Vote…

Open House scheduled for next week, Thursday, April 10th, 6:30PM at Cadarackque PS for the purpose of hearing about and inputting ideas for designs of our new Miles Park.

I would like to remind that comments will not be approved without a valid email and name. If for some reason you can not have your name published I can make exceptions on a case by case basis. However all emails must work— Got that Mr. Floppy Ears ! thanks for the Chocolate however. (more…)

I have a few updates to make, first is 60 Salem Road and I know I am probably going to be making some upset with me but these are my opinions remember.

1) http://www.voicesofajax.com/?p=87 60 Salem Road Post. Official Plan ammendment. (more…)

The following is an update from Keith.

Here’s a few high-points in the OMB Decision on the Horton/Cottage Market application just in (ref: PL070470): (more…)

The following email was sent to Keith Sarre from a concerned resident in the area.
I will post her email as she wrote it, it really drives home the point about process.
If you saw in the news Port Perry recently discovered the same thing about the general public going to the OMB– don’t bother is the general message. (more…)

I taped the session with the speakers and it was an excellent turnout. The meeting was chaired by Scott Crawford and he was gracious and set a tone where everyone felt welcome and was able to speak, time did not seem to be the issue tonight and if someone needed to exceed the 5 mins, it did not seem to be a big issue.

Citizens are speaking up either for their own interests and some are speaking on community wide issues as well.

There will be another open house when the site plan portion is filed.

Here is Keiths update

_____________________________

From: Keith Sarre <ksarre@rogers.com>
To: RASAN2
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 10:39:29 PM
Subject: Horton/Cottage market Progress and OMB Case PL070470 - Notice of Hearing

Thanks to a good turnout, and several well presented resident’s viewpoints, we achieved real improvement to the by-law implementing the Horton/Cottage market development application when it was presented to the CAP Committee (Council) at yesterdays’ Public Meeting. The rest we’ll try for at the OMB hearing on October 29 (see email below)…and since its public too…you are welcome to attend to support the cause.
In the meantime, here’s a summary of the changes that were granted yesterday:

**A building height maximum of 2 stories (huge win!)
All limitation we requested except for the following (which I’ll be appealing to the OMB on October 29th):
Hotel…no worries here, it’s unlikely to go with a maximum of 2 stories now in place!
Licensed and unlicensed Accessory Outdoor Patio
Restaurant (Drive-Thru);
Service or Repair shop (however, Motor Vehicle Service Centre was excluded, so I think this is just appliance or other domestic products…I’ll check).
Council has instructed Planning to conduct another Open House when the Site Plan for the commercial parcel is finalized, and that it be submitted to CAP again after that (another couple of meetings to watch for);
The CAP chairperson gained assurance from the applicant that measures would be taken to prevent any use of residential streets to access the building site (for either of the residential and commercial parcels) during construction;
A larger “minimum setback” (buffer) than the norm between the commercial and us of 6 meters;

There appeared to be Council sympathy for limits on the permitted weekday hours of construction (I’ll try appealing this too at OMB to make sure);
The CAP chairperson confirmed that an exit from the commercial parcel directly into Wicks Drive would not be permitted by this by-law or the ultimate site plan;
We withdrew our request for the Horton “street” name change to “close” and it was recorded (residents attending had decided the cost to change all of our addresses everywhere was not worth the benefit; particularly since the approved report included a recommendation to add a NO EXIT sign at the Horton/Wicks junction).

I was encouraged by this progress, all be it we didn’t get everything we wanted. I hope you are too. I’ll try for the rest on Oct 29th. Many thanks again for the large turnout and your support.

Regards,

Keith.

PS, Please join me in encouraging RASAN memberships (and the $10:00 contributions to costs) flowing in. http://www.voicesofajax.com/?cat=18

I plan to be at this meeting myself

October 10th 2007

The following letter will be sent with a flyer– below to the area residents.

Public Meeting Reminder

Cottage Market/Horton Street development application (S-A-2006-02).
Please attend this Public Meeting. As residents, it’s our last chance to express concerns or preferences for use of the subject land before a decision is made by Council.

At this meeting the Community Affairs & Planning Committee will receive the Ajax Planning Department’s report on the Cottage Market/Horton Street development application and hear the Applicant’s and resident’s viewpoints.

Attached to this flyer is a copy of a letter sent by the Resident’s Association for Safe Ajax Neighbourhoods to the Ajax Planning department on behalf of 24 of your neighbours. If you agree with the sentiments, please lend you support by being at the meeting.

Monday, October 15, 2007
at 7:00PM
Ajax Town Council Chambers, 65 Harwood Ave. Ajax.
This flyer has been distributed by the Resident’s Association for Safe Ajax Neigbourhoods (RASAN). The RASAN membership application is attached and you can find out more about RASAN at: http://www.voicesofajax.com/?page_id=20

If you have questions about RASAN membership, comments about the attached letter or neighbourhood safety ideas to share please email: ksarre@rogers.com

Here is an email sent regarding an OMB appeal. It was sent to the OMB Planning designated person for that file.
I am posting the entire email as it was sent to a public body so there is nothing in regards to privacy being violated here also the citizen forwarded it to me therefore giving me his permission to post the email.

—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Keith Sarre
To: Raymond (JUS) Borja
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 11:32:07 PM
Subject: OMB Case No. PL070619 - Appeal of Ajax By-law 64-2007 - Lessons Learnt

Raymond, this note is to request your help in improving the service provided to a resident in the circumstances where they intend to make an appeal to the OMB about a local development application.
My request is born out of my recent experience as a resident in the subject case No. PL070619. My encounter is likely over, but I’m hoping to help the next folk who feel the need to travel this path. Please forward this request to the person responsible to give consideration to service improvement suggestions.

REQUEST

Summarize, in lay terms, the information from the Land Planning Act that explains the options available to a resident to appeal a development application, and publish it in an easy to find location on the OMB and local municipality website. I have in mind such things as:
an explanation of the relationship between a Zoning By-Law and the Plan of Subdivision,
that a Zoning by-law is about land use, while the Plan of subdivision is about the elements that make up the development design, roads, etc.;
a description of the different components, presented in some sort of step-by-step order;
that there is a cost of $125.00 to appeal each one of them, etc.

I know all of this information is somewhere on the OMB site, the difficulty I encountered was deciphering the language used and finding what I needed to know embedded among all sorts of other stuff of interest to parties who have much more of a monetary stake in land planning issues and can afford a lawyer to figure it all out for them.

BACKGROUND:

A motion to dispense with my appeal of Ajax Zoning By-law 64-2007 (OMB Case No. PL070619) without a full OMB hearing was heard by the OMB last Friday.

Though no ruling was immediately forthcoming, I got the impression the motion will likely pass. The (remove developer’s name) lawyer’s prime ground for the motion to dispense with my appeal was: it does not concerned land use, but instead is about street pattern which is a matter covered in the Plan of Subdivision (the Plan of Subdivision had subsequently passed without appeal). Apparently, I’d appealed the wrong thing!

Here’s a summary of how this unfolded:
As a regular Ajax resident, I was unaware of the process for launching an OMB appeal;
At all 3 Open Houses I (along with many other residents) had been consistent in raising concerns about the absence of direct street access to the subject subdivision from Chambers Drive…and the impact this would have on traffic and street safety in the existing adjacent Cadarackque sub-division;

Since there did not appear to be any will on the part of Ajax Planning to budge on the street access issue, beginning with an email on April 2nd, I began to seek help on the OMB Appeals process from Ajax Planning staff and more recently the Clerk’s office;

I was open and honest with the Town staff so they were fully aware that my appeal would only be with respect to the street pattern; Essentially, Town staff just gave me the link to the OMB website to figure it out for myself;

Navigating through the legalese on the OMB website is a daunting task for a layman…and the cost of engaging a lawyer is prohibitive when, unlike all other interested parties, a resident-at-large has no related revenue opportunity to fund it;

On July 24, 2007, the day the Zoning By-Law appeal period was due to expire, I met personally with the senior Planner and separately with the Town Clerk to explain my street pattern appeal intentions and seek their confirmation that I was following the correct process. Neither of them made any mention of the distinction between a Zoning By-law and the Plan of Subdivision…and particularly that I should have in mind the Plan of Subdivision…which can also be appealed;

Since the Notice of Decision with respect to the Plan of Subdivision S-A-2004-05 was not published by the Town of Ajax until Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the day after expiry of the subject Zoning By-law appeal period, the choice as to which document should be appealed was not apparent to me before the expiry of the 1st of the 2 options.

Finally on August 13, 2007, I sent an email to Planning Manager and the Town Clerk asking, since no acknowledgement to my Zoning By-law appeal from either the Town or the OMB had yet been received, was there more for an appellant to do by this 2nd deadline (the Plan Of Subdivision appeal period) to have their appeal processed?

In response to my August 13, 2007 email, the Town Clerk sent me a digital copy of the Town’s letter forwarding my Zoning appeal to the OMB…there was no comment on my prime request about the appellant process…and no response at all was forthcoming from from the Planning Manager. I hope this is helpful,

Keith Sarre
2 Horton St,
Ajax

————————
What to gain from this –even if you do not agree with his reason for the appeal in the first place is that the system is set up to make things like this very difficult for citizens.
These are arms length agencies that are fully paid for by our tax dollars both provincial and municipal and people that want to participate have to wade through and figure it out all for themselves.

The biggest thing with this appeal was basically a Street– Called Street A. For some traffic expert reason it was determined that Street A would not go all the way from #2 to the extended Chambers because it would cause short cut traffic and be more problematic.

Ritchie Avenue was used as an example and no doubt people do not always like the traffic but you have a choice to live on a main feeder street or not and I would love to know the answer from the people who live at either end, if the street (Ritchie) was blocked off completely turning it into a cul de sac — would you really want that or do you want the choice of the quickest way to go to Walmart or the 401 ?

Maybe this has nothing to do with traffic but property value and making the cost of the house more expensive to buy? Based on my previous work experience in Real Estate/ RE Appraisal office a house on a feeder street is worth less then those on quieter streets with less through traffic– Location- Location - Location.

When this subdivision is done, we will see if the traffic studies done were realistic. I do agree that the green arrow at Salem and Chambers recently put in place does help a great deal in the morning.