On Council agenda for April 1 there is Staff report recommending approval of application to build a coffee shop (Starbucks) with drive-through at southwest corner of intersection at Springhill and King Road. As reported a number of issues/concerns raised at the May 2018 public meeting have been addressed. After much reflection I am not comfortable with the proposal: to me the.proposal is a creative way to use a piece of land but that does not make it right.
The report indicates that the proposed project would act as an “extension of the eastern anchor of the core area established at King Dufferin.” I guess the first question is whether that is desirable. But more importantly I don’t fully buy into this assessment as i) there is a church and its parking lot and a wetland between the proposed project and the commercial activity at King Rd/Dufferin; ii) and on the north side the commercial/mixed use complex is not directly across from the application.
In the report 2 perspectives are ignored. i) What is directly across from the proposal (i.e. on north side of King Road) is a residential subdivision. ii) I would argue that the proposed project is a blot on an area (from King Bible Church west to Warren) which is dominated by natural heritage features and residential subdivisions. What is the rationale for this project other than such offers highest value to land owner ?
I am disturbed that this application requires amending the King City zoning bylaw which is barely two years old. I say this though I can see that there is effort to accommodate the allowance of the stacking lane being in the front yard by increasing plantings on north side. I also note that this application is inconsistent with policies in the recently released draft Official Plan; specifically 3.8.11 says that drive-throughs should be discouraged from locating on the “street frontage in close proximity of an intersection.”
Finally I am uncomfortable with modifying what the King Dufferin subdivision is: today it is a residential subdivision with a school; tomorrow it has a coffee shop with a drive-through at its entrance.
This is a tough one as I think the actual proposed building and landscape plan is in keeping with what King City is about. (And, I must admit that I am a fan of the products to be sold there.)
I think the proposed Starbucks Drive-through is very bad idea as it relates to its location (entrance to the village & adjacent green space) and its impacts to the environment and community health (air quality, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety). Instead, there are wonderful ‘opportunities’ for this location. As a parkette with perhaps a beautiful metal sculpture, a gazebo and/or artistic bench near the wetland, it could be a lovely, welcoming space for residents in the community, as well as an attractive setting to improve the aesthetics at the entrance to King City and this particular subdivision.
In the age of climate change drive throughs are a bane on efforts to reduce GHGE. You see people with their AC on in summer, drive through to get their whatever, then sit in the car while it is running to eat whatever. While we have a smog advisory. We have obesity wherein we bank, get junk food and coffee without getting off our butts. There are many things wrong with this picture…
Thank you Debbie! I agree completely. While we need industry and commercial activity in King, do we really need another drive-thru coffee shop in an area zoned residential near wetlands and a school? Do we not have space pre-zoned commercial where Starbucks could locate? We all know that green spaces promote health. Concrete, asphalt, and idling cars do not.
Please accept this as my strong objection to the new Star Bucks being proposed for development at the corner of Spring Hill Drive and King Road as I CANNOT SEE any possible benefit to King Township and its residents with this new addition. Quite frankly I am disappointed that the notion is being considered given the following:
1. Location – far too close to the school. In Nobleton I live across from St. Mary’s Catholic School and I experience first hand, the daily traffic congestion and gridlock created by parents, buses and children, which are added to the normal local traffic using this area for ingress and egress.
2. Access to businesses in the proposed area is already subjected to traffic chaos due to the drive through located at Coppa’s. The City of Toronto is trying to reduce traffic chaos created in the city by the number of vehicles needing to stop for deliveries or drive-thru – why is King Township not able to recognize that while perhaps the immediate future may be able in part to absorb the added impact, long term it absolutely cannot, particularly if the rate of development in King Township continues at its current pace.
3. As a Nobleton resident I know first hand the issues and gridlock created by the Tim Horton drive thru located in our plaza on Highway 27. Traffic gridlock should not be what King Township is known for. Residents of King Township have traded the convenience of big city living for the tranquility of a rural area.
4. With all due respect, I cannot understand how either the Mayor or the councillors can sanction the detrimental effects to our environment caused by the idling cars using the drive-thru.
The emissions from idling cars is truly a concern.
King rd is our commercial district. There should be no surprise to anyone that commercial wants to go in. We have seen land designated estate go high density. So why worry of another modification. King needs a commercial and industrial tax base. We won’t leave this land undeveloped so if not a Starbucks then what? Starbucks is more of a drop by and drink coffee shop and less of a drive thru place like Tim’s. Just not sure what we expect to go there. a star bucks was rumored while that subdivision was being built
Hi Marc, i) I agree that King needs to increase our commercial/industrial tax base. But, I personally don’t believe doing so at any cost. As I articulated at Council I don’t believe that this specific site should be a commercial site. I acknowledge that it was zoned “future” but it could have been something different e.g. more greenspace/park, a small low rise office type building. Curious…many say it won’t be like a Tim Hortons drive through in terms of volume…I hope you are right but if so, why the length of queue space?
People don’t move to King for “tranquility”. They move for more space and good neighbourhoods which include restaurants and coffee shops including Starbucks. It is the people that have lived here for 20+ years that are anti-development and promote NIMBY-ism.