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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1987-07-22, Page 1INDEX Entertainment — A13 Graduates A13 Obituaries — A13 - People _ A13 Walton - A4 Weddings — A13 Dublin — A6, A7 Sports A9 Hensall — Al2 Births A13 Classifieds — A10; All .. :.-0017-0.00:•,..• See page•.A,9•. • Serving the communities°Site) and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and . Walton HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1987 50 cents a copy County to remain Huron County politicians received' assurances from. Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw that the county will remain intact, but he also urged the county's executive committee' to 'pay attention to urban concerns., - Speaking to a special meeting of the county's executive committee and the . mayors representing the five.county towns in Goderich Wednesday, Shaw said he threatened ,• secession from the - county system in . response to frustrations ex- perienced by the urban municipalities. The meeting; called by Huron .County warden Brian McBurney, was designed to address concerns expressed in the media by the five mayors covering such topics -as planning, unity,, the' .development of Highway 8 and the creation of a county economic development office. - "This meeting was brought on by ar- ticles in the paper and I hoped to bring peo- ' pie together and have an open and frank discussion," McBurney told the meeting. "I hope wecan be open and honest. i don't want this to linger and hopefully we can put concerns to rest because we're 'all responsible to the same. people." • While the discussion on the -respective issues was honest, Shaw and reeve Bill Mickle. Exeter's representative -on county council, assured the executive committee they would not sit idly -by if they, felt their concerns were being ignored. • "We get the impression as mayors and Exeter council that not a lot of attention is .paid to _recommendations from council," Shaw explained. "We have asked for a few things and while we're not ,always looking. for support, atleast some interest. We're left with the impression that ideas and con- cerns are being dismissed." That attitude, Shaw reasoned, an- tagonized Exeter council -and the five •mayors, who began meeting as a social and ad hoc committee to 'discuss matters • of mutual concern: . The. Exeter mayor admitted that much of the animosity related back to the "damn planning problem", an issue that resulted in' an -Ontario Municipal Board hearing. That problem dealt with a plan of subdivi- sion for an agri-industrial park by Hay Township at the intersection of Highways 4 and•83 near Exeter. The plan of subdivision was prepared for approval by the county's planning depart - iii$ three victims Three people are.,dead_as a result of a -10010t )morning hotlseffire across• from the Dolt',C011.00'-01110t 3, Concession 3, TttekersrnithTownalflp At ress° d Godei t Iii d1,tgl merl ilia detail tttcitii Oman, an year-oldt ear-nld gr Four' otic he blaze x OrthArea Firofighto*,ser(it all ohe . fire et °6:55. a. a. Frank Ntgll,: neighbor, had: seen the smoke and sounded.. the .alarms But' according to the. Deputy Fire Chief the house was already engulfed in Elam by the time the firefighters ar• • rinsed � dw k" r V-We`twif told'"tiles" i"!d pt`Ie lit �i the house, 00 ou rllirstpridrltywas to eee if co wa.uld got thea► ou " tie said tragedy a Being lnvest18tif d by. 1Detective Sargeant Middtcbrook of Owen Sound',in conjunction With the Fire Mir§ltoll. intact ment but -failed to clear the OMB hearing after Exeter filed an objection. The plan did not conform to Ontario Foodland guidelines and has subsequently been redrafted. Shaw told the meeting Exeter will again object to the development. It cost Exeter council $8,000 in consul- tant and lawyer's fees to contest the plan to the OMB and Shaw, argued before the committee that while the judge's decision vindicated Exeter's position, the town, in effect, paid both for its own fees and that of Hay (through assessment) to prove its point. ' "It was a philisophical problem and we won the case which vindicated Exeter's position," he said. "We said, in a letter to council, there should be some shared costs. Hay. was given the support of the county through the planning department, The planning department also represents Exeter. But the county bore Hay's costs and not Exeter's. We paid for both: We appealed to the council in August 1985 but were turned down." The incident suggests the planning department must serve two masters and Shaw said the situation would resurface again if not dealt with. . Mickle. told the meeting that if Exeter was to remain the viable service centre for South Huron it was purported to be in the county's official plan, then it was unreasonable to develop on the periphery of the town. "We do have property, in- dustrial property' that's accessible," he said. The mayors pushecr�jtha executive com- mittee for an explanation on why council ignored Exeter's request for financial assistance on the matter and Usborne reeve, Gerald Prout said "when you opb- ject, you pay the bill", while McBurney ad- ded that it was his opinion that "if you hire - outside planners and consultants- you pay " Turn to page 8A • Seaforth' residents lose zoning fight The Ontario .Municipal Board has dismissed the appeal of some Seaforth residents and has changed the designated use of land located at the northeast corner of Coleman Street and Goderich Street East and owned by the Huron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board. The property is now zoned for specific rather than general commercial use. Those specific uses include; an assembly hall, a clinic, a -comniereial indoor . recreational facility, a commercial indoor sports establishment, an eating establishment, a motel, a landscaping and garden supply establishment, a police facility, an under- taking establishment and a public park. Area residents wanted the land 'zoned residential and said anything else would not be compatible and would ruin the eastern approach to the Town of Seaforth. Thatap- proach, they said, is extremely attractive, with the Lions Park on the south side, the hospital on the north side, and a number of residences further west on both on the north and south side of the street. The entrance is also unique in Ontario since it is without the usual highway -commercial uses, up to the Coleman Street intersection. Specificallythe residents said an eating Co-op celebrates The Hensall and District Co-op held a 50th Anniversary Celebration and Member Appreciation Day Wednesday at its David- son Avenue operation. An estimated 2,000 people were present at the event which included an unvelhfig of a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Pla- que and the official naming of Davidson Drive, the street on which the plant is located. Speeches were made by various members. of the Co-op executive and local, provincial and federal politicians. The list of dignitaries present included Hensall reeve Jim Robinson, Minister of Health Murray Elston, MP Murray Cardiff and Ontario Minister of Agriculture Assistant Jim Fitzgerald. Co-op president Mac Stewart commented during his speech on the success of the Co- op and said that was a result of it being built on a strong foundation. "It was built by a progressive group of people who knew the importance of strong ownership," he said. During the celebration a number of pla- ques and photographs of the co-op's past directors, presidents, secretaries and general managers were unveiled and an anniversary Cake cut. Guests partook of a barbecue, listened to musical entertainment; viewed a display Of ht storical photographs andnews articles and were free to tour the operation. A 50 -year -history of the Hensall and District Coop is being published and will be. available in November. establishment and motel would be incom- patible with the residential uses at this en- trance to the Town. Their planner also noted that commercial uses would be incompati- ble with community facilities as zoned on the balance of the School Board lands, especially if the balance of the lands were used for school purposes. Residents were also concerned with heavy trucks attending at "a truck stop" which would be a potential on this site with the proposed zoning. Some views were also expressed with respect to the economic feasibility of a motel locating anywhere in the community, and the potential for failure which would ultimately mean the deteriora- tion of lands and use for such purposes. On behalf of Seaforth, Cindy Fisher said the compromise list of permitted uses would not be incompatible, given site plan control is a feature available to the Municipality in the circumstances, and that any potential adverse impacts could be handled in that way. She was not of the opinion that Col- eman Street represented anything more than a physical separation and was not the magical division line for Highway- commercial uses for the eastern section of the municipality. Given the economic prosPects, outlined in the evidence, the Board said there was no question the site, being on•a main highway, was eminently suitable for highway- commercial purposes. The issue was then dicerned to be the potential incompatibility of those reduced number of highway- commercial uses, which seem to narrow themselves down to concern over a motet and an eating establishment, and the reper missions of the success of the one as a truck stop, and the economic deterioration of another as a.motel turning into a bar to sup- port the operations economically. On the other sidealthough the zoning of R2 would not permit a school to be located on the subject site, the subject lands could be used in association With a school located in the Community Facilities zone, With respect to the compatibility and the aesthetics of theentrance to the Town from the eastern approach, the Board was not Convinced on the evidence, given site plan control and given the proximity of the sub- ject site to the commercial uses, either of a core of highway -commercial nature hn- med*ately west, that the boundary should be at Coleman Street as against the eastern boundary of the subject site. HIGH WINDS -Tornado-like winds ripped the roof off of Fred McClure's barn and tore seven trees from their roots Sunday night during the storm. Mr. McClure and his family who live two miles west of Walton, weren't hurt.or worried about the damage. Mr. Mc- Clure and his wife, Heidi, stand before an uprooted tree that lay across their driveway. Blake photo. Winds wreak havoc on Walton farm Tornado-like winds tore the roof from a barn and knocked down several trees on a farm two miles west of Walton during the storm Sunday night. Damage is estimated at $20,000. Fred- McClure, his wife Heidi, and their two children Darrell, 3, and Jennifer, 1, were in their Mune when the storm ap- proached, but before they could take shelter in the cellar the storm was over. Part of the barn roof flew about 40 feet and landed on the side of a nearby driving shed and another part flew past the shed to a corn field. • A third part of the roof landed inside the shed on a combine but there was no damage to the machine. A truck parked near the barn was also damaged when its topper was ripped off by the high winds. Seven trees including a pear and apple tree located close to the house were also torn from their roots. One tree landed across the driveway so the owners couldn't get out for help. The McClures weren't worried when their telephone and hydro went out because they knew their neighbors would come to help. Harvey McClure said the scene looked "pretty wild" Monday morning when neighbors began the clean up. "You wouldn't know there was much wrong driving out there until you got right to his place," said Mr. McClure of the damage to his son's farm. Fred McClure said he plans to put a new roof on the barn and repair all other damages. •• This is the second disaster to hit the Mc- Clure family this year. in the spring Lavern McClure, a brother, lost his pig farm to fire. OTHER DAMAGES Two trees in Walton were also down due to the high winds. • One along Main Street across from the feed mill narrowly missed an abandoned house. Township road maintenance staff were cutting the tree Monday afternoon. Another smaller tree went down on Ann and Gerry Ryan's property but didn't cause any damage. ..: .: A SLICE OF `CAKE �° number of tligritta'fres were`in Hensall on Minister Assistant Jim Fitzgerald, Hensall reeve Jim 13obinson Wedn'esday to help' the Hensall and District Co-op celebrate its Co-op President Mac Stewart and Co-op gWagner.Manager Berl Wa " .50th anniversary. Among those who helped cut the celebr"ation Mellwraith photo. y Cardiff Ontario cake vJerefrom left, MP Murra,,,... Agriculture_ ..... ..._._ _...,_ Driver inured. by failing limb A Princeton' woman is in satisfactory condition in the Seaforth Community Hospital after the pickup truck she was driving was hit by a falling limb. Seaforth Nike said the Woman Was travelling southbound on North Main Street, near Welsh Street, when a large tree limb landed on her truck causing in- jury and extensive damage to the truck. The woman was taken to the hospital by 9:11 ambulap.m.nce. The accident occured around Town moving zoning too fast At least one member of Seaforth Town Council feels the town is moving ton quickly in its pursuit of changing the land use designation in the West Branch Subdivision from residential to industrial. Deputy -Reeve Hazel Hildebrand said the town is "putting the cart before the horse" by establishing a special committee to or - sue the zoning amendment. Most people in that area of town she said don't Want the zoning change. Some people feel as though they are bat- ting .their heads against a brick wall because no matter what they say you're go- ing to put industry in there anyway, she said. Turn to page 12A •