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Town Council Approves MAJOR Growth Plans

Mike Cluett

Here is an article written by Tim Foran of the Milton Canadian Champion outlining details on the changes to Milton’s Official Plan.

In his article he mentions a local resident Michael Fox that I referred to in my Communication post recently.  Also he refers to comments that resident Steve Camilerri made regarding the benefit of Milton Transit, the new route for his area in September and how council should focus on its growth.

Town council approves significant growth plans

The future is written but the book may need some revisions.

Milton council Monday night signed off on two secondary plans that will guide the last phases of residential and employment growth originally designated in the Town’s 1997 Official Plan.

It also endorsed an update to that same official plan. The document now includes new ‘smart growth’ policies that will govern areas of future growth from 2015 to 2031.

By that time, Milton is projected to be a community of almost 240,000 and its urban fabric will stretch to Hwy. 407 in the east and Lower Base Line in the south.

Council unanimously approved all three plans. However, planning staff indicated Monday there’s a long list of future studies that still have to be completed including assessing the price tag for the infrastructure necessary to accommodate future growth. Those studies will likely result in tweaks to all three plans before Halton Region, the municipal planning authority, gives its stamp of approval.

While much planning is left undone, it was still imperative council approve the three plans Monday, according to staff.

The Province had set a deadline of June 16 for lower tier municipalities such as Milton to update their official plans to conform to legislation enacted earlier in the decade, such as the Greenbelt Plan and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Milton’s new official plan also had to be brought into conformity with Halton Region’s December update to its own official plan, ROPA 38, the result of the Sustainable Halton planning process.

But there was no such such deadline for Milton to approve the two secondary plans, one for the Boyne Survey residential area to be built south of Louis St. Laurent Boulevard and another for the Derry Green Corporate Business Park destined for the area east of James Snow Parkway.

However, staff reports said the two plans must be completed by June 16 so that developments in the Boyne and Derry Green areas would be “grandfathered” and governed by the policies in the 1997 Official Plan rather than new less development-friendly ones contained in the updated official plan.

Those new policies, first outlined in Halton’s ROPA 38, could “potentially impact (the) feasability” of development in the Boyne and Derry Green areas due to their requirement for higher densities and the application of an enhanced natural heritage system that includes links between key natural features, stated staff reports reviewed by council.

The new policies also require all players at the table — the local municipalities, school boards, developers and the provincial and federal governments — to agree on what infrastructure is necessary to support “complete communities” and provide evidence the money is in place to build it, so that taxpayers don’t take the hit.

Municipal planners have said they expect these ‘growth must pay for itself’ policies to be challenged at the Ontario Municipal Board as soon as the Province signs off on ROPA 38.

Council didn’t discuss the decision to grandfather the two secondary plans. However, the Town’s consultant said after council it’s common practice for developments to be governed by the policies in place when they first began.

“Is it fair to change those (rules) in midstream?” asked consultant Elizabeth Howson rhetorically.

The policies in the updated official plan were applauded by local resident Steve Camilleri, who said he appreciated the focus on intensification and smarter development.

Camilleri, who lives near Derry and Holly roads, said he has lived in his community for four years but will only be getting a bus route this September.

Though he said he’s thankful to get it, he supported the municipality’s efforts to get transit on track quicker in the future.

“The answer is public transit and it needs to be looked at as an asset,” said Camilleri.

ROPA 38 policies require municipalities to have a plan in place to provide public transit to new subdivisions as they come on stream.

Another delegate to council took a dimmer view of intensification. Michael Fox, a resident of Frobisher Boulevard, petitioned council to reduce the heights allowed in the official plan for the section of Main Street in front of the GO Train station.

The plan allows the north side of Main Street across the street from the GO station, between Ontario Street and Thompson Road, currently occupied by low-rise commercial and industrial units, to be redeveloped into four-storey buildings, with potential for a maximum of three more storeys through typical bonusing provisions. Immediately adjacent to the GO Station, the plan allows for 10- to 14- storey buildings.

Fox said 72 of his neighbours, more than half of whom have pools, could be affected by shadows of buildings of that height.

However, Town staff responded the four-storey limit and the bonusing provisions haven’t changed since the 1997 Official Plan.

“To take away what is currently permitted without justification would be problematic,” Barb Koopmans, Milton’s senior manager of policy planning, told council.

She added developers are required to do a shadow impact study when filing their development application.

Through the site plan approval process, staff can mitigate any potential impact by buildings higher along the edge of Main Street but “step down” at the rear of the lot, she added.

Ward 4 Councillor Paul Scherer pointed out to Fox the original heights proposed the Town’s intesification background study called for buildings of six to eight storeys opposite the GO Station, which was ultimately dismissed in favour of keeping the status quo.

“I think we’ve done a reasonable job of protecting the neighbourhood,” said Scherer.

Ward 1 Councillor Rick Day was absent for the four-hour session as he was away on business, Mayor Gord Krantz said.

Communication

Mike Cluett

Last night during the council meeting … that almost broke the midnight barrier … there was an interesting discussion that came up.

 One of the delegations Michael Fox who lives in an area just north of Main Street and east of Thompson brought up some concerns about intensification and the heights of buildings to be constructed along Main.

 The main concern he brought up was the fact the residents in the area that will be affected by these changes haven’t been informed of public meetings and left in the dark.

 Town staff brought up the fact they advertise in the Champion extensively about these meetings and signs are erected as well informing residents of the potential changes.  They also advertise on the Town website as well.

 What can be done to help this?

I don’t think there is one solution to this problem but one thing that comes to mind is the 11 people surrounding the council table.  If there is something that is going on, changes to zoning, new development etc that will affect a certain area, councillors have a responsibility to get out and do what they can to inform residents and gather public opinion.

Over the past couple of months, on weekends and some week nights I have been able to knock on many doors and drop flyers for my campaign.  I don’t say it to impress people but I want to impress upon councillors that it doesn’t take a lot of effort to reach people.  Flyers can be relatively cheap to produce and possibly can be expensed and in an afternoon or over a weekend you can quickly drop these flyers to households.

You don’t even need to have flyers made, just an effort to contact people. 

“Hi my name is _______ and I’m the councillor for this area.  I don’t know if you know this but there will be a public meeting on _______ about possible changes to zoning”  or whatever it might be…

If they can’t make the meeting, ask for an email address (as most people have at least one) and say I’m setting up an email list to let everyone know what’s going on.

Using other tools like social media is just as effective.  When I ran back in 2006 there were very few candidates with websites and even fewer with blogs.  Thankfully now, the number of candidates in this election with websites and blogs has increased dramatically.  Some don’t use them as effectively as they should.  Twitter is another way of getting short messages out to the public.  I’ve found recently that “tweeting” during council meetings helps people understand the process and keeps them informed.  It’s such a good idea that even other candidates are doing it now.

The beauty of this “new” technology (it’s not really new anymore but new to some people) is that most of its free.  It’s free to get a Facebook account…its free to get a Twitter account and so on.

The town has its limitations to what they can do to inform people of upcoming meetings.  Not everyone reads the Champion from cover to cover and the local media doesn’t really do an effective job being proactive when it comes to these things.  They normally report on them after the fact and when people read it, they say “why didn’t I know about it”

I don’t want to over simplify this and I’m sure I’ll have some incumbent councillors email me and say “that’s nice to say but wait until you’re elected and you have to do it.”

To them I say “bring it on” I’ve had a lot of comments from people in Ward 6 saying “why are you out so early?”  I tell them this is something they can come to expect of me as their councillor.  I plan on direct contact throughout the term of council, not just during the election campaigns.  I can’t count the number of people who don’t know who the councillors are or who they voted for last time.

If councillors really want to represent people they have to think outside the box when it comes to how they can stay in touch.  Corporations over the last couple of years have really taken to social media as a way of advertising.  How many people who are on Facebook are “fans” of something whether it is the Milton DBIA or Chamber of Commerce or COKE or Pepsi? 

For instance, I got regular messages from the Milton DBIA about the Street Festival, how I could volunteer, when things are happening, schedule updates and everything else going on that day.  They used the tools effectively and got the message out.  In fact many candidates (including myself) have a “FAN” page on Facebook (go to www.mikecluett.ca and click on the Facebook logo on the right to join 😉 ) and this means those who are on that list get campaign updates, and comments from other fans about that particular campaign.

These things can be used as effective communication tools and combined with old fashioned “feet on the street” door knocking, websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook you can help enhance interactivity between local government and the taxpayers.

It takes a little effort to get things going and it won’t be an overnight solution.  But at least it’s a bit more than an ad in the Champion, and something posted on the Towns website.

Speaking of direct communication, I’ll see you at the doors.

New Magnets On The Way

Mike Cluett

In my last election campaign in 2006, these fridge magnets proved to be quite useful for many residents in the ward.  In fact, there were a few people who continued to email me over the last 4 years with questions and concerns about municipal issues. 

I would always ask, how did you get my name and number?  From the magnet I received…its still on my fridge!

Keeping with what was successful, I made a few changes and modifications and they’ll be ready to go this week.  Email me mike@mikecluett.ca if you would like one. 

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Honking and flag waving

Mike Cluett

The sun is setting pretty late in the night these days with some sunlight lasting until well after 9pm.  Coupled with the extra sunlight and the end to the NHL playoffs, this gives me an opportunity to hit a few more doors than I normally would.  I’ve also noticed that while door knocking the last few days, I have been followed by a number of wild bunny rabbits.  I’m pretty sure thats a good thing so I am now known as the “Pied Piper of Rabbits” in Milton.  Lucky rabbits feet following me.

You can tell its World Cup time by the sheer number of flags that are on peoples cars and hanging from porches around the ward.  It goes to show that Milton has become, and will continue to become very diverse in the backgrounds of its residents.  Having all these flags flying around is challenging my knowledge of the countries involved but I’m sure I’ll get it as time goes on.

As I walk down the streets in our ward, I get a chance to speak with many of you about issues that are important.  Between stop signs and crosswalks at intersections, speeding down our streets and concerns of a tax levy for hospital  funding, Miltonians are trying to get informed.  I’ve even had a few people honk and wave from their cars screaming “HEY MIKE” (Rick, you’re not the only one!)

Many of the people I speak with visit the highly popular Hawthorne Villager website to try to get as much information as possible.  The hospital is of a big concern seeing how it has been in the local papers recently and there’s some confusion as to what Milton as a town can do to move that process forward.  If our hospital is to expand, it relies solely on the whim of the provincial government.

Recently, due to increased budget constraints (ie an almost $30 BILLION  deficit) the Province of Ontario has frozen any further capital projects until 2011.  At a recent council meeting, John Oliver from Halton Healthcare Services made a presentation in which he stated that even if the province gave the project its blessing THAT DAY, we are several years away from shovels in the ground.

With this coming election, you are going to want to elect someone who understands the issues we face in Milton; one who is ready to speak out for Miltonians and put even more pressure on the provincial government to get them to realize that Milton, Canada’s fastest growing municipality for a few years running, is in dire need to access required medical procedures.

The Town of Oakville just has a new hospital approved and work will be beginning soon on that project.  Having another hospital so close to Milton will definitely help improve access to health care services for Miltonians but more is needed.

This will not be resolved overnight.  Milton Town Council as well as Halton Regional Council have to put pressure on the province of Ontario to get this project started.  There are many factors involved as well with possible changes to the LHIN (Local Health Integration Networks) and how they are organized.

I was speaking with Stuart and Carrie on Clark Blvd last night and they also brought up their concerns on when Milton District will get its much needed expansion.

I’m sure the daylight will get shorter in the days and weeks to come, so I’ll be doing my best to get my flyers to everyone in the ward.  I’m just over half way done the first round and my goal is to hit every door at least twice before October 25th.

Many thanks goes out to everyone who has pledged their support and vote in October.  As the campaign rolls along, I will be getting lawn signs ready for you.  If you would like to donate to my campaign, please visit my DONATE page.  Any donation is helpful and will go towards the printing of my flyers, lawn signs and other campaign related items.

Most importantly I hope that you come out and vote on October 25th.  Last election there was roughly 25% of residents in the area that voted, which is quite low.  I’m hoping it improves this year for sure.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Are your kids “street proofed?”

Mike Cluett

The Champion has an interesting editorial on child safety this week.

There have been a number of attempted abductions of young children in the news the past few weeks, with some of these incidents happening in the Halton region.

Do your kids know what to do if they are approached?  I know I go over this with Anthony many times to make sure he knows what to do if ever confronted with a similar situation.  He knows that if anyone he doesnt know tries to grab or lure him into the car to say “NO”.  If that person continues to press, he knows to start yelling and run to the nearest neighbours house.  We’ve set up a password system so that if someones says they know his Mom or Dad, they have to give them the password or else he wont go.

Its a scary thought for parents.  The idea of someone coming into an area and trying to abduct any child sends shivers up the spines for many of us.   We have to ensure our kids know what to do if or when that situation arises.

This also leads me into the Milton Community Policing Committee and what we are planning to do with several schools in the area.  We are looking to set up a program with Principals to get as much information out to the kids as possible from the Halton Region Police Force.  This might include information sessions inside the school with members of the Halton Police Force, or regular letters to parents including some brochures on road safety, staying safe and street proofing.

There are a couple of schools we will be presenting this information to when they do their open houses in September including Tiger Jeet Singh Elementary School, PL Robertson among others.  If you would like more information on the MCPC visit the website and contact us if you’d like to get involved.

We will be having an information booth at the Downtown Milton Street Festival tomorrow all day long.  Regional Councillor Colin Best, myself and many other volunteers from the committee will be there to answer any questions you might have about local community activism, street proofing your children and road safety.  We will be more than happy to meet with you and discuss how you can get involved and help continue to make Milton a great place to live and grow our families.

Here’s the editorial from the Champion.

Jun 03, 2010 – 12:22 PM

Parents, children — be on guard

Several Halton incidents of children being approached by strangers

If your son or daughter was approached by a complete stranger trying to entice them into a vehicle, do you know how they would react?

Have you ever discussed with your children the possibility of such a scenario happening to them and what they should do if it does? If not, what are you waiting for?

Last week, Halton Regional Police issued separate parental warnings in Burlington and Halton Hills in connection with young people being approached by strangers with what can only be described as bad intentions.

In Acton, three incidents of an older white man, driving a silver four-door car trying to entice youngsters into the vehicle were reported over a five-day period at the end of April and start of May. Police determined that a fourth, more recent complaint by an Acton youth was unfounded.

Meanwhile, in Burlington last week, two teenage girls were approached by a male stranger in separate incidents occurring less than 40 hours apart.

In the first case, a 16-year-old was approached as she walked her dog May 25. A man described as black, with very short hair or bald, 35 to 40 years old and wearing a dark shirt struck up a conversation with the teen and attempted to entice her into his black, older model pick-up truck. When she refused he continued driving.

Then, last Thursday, a 15-year-old female was approached by an unknown man — described as black, in his late 20s or early 30s and driving an older blue pickup truck. He, too, tried to entice her to get inside his vehicle. When she refused, he briefly followed her to a parking lot before he fled the scene in an unknown direction.

Similar incidents have been reported in Milton in the past.

Halton police urge parents to remind their children not to approach anyone that’s not known to them and to always walk with a friend or a known adult.

Tigerfest is TOMORROW

Mike Cluett

As Tiger Ali Singh says….”BE THERE!”

This event has garnered national attention. Check out the article from SLAM!

TigerFest debuts this weekend in Milton

By GREG OLIVER – Producer, SLAM! Wrestling

With a new Milton, Ontario public school named after him opening this fall, Tiger Jeet Singh is out preaching his message: “Stay in school, say no to drugs, stay Tiger-fit.”

“That’s the three things I’m saying, I’m preaching all over. I can’t go everywhere, but the demand is so strong we are getting invitations to schools, temples,” the 65-year-old Singh said.

By now, the story Jagit Singh Hans, who came to Canada from India with nothing, became an internationally-famous wrestler, and then an important land developer and philanthropist in his adopted country is well known, thanks in part to a widely-aired documentary, Tiger!

To celebrate the school and other blessings, Singh is teaming with his son, former WWE star Tiger Ali Singh, and Squared Circle Training, to promote an all-day wrestling event, TigerFest 2010, as a part of the Downtown Milton Street Festival on Saturday, June 5th. The community’s top amateur high school grapplers will compete during the day, followed a free pro wrestling show at 5 p.m., featuring Sonjay Dutt, Robbie MacAllister of the Highlanders, Greg Valentine, and Steve Corino. Proceeds will go to the Milton District Hospital Foundation. (More info at www.tigerjeetsingh.com.)

Sidelined by concussion issues in 2001, Tiger Ali, 37, has only competed in a handful of bouts in Japan since. He will be strapping on the boots for a hometown crowd.

“We thought, you know what, we have that celebrity, let’s use it for drawing in the people from outside of Milton, from all southern Ontario,” said Tiger Ali Singh. “From what we’ve heard, we have people traveling in, flying in, because this will be the first time I think I’ve fought since the formerly-known SkyDome with WWE in the late ’90s.”

If it seems like the Singhs have come out of seclusion, that is because they have. Tiger Ali’s concussion, suffered in Puerto Rico while employed by WWE, was his third in nine months. It resulted in a long struggle back and a lot of resentment — and a lawsuit — against the wrestling company.

“Forget about wrestling, I was just trying to get my life back health-wise. It took about three years, and then when I finally did, during that three years, I was just mellowing in sorrow, getting depressed,” Tiger Ali admitted. “I was very, very fortunate to have a loving family, parents, great friends, support group, that during that time of healing health-wise, I also moved on with my life and went back into the family foundation of what business was, which was land development and real estate.

“By the time my health came around, I was so engrossed in it, that I really didn’t have any time to look at pro wrestling.”

At least in North America. The Singhs attempted to lead a tour of India, that fell apart at the last minute with all the wrestlers already in the country. Protecting the image of Tiger Jeet Singh was important once the backers of the tour bailed, said Tiger Ali. “In India, we couldn’t compromise. That’s why we took the bulls by the horn when some of the promoters left, and Dad held a press conference, we sat with all the proper authorities and we made sure, out of pocket, that we paid each and every talent guarantees, even though the promoters had left.

“Reputation is everything, what goes around comes around, we wanted to make sure if were coming back to do events again, that none of the talent would be apprehensive.”

In mid-May, the Singhs went to their first fan fest, in New Jersey and were overwhelmed.

“We weren’t expecting anybody to want our autographs. The reason? I never wrestled in the States, and Junior, he’d been out of the business for so many years. People forget. But it was unbelievable,” said Tiger Jeet. “The crowd was amazing, and the people, all the old memories, and especially my old, old buddies.”

One of those friends was Nikolai Volkoff. “He closed his booth. He was selling pictures,” recalled Tiger Jeet. “He came and gave me a big hug. ‘Tiger, tell me something, is that your second life? Shit, you look so young!’ Then I told him, ‘Human beings never get old. The only reason you get old is if you have some stress or problem. God is great, we are fine and we are happy.'”

Giving back has always been important to the Singhs, and TigerFest is their second fundraising effort alongside Troy Newton, who Tiger Ali met more than a decade ago through Owen Hart. Though they were all from Milton, they never kept in touch.

Reacquainted at the Milton Walk of Fame ceremony, where Tiger Jeet Singh and Tiger Ali Singh were honoured alongside other names such as “Mr. Dressup” Ernie Coombs, astronaut Chris Hadfield and NHL players and referees John Tonelli, Peter McDuffe, Enio Sclisizzi, Mike Kaszycki, Leon Stickle and Bruce Hood, Newton recruited the Singhs to help with his Christmas Toy Drive.

“That bug hit us at that time,” said Tiger Ali. “We’ve always been there, dad and I, whenever a charity called.”

Always well-dressed, often sporting massive watches and rings, Tiger Jeet is honest about his wealth.

“They ask, ‘How much your net worth?’ I say, ‘Enough,'” he said. “I’m living very simple. I like to do a lot of charity work, like helping children. And God is great, he give us his blessing, like I never expected in my life.”