{"id":9149,"date":"2014-12-03T16:20:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T21:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=9149"},"modified":"2014-12-17T15:18:08","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T20:18:08","slug":"aurora-investigates-boundaries-of-highland-gate-ahead-of-ratepayers-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/aurora-investigates-boundaries-of-highland-gate-ahead-of-ratepayers-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora investigates boundaries of Highland Gate ahead of ratepayers group"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

As names continue to be put forward to lead a new ratepayers group to advocate on behalf of Aurora residents living around Highland Gate Golf Course, the Town of Aurora is looking into how much of the golf course\u2019s perimeter actually lies in municipal hands.<\/p>\n

A report on the issue is expected to be posted on the Town\u2019s website as early as this week, following a motion put forward at last week\u2019s Council meeting by Councillor John Abel, and subsequently approved by Council that evening, calling for answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great meeting with the community from Highland Gate [on November 24] and one of the questions that came up was about a one foot perimeter that goes around [the course],\u201d said Councillor Abel on one foot buffers around the golf course that could actually be owned by the Town. \u201cIf that information could be brought forward and posted as soon as possible, it would help in this situation. It seems like a simple ask. If we could get that clarification as soon as possible, it would be a great assist.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Town Solicitor Warren Mar, investigations into Aurora\u2019s situation were already underway ahead of the Council motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started Friday looking at the one foot reserves,\u201d Mr. Mar told Council. \u201cWe know there are some in place at the stub ends of roads that dead end onto the existing golf courses, but we\u2019re looking into the underlying plans to determine the extent of the one foot reserve. If Council wants it, we are happy to put together a report, but we\u2019re actively investigating it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potential land reserves surrounding the golf course have been a bone of contention since ClubLink, Highland Gate\u2019s owners, announced the closure of the venerable club last month, announcing this past season will be its last, as they look to alternative uses to the property.<\/p>\n

Although land sales have not taken place yet, over the ensuing weeks area neighbours have speculated on the extent of these reserves \u2013 ranging anywhere from one foot to ten feet \u2013 believing these, whatever the extent, to be somewhat of a trump card to future land negotiations.<\/p>\n

It was a question raised by one newer resident at last week\u2019s meeting of residents looking to form a ratepayers group. According to Bob Callow, who was part of the area\u2019s original ratepayers\u2019 group 25 years ago when Highland Gate was first slated for redevelopment, reserves held by the Town had significant sway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you the last time we went against ClubLink and we negotiated, the reason why they were so willing to negotiate is the Town did own, and still owns \u2013 unless they have sold it, but nobody has told me they have sold it \u2013 a one foot allowance around the perimeter of the open areas,\u201d Mr. Callow told the crowd of over 300 people filling Town Hall. \u201cEven if the [Ontario Municipal Board] had approved a plan, they couldn\u2019t cross the one foot. We were able to negotiate with ClubLink.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the context of having the negotiation, they built in some areas and in some cases they didn\u2019t, but there was a complete plan to be brought to Council. At the end of the day, ClubLink did not proceed with it, but we did negotiate and we were able to get a good deal that we thought was good for the community and it ended up that way for 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one foot allowance is still there. The real question comes down to whether or not the Legislation brought in by the [Province] transcends or takes away the rights of the municipality over property that they own. There is a legal question there and I don\u2019t know the answer to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Town of Aurora\u2019s report is prepared, area neighbours hoping to form the executive of the new ratepayers\u2019 group are preparing as well. Dave Newton, who was elected at last week\u2019s meeting to serve the fledgling group in an administrative capacity for the time being, says names and short biographies of those interested in serving in the roles of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer will be accepted through this Friday, December 5, at 12 noon. <\/p>\n

Once all submissions have been received, they will be distributed to those who have signed up for the ratepayers group. Then, they will set a date to hold a \u201cpaper ballot election\u201d for the candidates of their choice.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As names continue to be put forward to lead a new ratepayers group to advocate on behalf of Aurora residents living around Highland Gate Golf Course, the Town of Aurora is looking into how much of the golf course\u2019s perimeter actually lies in municipal hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2nz","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-08 04:27:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}