Community groups oppose Richmond Road drive-thru
Property owner Main and Main wants to cover the 1930s heritage gas station into an 'upscale coffee house' drive-thru.
By: Lucy Scholey Metro Published on Wed Apr 20 2016
Ottawa community associations are joining the chorus of opposition to a drive-thru at the corner of Richmond Road and Island Park Drive.
The Federation of Community Associations (FCA), which represents eight community groups, has unanimously voted against converting the 1930s heritage gas station into an “upscale coffee house” drive-thru.
“This is not adding a service. It’s adding an injury,” said FCA president Gary Sealey.
The city recently granted 70 Richmond Rd. a heritage designation, which complicates what property owner Main and Main can do with the site.
Development firm Fotenn calls the drive-thru a “best-case scenario” for that building.
“Moreover the proposed development would restore commercial activity to a prominent street corner that is currently sitting vacant,” reads a planning rationale document prepared by Fotenn.
Apart from the drive-thru, the proposal includes a patio, five-car parking lot and repairs to the Tudor Revival stucco building.
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said that intersection is “already a gong show” for traffic.
“It would be an epic failure on city planning to approve a drive-thru on Richmond Road,” he said.
He said there should be an open house on the proposal within the next few weeks and a report will likely go before the planning committee in mid-June.
Metro reached out to Main and Main, but has yet to hear back.
http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/...rive-thru.html