By Spencer Seymour, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Golden Arch of McDonald’s coming in the Spring?
This Tuesday’s meeting of St. Marys Town Council (occurring after the newspaper goes to press) will be of great interest to area residents, as Council members consider a Site Plan Agreement for 752 Queen Street East.
Morgan Dykstra, Public Works and Planning Coordinator for the Town, provided background on the site, which is currently home of an ESSO gas station, convenience store, and Pizza Pizza location. She noted that in 2014, the Town of St. Marys Council passed By-law 7 of 2014 authorizing the Mayor and Clerk to execute a site plan agreement between the Town of St. Marys and 2384612 Ontario Inc. for 752 Queen Street East.
The property has since changed hands, and North Bay Capital Investments Ltd, the new owner, submitted a formal application in August 2020 for the purpose of further developing 752 Queen Street East.
The proposed development includes the following details:
- A 368 square-metre addition to the existing building (Building A) to accommodate a McDonalds restaurant with a drive thru that includes queuing for 15 vehicles;
- Construction of a second 388 square-metre building (Building B) for a commercial enterprise;
- Construction of a car wash to the rear of Building A that includes queueing for five vehicles, and a vacuum area;
- In total, throughout the site there are 67 parking spaces, inclusive of 2 accessible parking spaces.
The architectural drawings for the development, of which an excerpt is included in this week’s newspaper, refer to McDonald’s as the proposed restaurant partner for Building A.
Council are expected to approve the Site Plan for the development only and not the specifics of a restaurant franchise. There is speculation that the development will start in the Spring.
Per the October 8, 2020 Third Quarter Comparable Sales update, McDonald’s is “the world’s leading global foodservice retailer with over 39,000 locations in over 100 countries. Approximately 93% of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business owners.”
