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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-17, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, October 17, 2013 Volume 29 No. 41 FAIR - Pg. 11Elementary School Fairwinners are honoured EXHIBIT - Pg. 23 Locals are profiled innew museum exhibitMUNRO- Pg. 9Alice Munro wins NobelPrize for LiteraturePublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK: No-compete clause raised in development discussions Decision looms after bylaw meeting Painting the town green The Blyth Scouts were a busy little bunch on Saturday. In the morning they were busy travelling throughout the village selling apples for their annual fundraiser and in the afternoon they were at Gary Courtney’s home on Scott Line planting trees. Here, Scout Leader Lavern Clark, left, recites lessons from Tree Planting 101 with Mackenzie Gulutzen. (Vicky Bremner photo) Whether it was the Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) or Central Huron and North Huron Council meetings, the proposed redevelopment of the former Grandview Restaurant site has been a hot topic for the past two weeks. The Blyth BIA, during its meeting on Oct. 2, and North Huron Council, at its meeting on Oct. 7, welcomed delegations including local business owners to speak to the proposed construction, which is to include a gas bar, convenience store and coffee shop that has been confirmed as a Tim Hortons. Doug Scrimgeour and Randy Fraser of Radford Fuels and Michael Oh who owns Blyth Convenience are concerned the proposed gas station, restaurant and convenience store at the site of the former Grandview Restaurant in Central Huron isn’t in the village’s best interest. They say that the development, which is proposed for the property on the southwest corner of the intersection of County Roads 25 and 4, will hurt local businesses and neighbouring properties. The trio attended the Blyth BIA meeting to make their issues known. While Scrimgeour said he wasn’t unhappy with development, he was upset with how things had proceeded. “[Huron County Planner] Monica Walker-Bolton made mistakes with her assumption there would be zero impact in the village of Blyth,” he said. Scrimgeour went on to call for the BIA to not become involved with the business because, he claimed, many BIA businesses are against it. “Some are dissatisfied with the project, others fear the development out there,” he said. Both Oh and Fraser said they felt the same way. Oh said the population of Blyth, according to the research he did before taking over the convenience store, will support one convenience store. He said pushing more than that will hurt both businesses. Scrimgeour pointed out a similar situation had occurred in Clinton with Mrs. D’s Donuts. He claims the business made better donuts than Tim Hortons, but that didn’t stop them from going out of business once the chain opened in Clinton. Both Oh and Scrimgeour were also frustrated with the fact that no notice had been given to business Morris-Turnberry Council, during an extensive presentation and question and answer period at a public meeting regarding its controversial new animal control bylaw, faced multiple residents requesting the number of animals allowed be changed. Discussed at a specially scheduled public meeting at the Bluevale Hall on Oct. 8, more than a dozen ratepayers gathered to let council know that they felt the document needed changing. The new bylaw, which has seen multiple revisions in the year it has been debated, calls for a limit of two dogs and five total pets in urban areas and three dogs and five total pets in rural areas. The limit had many people, including Bluevale’s Jennifer Wick, wondering why council was keeping the urban limit so low. Wick, who runs a rescue shelter for dogs, said limiting people to two dogs was going to hurt her ability to find foster homes for animals until they can be adopted. “I run a rescue and we rely on foster homes,” she explained to council and the assembled stakeholders. “The majority of the people who are going to take in a dog already have two dogs. Limiting that is going to make it difficult to find homes for these animals.” To answer Wick, and several other speakers who questioned the numbers, Mayor Paul Gowing stated the decision to limit the animals to two had to do with population and building density in settlement areas. “Urban areas have more intense housing situations,” he said. “That means there is less of an area for dogs to run, less area for dog excrement and more intense development in the area.” He said council feels the majority of problems, including barking, excrement and dogs at large, occur when there are more than two dogs in a home. One of the issues that came up from many of the ratepayers in attendance was the fact that most of those who spoke came from areas that were in urban settlements, but were either on the edge or had an abundance of property. They all claimed to live on more than an acre of land and felt that was sufficient for more than two dogs. They also claimed that the issue of dog problems is caused not by the number of dogs but by the people caring for them. Wick claimed a responsible dog owner wouldn’t let excrement or sound become an issue. Councillor Neil Warwick said that may be the case, but not all pet owners are responsible and the bylaw has to account for the people who don’t follow the rules. Deputy-Reeve Jason Breckenridge asked Jeanette Walker, partner of outspoken animal control bylaw opponent Myron “ Blyth is an adventure. At every turn of phrase in a world premier play, at the very turn from a countryside corner, at every footstep through a shady street, at every opportunity to build upon the century old community foundations that underpin her. Today is our new day and a new adventure awaits.” REIN BREITMAIER BLYTH FESTIVAL BOARD MEMBER By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 10 By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 18