Letter to the Editor
Editor,
If I was a developer looking to get major consideration of my proposals from the mayor and council, I suppose my best bet would be to:
Prove my sense of civic involvement by buying rentable houses, and knocking them down to reduce taxes, long before they are an impediment to growth.
After all, Meaford is short of affordable rental accommodation, so why would I worry ?
Then I would prove what a great neighbour I am, by letting weeds grow thick and rampant on the vacant lots I created.
If I bought some commercial property, I would let it deteriorate beyond repair to get around any supposed ‘heritage’ issues.
From what I can determine, the mayor and council today would have no problem at all with this approach. Previous Meaford mayors and councils didn’t either.
As a footnote only, I wonder if there would be any administrative will and/or council support for an enforceable property standards bylaw in Meaford, with actual teeth, that would be administered in a fair and equitable manner?
Mike Robertson, Meaford
