Friday, February 7th, 2025

Clearview councillors have made an exception to the rule in the case of a new vending bylaw to allow for approval of the first application.

The township received an application from Todd Jackson, requesting to set up a year-round food cart that would serve hot dogs, sausages and French fries at 7458 Highway 26.

The original bylaw, which was passed in August, states that food carts cannot be approved within 200 metres of a competitive business.

In this case, the hot dog cart will be located 181 metres from Stayner Beef Burger.

The restaurant’s owners, Terry and Magda Stefanidis, and two employees spoke in opposition to the exemption at an Oct. 6 council meeting saying it would hurt business. They said they fear business from high school students and Reinhart employees could be lost to the food cart.

Magda Stefanidis said no one from the township informed the family of the proposal, they happened to find out and showed up at council Monday to voice their opposition.

“This will hurt our business,” she told The Echo. “I know it will.”

The bylaw is in a one-year trial period.

Deputy Mayor Alicia Savage said because it is only a deficiency of 19 metres and there was a lot of discussion over the summer about how the 200-metre setback was an arbitrary number set for the purpose of the bylaw, it doesn’t make sense to push the cart back on the property to a less suitable location in terms of traffic flow and visibility.

“The best thing is to approve this exemption to see the overall outcome,” said Savage.

With the exception of Thom Paterson and Deb Bronée, all other council members agreed to allow for the vending cart in order to assess the commercial use during the trial period.

Paterson said, as it is a newly passed bylaw, it should be enforced as is.

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