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Existing drive-thrus would be allowed to continue Continued from page 1 11 · Wednesday, May 12, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com In the report presented to council on Monday, Town staff included recommendations: · That drive-thrus be restricted from locating within the C3R (commercial/residential) zones of the central business districts including Downtown Oakville, Bronte and Kerr villages, the Midtown Core, Palermo Village and the Uptown Core. · That drive-thrus only continue to be permitted in the C1, C2 and C6 (commercial) zones abutting a residential zone if they are located on a road classified as a major arterial within the Town's Official Plan. · That a minimum 15-metre setback be required for a drive-thru facility, including the intercom ordering station, which abuts a residential zone. · That a minimum of 10 vehicle-stacking spaces for a restaurant and a minimum of four vehicle-stacking spaces for all other drive-thrus be required. Existing drive-thrus, which find themselves in prohibited areas if the recommendations are passed, would be allowed to remain in place, receiving a legal non-conforming designation. These recommendations drew a wide range of responses from members of the public and the business community. Andrea Gleeson and other residents called on the Town to go beyond what staff were proposing and adopt a 60-metre separation distance between drive-thrus and residential areas, instead of the proposed 15 metre separation dis- tance. "Increased use of drive-thrus means that even more people will run their engines while remaining seated and they will do it even closer to homes, schools and parks. I would ask you consider that, as a society, we must aim for more people to become more physically active and reduce engine idling," said Gleeson. "What is our vision for the most livable community in Canada? Do we want to move in a direction that will encourage obesity and air pollution? These are very big problems in our society and every bylaw and law should be penned based on whether it is contributing to the problem or the solution." Gleeson compared the groaning of the business community around the proposed restrictions to the groaning that took place when smoking was removed from bars and restaurants. Some people believed the smoking ban would also be disastrous for business, but in the end the customers kept coming, she said. Representatives from the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, McDonald's Restaurants, Tim Hortons, the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) and others were not impressed. Oakville Chamber of Commerce President John Sawyer said further restrictions on where drive-thru's can be built would cause the existing ones to get busier as growth continues, resulting in just as much air pollution and traffic. ORHMA representative Victor Labreche said what the Town was proposing would actually lead to `prohibition by regulation' of new drive-thru facilities throughout Oakville with the exception of a few industrial areas where businesses would not want to locate drive-thrus. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said the staff report indicated about 20 commercial locations where new drive-thrus could be built. Another ORHMA representative, however, said around eight of these already had drive-thrus present, while the others would not work given the proposed regulations. John Piper, who owns and operates a number of McDonald's Restaurants in Oakville, voiced concerns about what the restrictions would do to future McDonald's locations as around 60 per cent of his business comes from drive-thru sales. In response, Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan asked if the restrictions were put in place would this 60 per cent of sales actually be lost or would people simply come inside the restaurant? Piper said existing drive-thrus would be affected by the restrictions because the legal non-conforming designation would require businesses to go through a mountain of red tape every time they needed to expand or alter their facilities. Another business community representative said that without a drive-thru, a restaurant would have to have a bigger parking lot. He contended this would generate just as much air pollution because cars would idle as they circle to find a space. Tim Hortons representative Nick Javor said locations that are causing problems for the residents can be dealt with on an individual basis without having to resort to restrictions that punish all drive-thrus. Lynda Staples, of the Canadian Paraplegic Association of Ontario, asked council to remember there are 12,000 spinal cord injuries in Ontario annually and they and other people with mobility issues view drive-thrus as an important component of independent living. "We've talked a lot tonight about the Tim Hortons and McDonald's, but the types of drivethrus we haven't really talked about are the banks and the pharmacies," said Staples. "In early January, I had to spend five and a half hours in the emergency room in the hospital after which I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. What I had to do was drive to the bank to get money, so I could drive to a pharmacy to get the drug that was going to help me cure my walking pneumonia. At that point I was so sick that if I had to get out of my car, get my wheelchair out of my car, go into the bank get the money, come back to my car, get my chair back in the car, drive to the drug store, get my chair out, get my drug, get back in, I might not have made it because I was so sick." After Staples' delegation, Burton reiterated that the restrictions will not remove existing drive-thrus from Oakville. Those opposed to the proposed restrictions are calling for the item to be deferred so additional information could be gathered. Appleby College June 28 to August 23 Weekly programs for ages 4 to 16 that provide opportunities for discovery, excitement and friendship! Arts Camps: Dance, Theatre, Visual Arts, Percussion. Discovery Camps: For ages 4-7. Sports, Arts and Camp. Sports Academies: Basketball, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, TryTriathlon, Exploring the Sports, My Fitness. Experience Camps: Adventure Pursuits, Outrigger Canoe, Robotics, Camp Millionaire. To learn more about our programs and a to register, visit www.appleby.on.ca