Regina city council voted in favour of a first-of-its-kind, sustainable Tim Hortons to be built in the Greens on Gardiner neighbourhood.
The vote was 9-1. Councillor Dan LeBlanc was the sole vote against. Councillor Lori Bresciani was away for the vote.
Discussions around the build began in June 2021.
Tim Horton’s franchisee Mike Di Stasi is behind the restaurant proposal.
“We have consulted, investigated, revamped and review back and forth with our team of professionals and the city’s administration team to land where we have with a project we believe in,” Mike Di Stasi said in his report to city council. “The goal is to have this location be a flagship Tim Hortons. It would be the first of its kind and the testing grounds for new sustainable initiatives - right here in Regina.”
Di Stasi and his family have been operating Tim Hortons franchises in Regina for more than 20 years. He said typically, the restaurants are owned by major developers and franchisees rarely have the option to own the land they work from. This proposal would see the family own the land on Chuka Boulevard.
Some options being considered for the sustainable Tim Hortons include a green living roof and living walls that reflect light while creating a strong heat barrier transfer, grey water retention that will use storm water for landscaping, a mobile order lane to reduce idling in the drive through and electric vehicle charging stations.
High efficiency windows, HVAC and equipment are also being considered.
Di Stasi said at this point, everything is on the table.
He said it would create 35 jobs.
To proceed with the build, city council had to approve a discretionary use application for the proposed development of a necessary drive through land use restaurant.
Over the past few months, a traffic impact assessment has been completed by Balon Consulting to see if traffic impacts from the restaurant would conflict with the area.
“The findings of the report did not indicate any adverse impacts on the existing infrastructure and traffic flow from this proposed development,” Jeff Balon of Balon Consulting said in his report to council.
Di Stasi said public consultation done through a Tim Hortons virtual open house and the city have seen the majority of people in favour of the new restaurant.
“We have taken the approach to listen to residents, and I have had numerous phone calls and emails with residents to help answer questions they have had. That won’t stop,” Di Stasi said.
OTHER COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS
Regina city council voted unanimously to approve an amendment to The Regina Water Bylaw making it mandatory for private property owners to replace their lead water pipes.
A motion put forward by councillor Cheryl Stadnichuk is asking city administration to compile a report into regulating cosmetic pesticide use. Council voted for administration to return in four weeks with information on what the report would cost.
Finally, councillor Dan LeBlanc put forward a motion asking city administration to allocate more funding to ending homelessness in the city in the 2023 budget.
