The Wendy's restaurant currently being rebuilt on The Kingsway will have a new entrance from Bancroft Drive when it's completed later this year.
Members of the city's planning committee voted 4-1 Monday to approve the new entrance after a lengthy debate over how many existing entrances the restaurant has.
Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann used Google Earth to show that the property already has two entrances from The Kingsway, as well as one from Bancroft Drive. Why, she asked, does Wendy's want more?
“Most businesses that are on The Kingsway only have one access,” Landry-Altmann said. “I'm looking at it now on Google.”
Tauno J. Ranta, of WSP, the group charged with rebuilding the restaurant, said while people can cross through other businesses to get to Wendy's, there's no agreement in place to allow it. They could be easily closed if a current or future owners decide to block them off.
“We can't count on those accesses forever.”
Bancroft Drive resident Adam Rouble, who lives next to the proposed new entrance, told members of the planning committee that it would cause problems.
There's a nearby bus stop and playground which puts pedestrians at risk if there's more traffic.
“A lot of people are using it as a shortcut,” Rouble said.
“This is going to endanger the public. No one wants to live too close to a parking lot.”
Ranta said access to other properties from the proposed entrance could be blocked off to ensure that it's not used as a shortcut to get to other businesses.
“I'm sure the client would not have an issue with that,” he said.
While Landry-Altmann was unimpressed — “as the ward councillor, I will not be supporting it,” she said — the rezoning application passed easily.
