A new Tim Hortons donut shop is proposed for the corner of Woodlawn Road and Victoria Street. A committee of adjustment hearing is needed for a variance to the parking requirements. A constituent writes:
We would like to register our objection to the variance from bylaw requirements that has been requested for the construction of a new Tim Horton’s in the plaza at Victoria and Woodlawn.
There are a number of key reasons for this, which are listed below.
1. Request is to reduce the parking spaces provided to 130 from the required 150. I have personally counted the existing spaces as painted by the owner of the plaza, and find only 114 spaces currently provided. I do not see how 130 realistically usable spaces will be achieved, in spite of the nice layout provided on the site plan. Given the nature of the activities by local youths with time on their hands around the back of the plaza, those spaces are unlikely to be used by anyone in their right mind. Perhaps some residents of Islington Ave. will have provided some information in that regard. They were very vocal on this issue when the pool hall had a request for a patio license. Labeling the garbage bin/loading dock area as a parking lot doesn’t make it one in reality.
2. The actual need for this project is not established, since this neighbourhood is predominantly residential, already cursed with having a designated truck route through it. A route incidentally, that has not been maintained in recognition of the increased loads on the road.This in spite of assurances at the time the truck routing was set up that the road would be maintained at a level that recognised this extra loading. We have many slap dash patches already between Inverness and Victoria, which result in heavy traffic shaking our house. Traffic is heavy enough at certain times of the day, to make exiting from our property very difficult, as our driveway exits to Woodlawn, rather than Windermere. The extra traffic this facility will add to the area is not welcomed. There have been occasions of trucks stopping on the street to visit the convenience store already. Illegally parking to do so, much the way they do at the Tim Horton’s in the ESSO gas bar in Aberfoyle. There are existing “Timmie’s” already in place, in more commercially developed areas, that are quite close already. They are as follows, with
distances from the location of the proposed new building:
1. Woolwich St. across from cemetery 2.3 km
2. Woodlawn Rd W. in PetroCan station 2.5 km (with drive thru)
3. Woodlawn at Edinburgh, 3.0 km (with drive thru)
4. Speedvale Plaza at Stevenson 1.8 km (with drive thru)
5. Eramosa rd/BullFrog Mall 2.0 km
I think the area is already well served by this type of facility. We do not need a “Timmies” on every street corner.
3. This area is already littered with refuse from the convenience store, along with debris from other Tim Horton’s facilities that gets tossed out of cars. We also know how long it takes a drive thru Big Mac to get eaten as the wrapper ends up in our yard too.
4. The addition of a 24 hour food service facility in the middle of residential area, already stressed with high and noisy traffic levels, a licensed liquor establishment, and a retail facility that is a local late night hangout for rowdy types, is not welcomed or required.
This facility will add nothing to the value of our property, already diminished by the existing problems, which also include being labeled as a termite zone by the city. Enough already, fix the road, and tell Tim Horton’s to build their new restaurant in a more appropriate area. Might I suggest the Canadian Tire/Staples plaza, or the one across from that, Since they have signs posted offering pad sites anyway! Then they can close the Woolwich store which has no drive thru and almost no parking. They will be able to kill two birds with one stone that way. RH