Nothing in front

LCBO plans big changes to Picton Main Street

On the south west corner of Main and Lake Streets in Picton, surrounded by a sea of aging asphalt, sits the dowdy old LCBO building that has sold alcohol to residents and tourists alike for decades. This past Saturday, it sold its last bottle and closed its doors for the last time.

The liquor store is not gone—it’s getting a facelift. It’s difficult to argue that an update is needed, but when nearby residents learned how the provincial government enterprise intends to change its look, few were impressed.

The plan has quietly been in the works for about two years. That is when the property owner, Robert Brown of Lake Street Developments, purchased the house directly west of the LCBO. Little attention was paid as Brown , along with an engineering firm, began working with the planning department and the heritage committee to prepare a plan for the new building.

Part of the plan that emerged called for the house next door to be lifted and moved to the back of the property, beside the Millennium Trail, so that the undesignated heritage building would remain intact. There was also a redesign to meet concerns raised by the heritage committee regarding the new LCBO building’s ability to meet the standards of the newly designated heritage district, which officially begins on the east side of Lake Street.

The new design features a curved window wrapping around from Main to Lake Street—an architectural reference to the curved, windowed verandas seen on many older County homes. But in order to make that design work, and to ensure adequate parking at the rear, the building had to be moved forward, completely removing the setback from the sidewalk.

In order to work around the County’s minimum setback requirement of 7.5 metres from the sidewalk, the developer needed a minor variance from the County’s committee of adjustment. It was at this public session a week ago that neighbours were at last allowed to voice their concerns and objections.

Many of them hadn’t heard about the project before. The planning committee heard several deputations opposing the proposed variance.

“I have a lot of experience in running consultation forums,” Michael Smith, a neighbour of the LCBO, told council. Smith is a retired professor who taught planning and environmental assessment. “Foolish as I was, I used to teach my students that early and constructive engagement with residents and the community was a hallmark of progressive, innovative planning. That has not happened here. So I’ve been forced, as my friends here have been forced, into an adversarial role.”

Tom Mills, who owns the Remax business across the street from the LCBO, is concerned that by hiding the parking lot behind the building, more customers will use his smaller parking lot.

“Let’s face it. This is no minor. Never was. This is something being ramrodded past us that shouldn’t happen,” Mills said, recalling his time on the pre-amalgamation planning committee in the town of Picton, when a minor variance meant a 10 to 15 per cent change. “This needs more than minor variance to be handled properly.”

Carol Thomas lives next door to the building scheduled to move. The new design means her house will be flanked to the south and east with a parking lot.

“Let’s face it. People aren’t parking from eight till five. They’re in there—in a liquor store—10 minutes. So that means every 10 minutes there’s doors slamming, there’s people chattering, there’s motorcycles, there’s cars revving up,” Thomas told council. “I’m going to have a lot of fun. Because my house has become unsaleable. And the horrible part of it is that I’ve lived in that house for 17 years, I’ve given to the community as a volunteer in many areas, I’ve always paid my taxes, I help the economy of the County 12 months a year and nobody from this Shire Hall called and asked my opinion.”

Brown responded to the public’s disapproval, defending the reasons for the variance and the building’s design.

“We talked to the planning department… a couple of years ago, and discussed the project at the time. And at that time, we were encouraged to bring the building forward to create the urban streetscape that is being mandated by so many municipalities right now across Ontario,” Brown said. “That opportunity to bring the building forward, was a benefit to the community; we feel it is in the public’s best interest for a number of reasons.”

Brown went on to explain that the new building will improve the dynamics of interaction on the sidewalk, and that it will include a small parkette where there is now a parking lot on Lake Street, between the current building and the Millennium Trail. He also explained that he did everything in his power to ensure the building was as respectful as possible to the streetscape, but was limited by the LCBO’s brand design.

The LCBO says it is eager to work with this community and has respected the County’s process.

“The new LCBO location in Picton is not inside the community’s heritage district. However, as the tenant at this location, we have worked very closely with the property owner to design a building that is specific to this site, respectful of its location and consistent with the LCBO brand,” says Genevieve Tomney, spokesperson for the LCBO. “Working with and on behalf of the communities we serve has always been an important part of LCBO’s commitment to responsible service, from the process of locating our retail stores to LCBO fundraising efforts which give back to local charitable organizations. Partnering with local communities across Ontario will continue to be a priority for LCBO.”

Mayor Robert Quaiff made reference to the concern over the new gas station and drivethrough in Wellington, echoing a statement he made two weeks earlier: the planning process is currently flawed, but until it’s changed, projects can’t be penalized for it.

“We’ve seen before, where we have site plan agreements come before council for approval, and admittedly so, there seems to have been a lack of public input or public consultation with respect to a planning public meeting,” said Quaiff. “And I think that’s an area that we as a council really need to look at improving, and making that process more transparent. We wouldn’t have the crowd in Shire Hall this evening if we had something more in line with that.”

The committee chose to defer the application, no later than mid-June, so that a public consultation could happen. That consultation is scheduled for this Friday at 6 p.m. at Shire Hall.