Canadian Tire store moving ahead slowly

Company is waiting for better ‘market conditions’
By Chris Simon Innisfil Scope December 15 2010
Construction on Alcona’s proposed Canadian Tire is progressing, albeit at a crawling pace.
From ground level, it appears the project has come to a standstill. However, the underground piping and foundation work has been laid for the store. Now, only the actual building needs to be erected, said town planning manager Ross Cotton.
“They’ve applied for, and been granted, a building permit about a year and a half ago,” he said. “They have been proceeding with the development of the site, there’s certain parts that have been completed. They’ve done all the site servicing and completed the base of the building. But they haven’t actually begun work on the shell of the structure.”
However, Cotton admits construction has proceeded much slower than originally anticipated. The town granted the building permit extension, made bylaw and Official Plan exemptions, and handed out a $354,200 development charge discount, expecting construction would be completed in a timely manner.
“They are technically under construction, but you can’t see the visible part of the building,” said Cotton. “Building permits have to be acted on every six months. Typically, what they’ve been doing is reacting when we suggest work should be proceeding. The developer of the site (Trinity Development Group) indicated Canadian Tire is waiting for the right market conditions to complete the building.”
Under the agreement, Canadian Tire was responsible for paying charges under the town’s old rates, which have significantly increased since March 2009.
But there is reason to believe the project will eventually be completed, since Canadian Tire does own the land, which is located in the Trinity Crossing complex at the 20th Sideroad and Innisfil Beach Road intersection. Over the last few weeks, several other stores have opened at the complex, including the LCBO, The Source, Dollarama and Pet Valu.
“Canadian Tire now owns the site, as well as the (proposed) gas bar,” said Cotton. “When we did the planning for the site, we had anticipated the Canadian Tire was going to be built first. We had actually put special policies in the zoning (bylaw) and Official Plan … the front of the site has been built, but all of the rear (including Canadian Tire) has not. There was a development charges agreement signed between they and the town; we’re going to be reviewing that and determining what their requirements are.”
A report on the site is expected to be presented to council in February.