Conservation authority says no to proposed McDonald's on flood plain in north London

The fate of a developer's plan to build a McDonald's drive-thru restaurant on a northeast London flood plain will be decided by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) at its hearing committee on Tuesday. 

City council approved the proposal for the development at 1310 Adelaide Street North and 795 Windermere Road in February, despite UTRCA's opposition and city planners warning the location near the Thames River would pose a high safety risk during flooding.

"The development is located within a high risk floodway that would be rendered inaccessible to people and vehicles during times of flooding hazards," said a 90-page UTRCA report.

"The development activity will likely create conditions or circumstance that, in the event of a natural hazard, might jeopardize the health or safety of persons or result in the damage or destruction of property."

Royal Premier Development is proposing to build two one-storey, commercial buildings with a combined gross floor area of 975.6 m2, requiring 33 parking spaces. The McDonald's would have a queue for an additional 12 vehicles. 

The company's president Farhad Noory did not respond to CBC's interview requests on Thursday. 

The land is owned by UTRCA and managed by the City of London as part of a flood plain acquisition agreement, so any commercial development would require UTRCA's approval. The conservation authority told CBC News it doesn't do interviews ahead of hearings.   

Noory told CBC News in January that a drive-thru restaurant is essential for the project to be economically viable and that he's confident the measures he's proposing will mitigate the risk.

"We did all engineering studies to make the site flood proof," he said. "From an engineering perspective, it's flood proof."

According to the report, the most recent application for development in October, proposed dry-passive flood proofing measures that elevate the parking spaces above the regulatory flood standard. It would also have "two vegetated drainage channels around the perimeter the area that would "provide major overland conveyance to the North Branch of the Thames River." 

Despite the proposed flood mitigating factors, UTRCA staff are recommending the application be denied because, although the development wouldn't increase flood risks, the overall existing issues with flooding still remain.

The site was formerly home to tennis courts and a small GoodLife Fitness Centre. A fire destroyed a vacant home on the property in 2021. It's currently zoned for commercial development.

Historically, there have been multiple flood events which have resulted in road closures and damage to properties within the vicinity of Adelaide and Windermere, the conservation authority said in its report, adding it recommended other lower intensity development on the site. 

The property was completely covered by water when the nearby Thames River flooded in 2018.  

"The application is further complicated by recent municipal zoning and official plan amendments that were approved by London Council to permit the proposed land uses despite objections from their own professional planning staff and the UTRCA," the report said. 

"The proposed development results in an intensification of the property as a whole where safe access cannot be achieved during a regulatory flood event which is contrary to UTRCA and Provincial Natural Hazard policies."

If the application is denied, the report says the developer can appeal the conservation authority's decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal within 90 days of receiving a written verdict.