches. She took the shot put with a heave of 49 feet 3-3/4 inches and won the discus with a toss of 185 feet. Jane Haist of Thomhlll took two firsts last Satur- day in the British Wom- en’s National Athletics Track and Field Cham- pionships.