Sunday, April 6, 2014

OK, BUT ....

BREAKING NEWS:  New town lawyer admits that it was highly unusual that the town would file for Absolute Title to be paid by the Molinaros. (Translation: our former town lawyer screwed up.)


MONDAY NIGHT: OK, I'm listening to council in committee meeting and the mayor just shut a woman down because she wanted to speak about the Spears Road area. He told her it was off-topic and to bring it up at the regular council meeting of next week.  Shortly thereafter Nick Russell (husband of Mia) to complain about people parking in his lot on Erie Road. WTF? What did that have to do with the zoning changes in another area of town?  Gobsmacking. (Later the woman did bring up her concerns about the high rate of cancer and Parkinson's Disease in a cluster of Spears.)

More to follow

Read the report generated by Rick Brady as to a request from council for some update/plan regarding the future of the Bay Beach Properties.

Something jumped right out at me 

(d) Part 4, being the existing public beach and water lot, remain in Town ownership for continued use as a municipal beach in conjunction with the adjacent Crystal Beach public lands;

(from Bay Beach Special Site Specific Policy Area in Section 4.14.4 of the Town’s Official Plan)

There it is in black and white. Approved in September, 2006 and pushed aside in 2007 when Doug Martin entertained an idea from then town Carpetbagger/Planner Rino Mostacci to sell off the property to "balance the budget." And there began the latest attempt to give over the property to a developer. A similar move to sell off the upland North side properties was quashed by activists who put together a petition and elected a new councillor for Ward 5 Crystal Beach. Then mayor, Wayne Redekop was wise enough to realize that the people did wanted the Bay Beach Properties to remain in public hands. (Yes, that's what is says on all those yellow signs.) So he voted to accept the Official Plan amendment. 

And we thought that would be the end of it. The Bay Beach Properties would remain in public hands.

We did not take into account a high-rise hungry town planner and a malleable new town councillor. And a mayor who thinks he can do what he damned-well pleases. Remember Martin's, "Mind your own f&#king business" said to a regional councillor when he was asked about the controversy at Bay Beach. 

So, Brady has put forth his recommendations and most are quite reasonable. 

Except one:

Land Titles Application

With regards to the alleged north-south road allowance, if the Deputy Director of Land 
Titles were to rule in favor of the objector, the road allowance could be closed by the 
Town if proposed development includes any part of the road allowance. Therefore, this 
part of the LTA objections is not seen as a major restriction to any future development 
of the Bay Beach lands that Council approves.
As indicated in the Background section of this Report, Land Titles Absolute is required 
for Plan of Condominium approval. LTA is not required for other forms of possible future 
development. However, should a decision be rendered by the Deputy Director of Land 
Titles in favor of the objectors claiming ownership of the purported east - west private 
road and overlying easement, any future planned development/enhancements of the 
Bay Beach lands would be significantly restricted and access to the beach could be 
restricted entirely to the eastern edge of the Bay Beach property. For this reason 
consideration should be given to withdrawing the LTA application as it was only 
necessary for Plan of Condominium approval. This would also ensure a Plan of 
Condominium development could not occur in accordance with the existing zoning on 
the site without a new application being made with Council’s authorization, should that 
be Council's desire.

Not so fast, Mr. Brady. There is a case awaiting a verdict from the Land Titles Director. For over a year. Something must be keeping the director from making a decision.

Why not wait it out and see what the decision is?  Could it be that the town bought the property in 2001 without a proper title search? Yes, indeed they did.

OOPS! Another mistake that will cost the town thousands. It already has cost thousands.  This was partially to blame for Heather Salter losing her job. She refused to give information about the title and the possible road allowance running straight through the property to the lake as well as land that used to be a boardwalk running along the sand parallel to the shoreline.  She obstructed certain members of council from vital information that was requested of her because she may have wanted to protect the developer who was hoping to build a twelve story condo on the property. She also copied incorrect information from the developer regarding PINs. The pay-out to Salter may be a direct result of the title discrepancy. To stop and cover it up now would do a disservice to the people who spent thousands of dollars to file their information on the title.

It's Spring. Clean out all the cobwebs and trash regarding the Bay Beach Properties, including its proper title.

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