NORTH PERTH – Council voted to approve a zoning amendment for two new fast-food chains at its meeting on June 13, allowing Starbucks, Taco Bell, and a commercial plaza to be built next to the Listowel Canadian Tire location.
The owner – No Quarter Holdings Inc. – of the part lot 31 at 300 Mitchell Rd. S. proposed the restaurants be built and the lot be partially rezoned. It previously had two zoning categories – highway commercial and residential four – but now is just highway commercial. They also proposed to amend the bylaw prohibiting drive-throughs within the front of a facility, and the minimum ten stacking spaces be reduced to seven specifically for this site.
Consulting planner for Perth County, Gillian Smith, presented the report and proposal. She reported that the amendments were appropriate and that with the proposed stacking spaces, if there was an overflow from the drive-throughs, traffic would be on the site and wouldn’t impact any existing roadway. Coun. Lee Anne Andriessen inquired about community growth and the potential for a double lane drive-through, just in case one day the overflow wouldn’t be contained by the stacking spaces.
A representative from Patterson Planning Consultants Inc., on behalf of the owners, said that the only brands that use double lanes are McDonald’s and Tim Hortons. Other brands don’t generate the same volume of customers. He also noted that for these restaurants, he feels the appropriate amount of stacking spaces will be available. They were careful in their planning to avoid any overflows seen by the McDonald’s in town or the Tim Hortons on Wallace Avenue North.
A public meeting occurred during council but there were no correspondences nor attendees.
