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Is King regulated or just well cared for?

November 18, 2015   ·   0 Comments

Years ago a neighbour shared the story of her young teenage son complaining that she was too strict. His friends were allowed to do things that she strictly prohibited – staying out late, taking time off school, owning a car. According to him she was blatantly unfair because his friends’ parents let them do things she didn’t let him do. My neighbour’s response was, “Good. I must doing a good job as a parent.”
This story came to mind when I read “King is most regulated in the region, study says” in The Weekly Sentinel. The Fraser Institute study claims that “red tape is stifling residential development” in GTA municipalities and ranks King among the worst culprits in some categories. Upon reading the article and recalling the parenting story, I thought to myself, “Good. King Township must be doing a good job as a steward of my community.”
Residential development regulation isn’t just about regulating the building industry. It’s one tool box for finding a delicate balance between the need for good homes, green space, agricultural land, ecological services, sufficient clean water, transportation, recreational opportunities, economic development, municipal revenues, and overall quality of life for all residents.
Sure, like the young teenager, the building industry would prefer King Township and everyone else to be less strict, but King Township, like the parent, knows it has a broad responsibility to set the stage for a healthy, happy and vibrant community. And that sometimes means laying down rules that are relatively strict.
I don’t dispute the data of the study, but the headline might have read “King is the most cared-for in the region, study says.”
That depends if you take the teenager’s, or the parent’s point of view.
Rick Sikorski
Kettleby

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