The numbered company that now owns Sackville’s former Pizza Delight restaurant has applied for permission to build a drive-thru on the Mallard Drive property near TransCanada exit 504.

Rashid Tufail of Mississauga, Ontario, who is listed as the sole director of  734163 NB Inc., has applied for a zoning change that would lift the 22-year ban on more drive-thrus in Sackville’s Highway Commercial areas at both highway exits 504 and 506.

In a submission supporting the zoning change, the company notes that the Pizza Delight building has been vacant for a while.

“We have been trying to partner with national/international franchise brands that have indicated [they would] be more interested in a drive-thru facility,” the submission adds.

“Based on the history of inquiries made on the property, there have been a number of famous brands that lost their interest for not having an essential facility of Drive-thru.”

The numbered company bought the Pizza Delight building for $550,000 from former owner Pierre Barthe last July.

In an interview with Warktimes in 2021, Barthe complained that the ban on more drive-thrus was blocking his sale of the building to a Dairy Queen franchisee.

“I’m very frustrated,” Barthe said at the time.

“I’m a common sense kind of guy and I can’t see any common sense in the bylaw banning drive-thrus.”

He argued that instead of a blanket ban on more drive-thrus, applications should be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Report from town planner

A report on the zoning application from town planner Lori Bickford was included in the background documents for this week’s Tantramar council meeting.

CAO Jennifer Borne presented the report because Bickford couldn’t be there, but said any questions should be directed to the planning staff.

Mayor Black repeated that point adding that a resolution on the proposed zoning change will be presented at council’s next regular meeting on June 13th.

He said that councillors could decide then whether to start the process of public engagement if they wish to consider the zoning change allowing drive-thrus in the highway commercial areas or they could decide to kill the application outright.

Sackville town council imposed its initial ban on more highway-area drive-thrus in 2001 and upheld it in 2008 and again in 2016.

It also rejected Wendy and Kelly Alders’s application for a Robins Donuts drive-thru at the Ultramar Gas Bar on Cattail Ridge in 2016.

Traffic congestion, greenhouse gases

Arguments against more drive-thrus have focussed on issues of traffic congestion and the greenhouse gases emitted by idling vehicles.

This latest submission on behalf of the numbered company — included in the town planner’s staff report — deals with both issues under a heading that calls attention to the potential of electric vehicles:

Job ads for restaurant staff

Meantime, an online ad for two, full-time kitchen helpers has been posted for the Mallard Drive location by a restaurant chain called Indian Fusion. It appears to serve traditional East Indian cuisine.

Rashid Tufail, the numbered company’s director, has declined an interview with Warktimes until he hears more about how town council will deal with his zoning application, but says he would be happy to talk later.