The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 4

Gloucester, developer drop appeal Shopping centre to be built in South Keys The city and officials of St. Laurent" Shopping Centre objected to the Eastgate site on the grounds that it would take busi-" ness away from the proposed Rideau Cen-" tre development and the existing mall oh" St. Laurent Boulevard. tt Kay said he favors construction on the, Eastgate site, arguing that in times of ris ing fuel costs, all residents are entitled to have a large regional shopping centre close' by. of the site leaving the rest available for residential development.

Alta Vista Ward Alderman Don Kay was pleased when he heard the news: "That's great for Ottawa." Kay said Ottawa should now seriously consider withdrawing its appeal of an OMB decision which gave the go-ahead to an equally controversial shopping centre in Eastgate, near Blair and Ogilvie roads, in Gloucester. The move will allow Campeau to build a multi-million-dollar regional shopping centre on a 45-acre site north of Cahill Drive and immediately west of Bank Street in Ottawa. Bob Young, Campeau director of commercial development, said Tuesday the shopping centre to include two major department stores and a major supermarket will be complete by the spring of 1982. Gloucester councillor William Hunter' said the township council dropped its appeal because it did not think it could' win. The appeal was launched last September.

Gloucester and a consortium of Cadillac-Fairview and Tartan Developments had hoped to build a mammoth regional shopping centre on a 40-acre site in Blossom Park. The developers now have plans to build a small neighborhood shopping mall on part By Beatrice Hampson Citizen staff writer After nearly four years of trying, Campeau Corp. has received the green light to iuild a new regional shopping centre in South Keys. Gloucester Township and Cadillac-Fair-View which had hoped to build a large shopping centre in Gloucester, have dropped their appeal of an Ontario Municipal Board decision which favored the South Keys site. 3 iff Page 4, The Citizen, Ottawa, Wednesday, February 6, 1980 Bank St.

merchants want city officials i to dig up promenade 1 .1 By Dave Rogers Citizen staff writer The simmering feud over the Bank Street Promenade boiled over Tuesday at a Centretown transportation study meeting when several merchants demanded the mall be dug up stone by stone. Bill Roe, co-owner of a Bank Street sporting goods store, told city officials they should rip up the promenade, widen the street and bring back on-street parking to stimulate business in the area. More than 40 businessmen attended the meeting with city politicians and planning officials. It was the sixth in a series to encourage public participation in the traffic study. The area being studied is bounded by Gloucester Street, the Rideau Canal, the Queensway and Bronson Street.

Some of the issues discussed so far include reducing traffic in residential areas, public transit, street narrowing and stop signs. Many businessmen at the meeting were concerned with parking and loading zones and the flow of traffic. "How about taking the promenade out t. Citizen photo Maple Leaf-Almrausch Club members volunteer time to mop up of there and putting back the parking meters," Roe suggested. "This would give us more traffic flow at peak times.

1 "Bank -Street has been hammered it is about time the city started paying attention to the merchants. The promenade is no use to us at any time. It used mainly by drinkers and I have more leaves in my store than are on those trees." Hank Sims, manager of the Blue Note music store said he remembers chasing former Mayor Lorry Greenberg up a flight of stairs to urge him to keep the parking meters. Sims said the beginning of the end for Bank Street came when Greenberg ignored the merchants. He said the city should "go back in time," replace the parking meters and bring shoppers back downtown.

"How many more merchants are you going to scare away?" he asked, i "All you have to do is look along Bank Street and see the for sale signs." Controller Brian Bourns said five years ago businessmen were divided about the promenade and suggested it might be a good idea to take another look at the project. He said he always regarded the promenade as a half-way measure. One merchant said the traffic flow in the area could be improved by changing oneway streets to two-way streets in the area and allowing motorists to make more turns on bank street. Another businessman suggested building highrise apartments along Bank Street to attract more elderly people to the community. Bourns said highrise buildings could be built because height restrictions have been lifted in many parts of Centretown.

He said developers can obtain demolition permits if they had definite construction plans and the buildings to be demolished are not heritage structures. Fire destroys Leitrim clubhouse Song, dance helps raise funds pairing the smoke-damaged parts of the clubhouse in a month. Reconstruction of the building should be complete in six months, he said. Club members involved in folk dancing, soccer and other activities have had little difficulty finding places to practice. Groups from all over the city have offered to lend halls and gyms, said Keitel.

The Maple Leaf-Almrausch Club started 25 years ago when a local Bavarian folk dancing group (The Almrausch, which means alpine meadow) got together with a soccer club, Maple Leafs. The folk dancing group owned nine acres of land a prime site for a soccer field off Leitrim Road, The two groups pooled their finances and built a small shack which was torn down later to make room for the clubhouse. Club members are looking for people to donate prizes to be auctioned off during the musical evening. Donations can be dropped off at 184 Louisa Werner's Service Centre at 1537 Michael or at 1490 Chomley Cres. For more information call 521-1698.

The clubhouse is gone but the spirit of the Maple Leaf-Almrausch Club is still burning strong. Members of the predominantly Austrian-German social club are singing, dancing and playing instruments to raise money to rebuild their Leitrim Road clubhouse which was destroyed in a fire last month. On some weekends, club president Henry Keitel and a handful of the 400 members can be found cleaning debris from the site. Keitel says his group needs to raise about $25,000 to replace the clubhouse, built as a Centennial project. The total value of the clubhouse is estimated at $140,000, but insurance is covering most of the loss.

Keitel is banking on the success of a musical evening at Nepean Sportsplex this Saturday as the major fundraising event. Featured on the program are children performing Bavarian folk dances, several German choir groups, and a string orchestra playing Viennese music. Tickets are $5 and the show starts at 8 p.m. If enough money is raised, Keitel said he hopes to start re Hull looks into Housing bylaws Hull council has hired a consulting firm to investigate the city's housing department. Following a recommendation from a commission of three council members, the firm Hanscombe-Roy has been hired to study the department's bylaws.

The firm is expected to supply council with a full report in four weeks at a cost of $28,000. The city's housing department came under fire last November when council members received numerous complaints that persons applying for building permits were running into problems in their quest for information. Mayor Gilles Rocheleau said it seemed as if the department was following every bylaw so closely it was delaying applications. The 15-member staff is responsible, for granting building permits and inspecting construction sites. The firm will study existing bylaws and all applications refused by the building department.

Rocheleau said it is possible that bylaws are contradicting themselves and therefore making it difficult for both the staff and applicant. "We have been approving bylaws for many years and it's hard to keep track of all of them," he said, "and we must try and help the small businessman and private homeowner who wants to expand." Rocheleau justified the high price tag by saying councillors do not have the expertise to make the necessary recommendations and an internal probe by the department itself is too difficult. Chilton changes planners' minds I Hintonburg homeowner allowed i to rent blocked-off apartments Pay hike ahead for Hull council No one knows the exact figures yet, but Hull councillors are going to vote themselves a raise. At Tuesday's meeting, council passed a motion to notify ratepayers of the planned raise. Council chairman Claude Lemay said the amount is still being discussed, but ratepayers would still have the final word.

Residents in Gatineau last month voted against an increase councillors had voted themselves in December. Councillors wanted to increase their salary to $12,000 from $6,300 and the mayor's wage to $32,000 from $22,000. Councillors in Hull now make $6,760, while the mayor earns $19,968. of single-family homes have led to a sharp increase in those seeking apartments and other affordable accommodations, the report, says. "We are keeping two furnished apartments renting for $205 a month, and within walking distance of Tunney's Pasture, closed because of a principle.

It just doesn't make sense." The city should be encouraging their retention, he said, because cheap accommodation is hard to come by in that area. On Tuesday, Chilton pointed to a city-commissioned report to back his claim that city-wide needs should be the board's overwhelming concern. The report says that the number of people looking for cheap apartments has risen sharply in the past three years while the number of available units has dropped by 40 per cent. Demographic factors, including the 1950s baby boom, the breakdown of the traditional family unit and increasing costs Bayshore highrise houses Ontario course Switch from free to fee forces move By Brenda Brown Citizen staff writer Alderman Chris Chilton told Ottawa planning board Tuesday that the city-wide need for cheaper accommodation is more important than adherance to its sometimes lofty principles. And his arguments convinced the board to reverse an earlier decision and allow a west-end landlord to rent two units he had illegally converted to apartments nine years ago.

The seeds of the conflict were planted in 1971 when Maurice Dore, owner of a building at 305 Parkdale built a two-storey addition on the rear of the house to rent as apartments. When the illegal conversion was discovered six years later, the city passed a zoning bylaw which forced Dore to block off two of the five apartments. His daughter, Lea Dore appeared before planning board in December asking for permission to re-open the two apartments. She said her parents had lost money because of the decision a sufficient deterrent for others contemplating similar conversions. However, the board did not agree and rejected her request because it feared would only stir up a hornet's nest of simitar applications.

Chilton, who cast the only supporting Vote at that time, resurrected the matter at City council and had it referred back to planning board for reconsideration. Instead, the company will alow the province to use the room at no charge until May. A monthly fee would have to be negotiated if the ministry wants the classes to continue at the Bayshore highrise after that. Maitland said he feels a rent fee anywhere near $300 is "too high for the amount of time we use the room." "We don't really have any beef against Minto because they've treated us more than fairly in the last four years," he said. "But a monthly rent of $300 will certainly force us to look elsewhere." Maitland said the ministry runs about 10 such programs in the Ottawa area most of them held at community centres or church basements and provides a monthly "honorarium" of $10 to $15 for clean-up costs.

that the rental fee will be used to cover cleaning costs and not to make a profit. The ministry uses the room three times a week, he said, and the monthly clean-up bill comes to about $300. Ministry spokesman Dave Maitland, while acknowledging Minto's generosity, said $300 rent would force the ministry to find another location for its classes. Such a move could force some of the 60 students to drop out because many live in Minto developments in the immediate area. Minto had told the ministry last December it could expect to be charged $300 rent beginning in February, but the company backed off late last week when a ministry official complained that the rent was "exhorbitant." By Hugh Adami Citizen staff writer The province has been told it will no longer be able to conduct English-language classes for free in the party room of a Bayshore highrise owned by Minto Management Ltd.

The Ottawa company informed the culture and recreation ministry this week that after four years of free use, it must pay rent to use the room at 220 Woodridge Cres. or find another location for its classes. The province can use the room at no charge until its current session of classes ends in May. "We've been very generous with them up to this point," said Minto rental officer Gilles Chenier, adding I' i.