Developer angry after council blocks new fast-food outlet
Amherstburg defers decision on allowing Wendy’s franchise on Sandwich Street
Local developer Joe Mikhail is furious after watching Amherstburg council decide not to allow construction of a Wendy’s fastfood outlet on property he owns in town.
“You are talking about 50 jobs, investing $3 million to build and $25,000 in property taxes all disappearing last night,” Mikhail said. “We had to start construction by Sept. 1 or the deal was dead. We will miss the deadline, so the deal is done.”
Despite a recommendation from town administration to approve a zoning bylaw amendment, officials of Sobeys grocery store, which also leases a section of the same commercial site owned by Mikhail, has repeatedly sought to block pending construction.
For months, Mikhail proceeded through the town’s planning process to build the fast-food outlet at the front of a commercial property he owns at 83 Sandwich St. The final step was securing the zoning amendment.
But a letter from a lawyer representing the grocery chain issued to council just before Monday’s council meeting requested final approval for zoning be deferred so the company can appeal to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, which replaced the former Ontario Municipal Board. Council voted 5-2 in favour of the deferral. “They killed the deal in six seconds flat,” Mikhail said. “They killed 50 jobs because of one letter.”
The planned fast-food outlet was slated to be built at the front of the property on Sandwich near the intersection of Fort Street. Sobeys and a large parking lot are located behind.
The letter to council by Toronto lawyer Steven Zakem of the law firm Aird Berlis stated the landlord (Mikhail) had not co-operated with Sobeys to address traffic-impact concerns.
In the planning process, the town should not have relied on a 2001 traffic-impact study and should have performed an updated study, the lawyer said in his letter. Zakem did not respond Tuesday to a message from the Star. Coun. Leo Meloche was among those who supported deferral. “We just wanted to give time for the whole process to work itself out,” he said. “This is not the first time issues about this have come up. I don’t believe the town should be put in a position to be referee between a developer and his tenant.
“I’m not against the project, but we can’t be caught in the middle of a landlord-tenant dispute.” Meloche said he hopes the parties can still work out a mutual agreement.
“We don’t want to hinder development,” he said.
Coun. Rick Fryer and Mayor Aldo DiCarlo, were the only ones to vote against deferral. “This was the last hurdle to have Wendy’s as a tenant,” Fryer said. “I was surprised myself council agreed to this deferral .... It does not look good on the town. It makes us look like we are not open for business. I thought those days were over with.
“I’m completely disappointed with what happened. You had 50 jobs that could have went to seniors or anyone in town and instead this was a blindside deferral at the last minute to the process.” Since deferral was put forward as a motion, no debate or questions by councillors were allowed, said DiCarlo, making it difficult to get a read on their sentiments. “Going into the meeting, I knew there were some concerns about traffic,” DiCarlo said. “But those items could have been addressed during site-plan control. To stop this cold is a real problem for the town.
“We have spent three years trying to bring business back to the town. There was quite a bit of effort tied up in this by Mr. Mikhail and Wendy ’s. I’m real concerned about the message this will send.” In order to comply with town’s historical design guidelines, the fast-food chain even agreed to deviate from its standard outlet design, the mayor said. “There was an increased cost for them to do that,” DiCarlo said. “So, I can appreciate (Mikhail’s) frustration. But I’m not sure who is more upset about this — him or me.”
We have spent three years trying to bring business back to the town. ... I’m real concerned about the message this will send.