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05_V1_WAT_Nov30 Thursday, November 30, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 5Serving your community since 1856 By Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Staff City council has narrowly approved a zone change that will allow a new Tim Hortons drive-thru at the busy southeast corner of the Ira Needles Boulevard and Erb Street roundabout. Council passed the motion 4-3 in a tight vote at last Monday's council meeting, with some councillors citing a possible Ontario Municipal Board appeal and the costs of that appeal since they would be going against their own staff's recommendation. Concerns were raised about adding traf- fic to one of the busi- est intersections in Waterloo back in Sep- tember, and coun- cil, especially Coun. D i a n e F r e e m a n , raised concerns about the walkability of the site and the possibility of traffic being backed up on to the street, especially during the early morning rush. But city staff rec- ommended the plan for 5 Westhill Dr. by Sifton Properties Ltd., saying that there were similar drive-thrus in the same intersection and there were exam- ples of other Tim Hor- tons drive-thrus down Ira Needles in the Kitchener portion of the thoroughfare. Plus, regional planning offi- cials raised no concerns about the traffic enter- ing and exiting the site, and they had already negotiated that access with the developer. "With respect to the drive-thru, the inter- sections to the site have been separated to the extent possible," said Joel Cotter, from the city's planning department. "Similar to other prop- erties, the drive-thru is contained within the property and is not directly exiting on to those particular roads. Coun. Brian Bourke took umbrage with the description that the drive-thrus that exist in the intersection as similar to the one being proposed for the new Tim Hortons. He said the Starbucks drive-thru in the Canadian Tire development enters and exits within the devel- opment and doesn't have access directly from the street. "Do you know if the drive-thrus exit or enter off the main roads?" said Bourke. "Directly, to my knowledge, no," said Cot- ter. "They are within sites within larger devel- opment sites, but have similar characteristics." Bourke argued the other drive-thrus were designed differently and had less of a direct traffic impact, so it made them irrelevant in terms of comparison with the Tim Hortons plan. "There's a world of difference between the Tim Hortons and Starbucks drive-thru," he said. Sifton Properties Ltd. said it was also reducing the num- ber of parking spots on the site to 28, and the area for drive-thru lineups was reduced to 17 vehicles. The e x i t s w o u l d g o through the parking area and try to protect walk-in traffic while making sure that vehi- cles don't directly exit onto the streets. Coun. Freeman said two major resi- dential developments in the area, with an adjacent property also zoned for residential, suggests there is the potential for a lot of walk- up traffic. She said the drive-thru goes against the city's attempts to make it a pedestrian- friendly city, and goes against previous coun- cils' work on anti-idling policies. She asked council to deny the zoning amendment based on the city's urban design guidelines under the municipality's official plan. "Those guidelines recommend a city that is sustainable and supports the vision of our city to be walkable, and that we provide effec- tive design guidelines, establish priorities and promote urban design awareness and promote creativity and innovation," said Freeman. "This design doesn't meet with my expectations -- when I look at it all I see is asphalt. "I'm struggling with the notion that this property can't be successful as a restaurant without a drive-thru." Coun. Freeman joined with Coun. Bourke and Coun. Angela Vieth to put forward a motion to vote against the zone change amendment, but were defeated after concerns were expressed about how they would be able to defend that denial at a possible OMB appeal. "I can't support the motion on the floor," said Coun. Jeff Henry. "I don't view it as defen- sible given our policy framework, particularly if you rely on an interpretation of our design guidelines over the very clear criteria of our official plan. "I have a feeling I know what that's going to look like in an argument before the munici- pal board. I understand the frustrations and objections to drive-thru usage, and I'm person- ally not a fan, but we do have it in our planning framework … and we have nothing in our offi- cial plan saying thou shalt not drive thru." The motion to allow the zoning bylaw amendment was ultimately passed 4-3 with Mayor Dave Jaworsky, Coun. Melissa Durrell, Coun. Mark Whaley and Con. Henry voting in favour. 85 BRIDGEPORT RD. E. WATERLOO (Across from the Bridgeport Rd. Plaza) Since 1971 519-893-8118 MON., TUES., WED. 10 AM - 6 PM THURS., FRI. 10 AM - 8 PM SATURDAY 9 AM - 5 PM SUNDAY 12 PM - 4 PM Furniture & Mattresses Since 1971 LOFTY IDEAS FOr SMALL SPACES NEED HELP DOWNSIZING? DISCOvEr Our CLASSIC, CONTEMPOrArY AND TrANSITIONAL STYLES FOr ANY SIZE SPACE Council narrowly approves Tim Hortons drive-thru "I understand the frustrations and objections to drive-thru usage, and I'm personally not a fan, but we do have it in our planning frame- work ... and we have nothing in our official plan saying thou shalt not drive thru." Coun. Jeff Henry On the debate over a new Tim Hortons drive-thru at the Erb Street roundabout