Mayor, councilor opposed to fast-food restaurant in Waterford

Norfolk’s mayor and the councilor representing Waterford don’t want a fast-food restaurant to be the first thing people see when they drive into that community.

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“I certainly don’t think a gateway to our historic, quaint town should be a fast-food restaurant with a drive-through,” Ward 7 Coun. Kim Huffman told a developer at a public hearings committee meeting on Wednesday. “I could think of a million other uses and that’s not one of them. This is what our urban center is for. We need to maintain the integrity of our town.”

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The project’s developer, Tom O’Hara, has asked the county to amend the existing zoning to permit retail uses on vacant land at the southeast corner of the intersection of Lam Boulevard and Old Highway 24 in Waterford.

The development proposal, called Orchard Square, includes a mid-rise apartment building with 44 rental units of various sizes on the southern portion of the land; and, on the northern portion of the land, a stand-alone building for an unnamed fast-food restaurant with a drive-through and a second building containing about 810 square meters of space for a retail plaza. A minimum of 69 commercial parking spaces and 81 residential spaces are proposed.

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The current zoning already allows for a fast-food restaurant in the proposed location. Architect Melissa Stickl of G. Douglas Vallee Ltd. told council members they are asking only for “retail” to be added as a permitted use on the existing commercial zoning in order to build the retail plaza.

Mayor Amy Martin said she supports development of the residential units and commercial space but is strongly opposed to the fast-food restaurant, which would neighbor an existing subdivision. She asked O’Hara why he couldn’t instead build a traditional or take-out restaurant.

“I don’t want to see chain establishments in our small hamlets,” said Martin. “They’re here in Simcoe on the Queensway that is built out with four lanes. I think we should be aggressively fighting hard to keep our hamlets the way they are.”

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O’Hara said he and his team worked hard to secure “a tenant of this stature that is going to help us down the road to bring other tenants.” He said he is working with the tenant to design a building that fits in with the community.

“We want to respect Waterford,” said O’Hara. “It’s certainly out there that we’re bringing something to town and we’re receiving much more positive than negative (comment).

“Fast food is an approved use. I don’t think we should be criticized for building something that is an approved use.”

Martin said the Tim Hortons in Waterford, which has a drive-through, “causes a lot of backup.”

Huffman said an additional fast-food restaurant wouldn’t be welcomed by Waterford’s existing family-run businesses and will “result in unending complaints from residents.”

She asked county staff to investigate whether there is a fast-food drive-through abutting a residential area anywhere else in Norfolk.

The committee received the staff report on the proposed development as information. Staff will now consider input and review technical comments and prepare a recommendation report for council to consider.

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