When it meets again in three weeks, Tantramar council will decide whether or not to entertain a proposal to change Sackville’s zoning by-law to allow drive-thru restaurants in highway commercial zones at exits 504 and 506.
The owner of the former Pizza Delight building on Mallard Drive (a numbered company owned by Rashaid Tufail) made the application for the by-law change through Plan 360.
On Tuesday afternoon at council’s committee of the whole meeting, CAO Jennifer Borne presented a brief report on the proposed zoning change written by planner Lori Bickford, who was absent. After the report, Mayor Andrew Black instructed councillors to limit their questions to clarification purposes only. Black told councillors that the motion to either “start the process or kill it immediately” would come at their next regular meeting. But although councillors will face that decision on June 13, Black indicated “any bigger questions about what this means for that location will be asked in a public engagement session through the planning process, if it gets to that point.”
In a later interview Black acknowledged those instructions seem to be in contrast to the goal of committee of the whole meetings to allow for open discussion by councillors. He explained that his instructions came out of concern that with neither the proponent nor planner Lori Bickford present, answers to questions might not be available. But he also agreed committee of the whole is the place for councillors to ask questions and express themselves on issues. “This is where we discuss things. So, if you have any discussion, this is where it needs to happen,” says Black.
In the end no councillors had any questions on the matter.
The drive-thru issue is a contentious one, with many residents divided on whether the ban on new drive-thrus either stifles business growth, or protects the town from further traffic woes. According to Bickford’s report, traffic was the reason cited for the original drive-thru ban brought in by Sackville town council in 2001.
Before 2001, development at exit 504 happened by individual development agreements, and a number of drive-thrus were allowed, at McDonalds, Tim Horton’s and what is now Burger King.
But then came a zoning bylaw review in 2001. “Two changes came out of that,” Borne told councillors, the removal of drive-thrus in the definition of the highway commercial zone, and a new highway commercial zone at exit 506.
The drive-thru question was revisited in zoning reviews approved in 2008 and January 2016, when the councils of the day “continued to prohibit drive-thrus due to concerns of traffic congestion and increased emissions generated through vehicles idling,” writes Bickford.
In the summer of 2016, Wendy and Kelly Alder applied to add drive-thrus to the highway commercial zone in order to pursue opening a Robin’s Donuts franchise at their Ultramar gas bar location. Council turned down their request at first reading, though some councillors expressed that their main concerns were over traffic issues at exit 504, where three existing drive-thrus were in operation, and not necessarily exit 506, where there were none. According to Lori Bickford, site specific rules like those in development agreements are not currently permitted under Sackville’s municipal plan.
More recently, the issue received some attention when the former owner of the Pizza Delight building on Mallard Drive complained publicly that the drive-thru zoning exclusion was preventing a Dairy Queen franchisee from setting up shop. But then-owner Pierre Barthes made no formal application for a text amendment to Sackville’s zoning bylaw.
Rashid Tufail bought the Pizza Delight building from Barthes last July for $550,000, and submitted the text amendment request to Plan 360 at the end of April.
In a one page addendum to his application, Tufail argues that he’s heard from companies that are looking for drive-thru capable operations. He points out the lengthy vacancy of the building, which hasn’t had a tenant since Pizza Delight closed at the outset of the pandemic. He also argues that COVID has changed the restaurant industry, making drive-thrus more necessary, and also that the advent of electric cars will make emissions concern disappear. He also promised to add EV charging infrastructure to his parking lot, eventually.
Despite Tufail’s issues finding tenants, one company is currently advertising for kitchen help in a restaurant located at 24 Mallard Drive, in Tufail’s building. A job posting from Indian Fusion is looking for two kitchen helpers, with the duties listed indicating a buffet-style restaurant, as opposed to fast food.
Tufail’s building is also still listed for sale online.
