THUNDER BAY – The operators of a specialty vegan and vegetarian food store remain in the dark waiting to find out if they will be permitted to continue to operate as a dine-in restaurant, which they say is necessary for their business to survive.
Thunder Bay city councillors at Monday night’s meeting were presented with a proposed zoning bylaw amendment to allow Bonobo’s Foods, located at the corner of Oliver Road and Ray Boulevard, to be designated as a restaurant within the property’s permitted uses but ultimately decided to refer the matter back to administration.
Co-owner Tony Vande Weghe described Bonobo's as a "hybrid operation" and said the business began as a grocery store and added take-out food before it evolved and added the dine-in component within the last couple of years because they were in danger of going out of business. He added a consultant told them they would be in compliance with current bylaws, though city planners have since said that is not the case.
“If there is no restaurant, the place is gone,” he said. “It will become something else … or it will be empty and we’ll board it up. There’s no way a corner store is going back in there.”
City administration recommended granting Bonobo’s restaurant status, provided they have operate a maximum of eight tables with 30 seats and address parking concerns which had been brought forward by a number of area residents.
City planner April Hadley said administration does not recommend Bonobo’s continue operating as a restaurant at its current location without dedicated parking.
“As it stands today, patrons of the restaurant are informally parking perpendicularly on the city road allowance alongside the building and backing out directly onto Ray Boulevard,” Hadley said.
“While it’s not ideal, planning services believes it is important to have parking available to support the needs of the restaurant’s patrons.
Administration proposed Bonobo’s leasing the city boulevard and maintaining it as a dedicated parking area to accommodate the eight angled, perpendicular spaces.
Vande Weghe said that potential solution poses safety risks to their customers when they attempt to leave and instead advocated for an allowance to have four parallel spaces that would be in line with the roadway’s traffic.
“We’re going to continue to back out into traffic. The back end of cars is still going to be parked on the bike lanes. It’s just a dangerous situation,” Vande Weghe said.
Reily Madigan, who spoke in opposition, said 38 neighbourhood residents signed a petition urging council to vote against the amendment, She cited traffic concerns relating to the intersection and proximity to venues such as the Community Auditorium, Port Arthur Stadium and Canada Games Complex as well as restaurant parking obstructing back lanes and causing damage to boulevards in front of residences along Ray Boulevard.
Between the alternate parking solution suggested by Bonobo’s and neighbourhood concerns, a number of councillors suggested sending the proposed amendment back to administration to conduct a community meeting and review the issues raised.
“After nearly two hours we’re still in a circle of not knowing what we’re going to do,” Coun. Rebecca Johnson said. “It’s my understanding if we don’t go for the deputant’s answer (of four parallel spaces) and we have to have (the eight angled spaces) then they might close their business. I don’t want that to happen either. Let’s go back and take a whole look at this and come back with a recommendation that will hopefully help the business but at the same point in time addresses the parking and other issues.”
