Thanks for the info

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Fool's Errand":

There was so much controversy over this development in the first place. Has weathered 3 terms of Council at least. Property sold and plans grandfathered before the morraine rules came into place. The original plan was for fewer homes on bigger lots. The old farmhouse was really beautifully maintained and furnished by the last owners in period fixtures. And ALL the trees on the property were lovingly cared for by the son who was an arborist. Most were cut down to make way for these "beautiful" mansions. So sad to see good intentions flushed down the drain, great ideas get sidelined by profits and good people misrepresented by many. I, too, would have purchased one of the adjoining lots in question to enjoy the large deciduous trees remaining in the development. Those large maples will never be replaced in size and grandeur by new plantings. Shame this had to happen at all. Shame. Nice elite development of million dollar homes with brand new community tennis courts to enjoy, the town certainly has helped its citizens with this one. Not.

Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 26 September 2013 06:51

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Thank you for this information. I came back  in the election of 2003 ,the eve of the introduction of the Moraine Act. 

This  forlorn little house, sitting tilted on a  platform ,with one window protected ,the other not ,the chimney missing,  the front door opening into the dark interior,  certainly doesn't blend with the new 
neighborhoood.

Yet we all know of  new houses with Yonge  Street  addresses that can't be singled out from beautiful old homes adapted for modern use. I even have a hard time picking out the newcomers. 

The builders may have received   advice from town planners  but people have been restoring old homes  in the heart of  Aurora with no need whatsoever for bureaucratic assistance. In many instances, I think the best thing a municipality can do is get out of people's way ,trust to their judgement and learn from them.

There's a  fifteen year old subdivision on Bathurst Street with house designs patterned after red brick farmhouses with  gingerbread trim and balconies  all around. It's beautiful.

Sue Seibert, the town's  first planner, came to us in her mid-twenties. She grew  with the town  in her craft. Enjoyed great respect with the building and development community  and put a lot of love and tenderness  into guiding  Aurora's growth.  As far as was possible, to blur the lines between the old and new.

Sue had a lot  of herself invested in Aurora.  Retirement  held no appeal.  But circumstances were such  at the time, the alternative had even less.

The full extent of harm done to the town during one term  of office will never be fully understood.

The opportunity for recovery has not been fulfilled.

Y'know , jealousy is  obsessive-compulsive.  People  so afflicted can never be happy. They  can never allow anyone associated with them to be happy and there's little that can be done for them. They live in a toxic circle that pervades everything around them.