P-A-T residents unhappy with McDonald’s decision
McDonald’s is going to build a drive‑thru in a residential area in Pointe‑aux‑Trembles and many residents are unhappy. It’s clear from how this CBC piece is written that the borough didn’t want to face being sued by the fast food behemoth if they tried to hold the line against them.
Joey 14:22 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
The property is already zoned for commercial use. As the photo makes clear, it’s a pretty desolate abandoned building and an empty parking lot. The borough’s own legal analysis made clear they have little chance of blocking development on the lot.
Also too, it’s absurd that these NIMBYs are arguing that a drive-thru will make the street unsafe for pedestrians when it ALREADY doesn’t have a sidewalk.
Anyway, if the borough were indeed exposed to legal risk, it wouldn’t be from McDonald’s, it would be from the local developer proceeding with the project – hardly a behemoth…
Nicholas 16:28 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
It appears to have been a Renaissance previously and an Enterprise car rental before that. Two doors down, also backing on to residences, is a gas station, and across the street is a car dealership.
It’s very reasonable to not want all this car-heavy business, but that’s the bargain when you live in a car-dominant area. Every home with a pool backing on to that business has a driveway with a car in it on Google satellite view. I’m very sympathetic with banning new drive-thrus island-wide and removing the curb cuts wherever possible, but you have to do that before they apply for a permit. But in the end, the only reason there is a drive-thru planned is because people who drive like them and so create demand for them. And that includes the people here, who also probably bought the home backing onto commercial property after it was already commercial property.
dhomas 17:21 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
Not mentioned in the article, but there is already a sizable McDonald’s literally a 5 minute drive from the proposed location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4YhELuBLgTASky3g9?g_st=ac
It’s a big one, too, with a drive-through and a kid park. Presumably, everyone who wants to use a drive-through has a car, so a 5 minute drive is perfectly acceptable. Why do they need ANOTHER location so close? Unless they want to replace the (somewhat lively) current location with one of those bland, soulless McDonald’s we’re so used to seeing in recent years.
Kate 17:55 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
I didn’t realize McDonald’s locations varied so much. I haven’t been inside one in a long time, which I hope doesn’t sound snobbish. But I don’t have kids and so have never been required to fill children up with happy meals.
One of these days I’m going to gather together a lot of my people and collectively sue McDonald’s for bringing the “Mc” prefix into disrepute.
dhomas 08:19 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
@Kate I don’t really go to McDonald’s all too often, especially since my family started avoiding American companies (A&W and Harvey’s are good, Canadian alternative when we “need” fast food). But I was mostly comparing McDonald’s in time rather than location. When I was a kid, McDonald’s shops were colourful with mascots inside and places for kids to play. Nowadays, they are mostly grey boxes of glass and brick with a splash of red and yellow outside and a nondescript interior that could easily be converted into a Starbucks by the landlord should McDonald’s move out.
The location I mentioned in PAT has been around since the 80s and still has a kid park in it, I assume because it has always had the physical footprint to allow it. My kids have attended friends’ birthday parties there (McDonald’s birthday parties are still a thing, I learned thanks to my kids). If they move to the new proposed location, it will likely drop the kid park and be just like all the other new McDonald’s shops.
As for the lawsuit, others have already successfully sued McDonald’s for naming rights, so you might have a shot!
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4983770/david-vs-goliath-irish-burger-chain-beats-mcdonald-s-in-big-mac-trademark-case-1.4980448
R T 09:47 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
The resident they interviewed says “vehicles leaving the drive-thu will exit onto her street, which is used by transit riders walking to and from nearby bus stops. High school students also use the street”, which she sees as reasons that the location is inappropriate for a fast food restaurant, but to a developer, a place with lots of transit riders and high school students sounds like a great place for a fast food restaurant.
Ian 11:05 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
Why it might even be a reason for the city to put in sidewalks, lol