Council paves way for McDonald's restaurant in Elora
ELORA – Centre Wellington council has agreed to lift a holding provision from a property on Wellington Road 7, paving the way for a McDonald's drive-thru restaurant.
Council approved the request at its Aug. 28 meeting.
Senior planner Marianna Iglesias presented the report, explaining the owner of 94 Wellington Road 7 also owns the adjacent property at 22 Park Rd.
The latter property is the subject of an official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment to change the designation of the land from industrial to highway commercial.
The hope is to have a grocery store on the site.
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But the grocery store is considered phase two of this development and was not under consideration at the Aug. 28 meeting.
Phase one – the property facing Wellington Road 7, next to the Gorge Country Kitchen – is to be a fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru bay.
Property owner John Xintavelonis, who also owns the Gorge Country Kitchen, confirmed in a phone interview the restaurant will be a McDonald's.
He hopes it can open within a year, "although we have no timeline right now," he said.
The holding zone removal requirements for this property include:
- the completion of a noise assessment report to address noise mitigation measures necessary to provide appropriate buffering of proposed uses from adjacent residential development;
- submission of a vegetation management plan to evaluate the existing vegetation on site and determine any existing vegetation that should be retained and integrated into the site plan, including a compensation plan for any existing vegetation that cannot be retained; and
- execution of any agreements deemed necessary, such as development or site plan agreements, servicing agreements and any necessary easements.
“The conditions have been fulfilled for this part of the site,” Iglesias said.
She added the vegetation, noise and easements really pertain to the Park Road part of the development and will be addressed when phase two advances through the process.
