Controversial proposed Paris Street fast-food joint driveway denied

In a move with implications for properties along the city’s main arterial roads, the city’s planning committee has denied a developer’s application for a driveway entering onto Paris Street. 

Up for debate was a proposed driveway for a fast food restaurant to be constructed on a vacant lot at the southeast corner of Paris Street’s intersection with Nepahwin Avenue. 

The proposal appears to have riled up area residents, with several writing letters opposing the project and resident Shawn Marcon compiling a petition with 38 names in objection.

Seven area residents attended Monday’s virtual meeting to express opposition to the driveway, which city administration agreed should not be approved due to safety concerns and its potential to result in traffic congestion. 

It would be “irresponsible” to disagree with the city planners, Marcon told the committee, with longtime resident Barry Kaufman later adding that “traffic will become a nightmare” if a driveway entering into the proposed restaurant’s drive-thru were to be approved. 

Marcon joined resident Lee Lafromboise by noting that the newly opened Popeye’s restaurant on Notre Dame Avenue should serve as a cautionary tale. 

“I drove through there yesterday and noticed upwards of 15 and 20 vehicles in the queue,” Lafromboise said, adding that vehicles occasionally line up onto the busy arterial street.

Prior to this week’s meeting, committee chair Robert Kirwan posted on Facebook about the congestion at Popeye’s, noting that it demonstrates that “perhaps there should have been a dedicated entrance and exit off the property.”

The problem with opening onto arterial roads such as Notre Dame Avenue and Paris Street is that the roads are intended to prioritize the efficient move of vehicular traffic. 

So described city planner Glen Ferguson during this week’s meeting while explaining city administration’s recommendation that the driveway application be denied. 

“In general, the goal is to minimize the number of conflict points in terms of the number of driveways introduced on any one primary arterial road,” he said, adding that conflict points add up along any given stretch of road to work against the steady flow of traffic.

In this case, a lineup on Paris Street would hold up GOVA Transit buses and make the area less safe for pedestrians and cyclists, thereby offering a strike against the Paris-Notre Dame bikeway the city is working to extend through the city.

Driveway access points tend to be some of the most hazardous areas for these users, city traffic and asset management supervisor Joe Rocca said, adding that additional conflict points “could have consequences that would go counter to many of the other goals in the community we’re trying to achieve.”

Rocca affirmed that the city was unlikely to approve of any scenario in which vehicular access to the property is granted via Paris Street, since there’s a viable access at Nepahwin Avenue the developer can use.

Representing the developer, Kevin Jarus of TULLOCH Engineering said his client was not interested in developing the vacant lot without access to Paris Street, and that the “market demands access onto Paris.”

Although the planning committee’s decision still needs to be ratified by city council as a whole, their 4-1 vote on Monday points to the likelihood it will stand. Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc had requested a deferral so that city staff could work with the developer on a solution, but his motion was struck down. 

With the Paris Street driveway denied, the developer is still free to move forward on the restaurant with an access at Nepahwin Avenue. However, this might still cause traffic concerns, according to some area residents. There are no traffic lights at the Paris Street intersection with Nepahwin Avenue, which might result in people driving the length of Nepahwin Avenue and then circling around to Walford Road’s intersection with Paris Street, where there is a traffic light. 

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.