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.
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For Ginger Bertrand, some of her earliest childhood memories in Ottawa are centred around healthcare. “I grew up across the street from what was originally the General Hospital,” she explains,
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.
Main and Main was not immediately available for comment.
This article originally appeared on metronews.ca on April 20.
