November 18, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Is it an appropriate place for a restaurant that will have a patio on the roof of the building that is being built to handle up to 80 people? Depends on where you live. There will be seating for 90 people on the ground floor level.
The working name for the new restaurant is expected to be Casey’s. it is part of the franchise chain that operates East Side Mario’s and other brands. The Casey’s operation will start out as a corporate operation rather than a franchise.
Glen Wellings, the planning consultant representing FCHT Holdings (Ontario) Corporation, a unit of First Capital that basically owns the intersection. They operate the mall on the north-east side as well as the smaller strip mall on the north-west side.
Architectural rendering of the proposed Casey’s restaurant at New and Appleby Line was described at a Public Meeting last week.
A restaurant can have a patio at the ground level – to create a roof top patio they need an amendment to the zoning bylaw. The event was a Public meeting where anyone can show up to speak. The Public meeting format gives city staff an opportunity to hear what residents feel about a proposal. Staff then meet with the restaurant operators and return to Council with a plan and a recommendation that, ideally, meets all the concerns that came up at the public meeting.
The planners assured everyone they have made managing and buffering the sound a significant part of the design. Containing sound is not easy.
A number of the residents have a major concern about parking which they contend is a very tough go as it is. There is a martial arts school right next to the location which used to be home to the TD Bank. Some feel that parking will not be an issue – if there isn’t space outside Casey’s – patrons will just park across the street.
After the meeting an area resident opined that the plan was to make the roof a place where smokers could drink. The current bylaw calls for no smoking within 9 metre of a building – one has to assume that would apply to the 9 metres above the roof patio.
The developers application is for an amendment to the zoning bylaw that would permit a rooftop patio. Sound control was a concern to residents. The architects have included barriers they believe will control the sound.
The manager of the location lives in Burlington and gave the Standing Committee every assurance he could that the parking issues were more than manageable and that sound disturbance would not be as issue.
Well – try a sulky summer evening with breezes floating in off the lake and wonder aloud where that sound is going to go. It will be noisy; pleasantly so and acceptable to the community? To early to tell. Much depends on how responsible the operators of the restaurant are and the kind of clientele they attract. If you see half a dozen motorcycles in the parking lot – you know there is a problem.
The operators of the chain have done their market research and believe there is a place for what they want to operate. These people do their homework – if they got it right the neighbourhood will have a pleasant place to get out for a meal and a drink and spend some time on that patio – assuming the place isn’t populated by smokers.
Did everyone forget that Appleby goes from 4 lanes to 2 lanes with bike lanes at Appleby south of New Street – let see can you say accident – noise – conjestion – bad planning – what other words for really bad idea
Dear Mr. Roger, this city needs a subway so we have less congestion of cars, like Toronto. But also good food.
But is there actually any congestion at this location? Restaurants are not known to cause massive traffic backups – this one has capacity for 90 people – if patrons have a meal lasting an hour, that works out to less than a car a minute. Surely that volume of traffic can fit into 2 lanes without causing accidents.
It is nice to see business people taking risks in this city with what appears to be a very attractive idea. Hope it works and the neighbourhood citizens enjoy walking to a restaurant rather than having to drive, as is typically the case in this city.
Question: will this be accessible for all residents? Remember Accessibility, all inclusive, and age-friendly for all residents within Burlington.