1008DCLR
If the trailer was already parked, bylaw won`t come knocking
CLARINGTON -- If you can prove your RV was parked on your property prior to passage of a restrictive new bylaw, expected to receive final assent next week, the bylaw shouldn`t apply to you. Clarington councillors granted preliminary approval Monday to a bylaw which would limit the time-frame allowed for having a larger RV parked in a residential driveway to five days, or 120 hours, per month. It also allows for a maximum of three RVs to be parked on rural properties.
WHITBY -- The plant contracted to assemble doors and make seats for the 2010 Camaro is now slated to close putting up to 400 people out of work.
Johnson Controls will be closing plant one in Whitby. All work done in that plant will now be done next door in plant two, said Larry Williams, Canadian Auto Workers plant chairman. Mr. Williams said he estimated between 300 to 400 employees will be on layoff from the plant by the end of the year.
1008ONTR
Oil sands will pollute Great Lakes, report warns
The environmental impacts of Alberta`s oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thousands of kilometres away to the Great Lakes, threatening water and air quality around the world`s largest body of fresh water.
In a new report, the University of Toronto`s Munk Centre says the massive refinery expansions needed to process tar sands crude, and the new pipeline networks for transporting the fuel, amount to a "pollution delivery system" connecting Alberta to the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S.
Despite the economic uncertainty surrounding the real estate market, David Pottruff decided – after much deliberation – to buy property.
The retired fire prevention chief purchased a London, Ont. condo yesterday with the hopes of renting it to Fanshawe College students.
"You have to be a hermit not to be aware of what`s going on with the economy," says Pottruff. "But I figured this was an investment for the long term."
Pottruff, 57, is optimistic that real estate will hold value.
This isn`t the prevailing mood, however, as prices and sales have stalled or plummeted in major cities across Canada.
1008LNDN Safety concerns escalate as airport growth takes off
Air traffic has more than doubled at London International Airport, mainly due to foreign students flooding into flight training schools, says the agency that controls air traffic.
The number of flights has shot up quickly and dramatically -- 129,000 flights to the end of August this year compared to 62,000 in the same period last year, says Nav Canada. That makes London the seventh busiest airport in Canada. Nav Canada is moving to reclassify the air space around London, putting it in the same category as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
1008CATH Port tower better suited to Toronto: PROUD witness
After a four-month hiatus, it didn`t take long for the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into a development proposal to revamp Port Dalhousie to get back down to the nub of the issue.
The 17-storey condo tower at the heart of dissension over the Port Place project was again the centre of the hearing`s attention Wednesday.
Conservation architect Herb Stovel, a witness for anti-tower citizens` group PROUD (Port Realizing Our Unique Distinction), testified he visited the lakeside village in August 2006 and determined he "wasn`t a fan" of architect Michael Kirkland`s plans to redevelop its commercial core.
1008HAMN City housing starts climb as Burlington slumps
Hammers aren`t pounding like they once were in Burlington.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data released yesterday shows there were just 29 starts of single detached homes in Burlington last month. That city saw a 41 per cent decline in total starts over the same month last year.
In Hamilton, single family home starts were up 21 per cent and overall starts climbed 12 per cent.
1008YAUR Aurora puts peaker plant application on hold
Talk of a new peaker plant fuelled debate among Aurora councillors Tuesday.
Some politicians wanted council to reaffirm its opposition to a proposed 350-megawatt natural gas-fired peaking plant in the community.
The Ontario Power Authority seeks to build such a facility somewhere in northern York Region, possibly on Bloomington Road in Aurora.
Council passed a resolution in June, stating it did not support such the plant at either of two Aurora sites that had been shortlisted. It also stipulated any transmission lines built through the municipality should be buried underground.
1008DCLR
Neighbours not pleased with possible Bowmanville development
BOWMANVILLE -- An attempt to get exactly what Clarington council says it`s looking for isn`t popular with neighbours. A developer is asking for rezoning to allow for what`s known as "prestige employment" west of Green Road and south of Baseline. The development would include 4,585 metres square of industrial floor space; a commercial area with a restaurant, a coffee shop and a bank; a 1,240 metre squared commercial building; and a five-storey, 100 room hotel.
1008DPIK
Pickering unhappy with Duffin Heights plans
PICKERING -- Unsatisfied with the latest Duffin Heights plans, councillors chose to hold off on passing them until they can further discuss the issue. The Planning and Development committee was asked to endorse recommendations of the Environmental Servicing Plan (ESP) for Duffin Heights, which the City requires before passing detailed development plans. But a number of councillors, such as Ward 2 City Councillor Doug Dickerson, were not impressed, finding a lack of sustainable initiatives in the proposal.
PORT PERRY -- With the cold winter months quickly approaching and a few details yet to be worked out, the development company proposing to bring a massive shopping plaza to Port Perry`s western edge has decided to delay any construction work until next year. According to Ornella Richichi, time pretty much has run out for Smart!Centres to begin building its Hwy. 7A shopping plaza in 2008 from a practical and financial sense, forcing the development giant to postpone construction work until the spring.
1008TNTO Housing prices could fall another 10%: Economist
Canadian housing prices could fall by up to another to 10 per cent before they hit bottom as the market faces a correction, says Scotia Capital Economist Derek Holt.
"We will go through a correction, and the balance of risks are to the downside rather than the upside," said Holt in an interview yesterday.
"Housing is past the peak as a driver of growth."
However, the bulk of the price depreciation will be in the western provinces that have seen higher upside in prices, said Holt.
London`s mayor tore a deep strip off the city`s budget chief yesterday for warning Londoners could face a 20-per-cent tax hike or service and job cuts because of the growing worldwide economic chaos.
"Thank God, Tom Gosnell is only one vote (on city council)," Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best told The Free Press.
"It is outrageous." The mayor said Gosnell -- her deputy mayor -- is alone on council predicting a large tax increase in the year ahead.
Eva Ewaskiw remembers the day she and her husband bought their house on east-end Kenora Avenue 38 years ago for ... well, she thinks it was about $16,000.
"My husband was saying, `We got a mortgage! We got a mortgage!`" recalled Ewaskiw, who left the then-Yugoslavia after the Second World War.
Since they bought it, the home near Eastgate Square has risen in value above $200,000.
OTTAWA–Statistics Canada has surprised economists and tossed a wild card into the federal election campaign, reporting that the Canadian economy generated a record 107,000 new jobs in September.
The massive number was totally unexpected, as analysts were expecting a modest pick-up in the 12,500 range.
However, almost all of the new jobs – 97,000 – were part-time.
PICKERING -- The planning and development committee has once again delayed Mattamy Limited`s request for early topsoil work on its proposed Duffin Heights development. The committee in July considered a Mattamy request for an exemption from the City`s fill and topsoil disturbance bylaw to allow pre-grading of its lands, although the development has not yet been approved. Mattamy is one of four big developers in the Duffin Heights Neighbourhood and plans to build 208 detached homes, 112 townhouses and a mixed-use corridor. The committee referred the bylaw exemption request to October for more information on Mattamy`s draft plan proposal, the sustainable component of the proposed development and tree preservation and removal. Unhappy with the plans at Monday`s meeting, the committee referred it to the Oct. 20 Council meeting.
Toronto`s labour force continues to feel the sting despite a job boom across Canada.
Statistics Canada released a labour report yesterday indicating 33,000 new jobs were created in Toronto in September -- and a total of 107,000 across the country.
"I was very surprised," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Michael Gregory.
"The International Monetary Fund has called this the worst financial crisis we`ve been in and more jobs were available in September than any single month this year."
As concerns over the American economy have deepened in recent weeks, you, like many other Greater Toronto Area homeowners, may be wondering whether there will be an impact here at home.
While there is no question that in today`s global economy we`re all inextricably linked, real estate markets are local and can vary significantly from one urban centre to the next. Although other cities in Canada and abroad have seen somewhat of a correction in their housing markets, real estate in the Greater Toronto Area is faring quite well.
In September, 6,424 homes changed hands in the GTA. This is within 6% of the 6,866 homes sold in September 2007 and within 3% of the 6,622 transactions that took place in September 2006.
Hundreds of thousands of new trees, planted to create winding city forests and leafy boulevards, will transform Greater Toronto into a vast urban garden if the combined vision of regional foresters succeeds.
The prospect of a greener city visually and environmentally – trees are a major factor in reducing pollution – has urban foresters across the region co-operating on projects that will count each city`s existing trees and calculate the air quality improvement if more are planted along roads and ravines.
