"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday 26 February 2009

Robert....You were asking

The building is commercial on the first floor, parking on a second and condos above. It's a beautiful building and the fifth time a design has been submitted for this corner. Every time the application has been abandoned because of council demands for reduced height and density.

This time the Heritage Advisory Committee recommended it be reduced to five storeys. It's of no consequence to them that a building has to be economically viable or it will not be built. They are all about preserving the ambiance of the past. It's not their money and it's not their property but they have the power. In their minds, they can justify comments like "loving the village core." Aurora stopped being a village in 1863 when it became a vibrant.progressive urban municipality
and gave itself a new name meaning "The Dawn".

The nay-sayers can also contemplate tax increases with complete equanimity. They can vote for a Combined Board Hearing for a golf course development which has been estimated will cost half a million dollars. They can add financial support from the town to a legal request from neighbours of the proposed golf course for a Combined Board Hearing. And they sublimely reject the opportunity to bring in substantial new revenue with the Yonge and Centre development proposal.

The Mayor wasn't there last night. Despite her multiple-whereas ed Proclamation on this being the Year of Business Initiative. The result last night is exactly what was accomplished four times previously on this site.

As to your question about the quality of my Scotch. My sons give me single and double malt on Birthdays and at Christmas. My stash has been depleted. I am back to imbibing Johnny Red and it's taking a bit of getting used to. But I shall persevere. I have to. I can hardly make a case for need to enjoy single or double malt whiskey. a mere fraction of the age of the mouldering, rotting shack, sitting forlornly at the side of the road south of Wellington on Leslie Street known fondly by some as the Petch House.

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