LRT station move would force strip mall out

Businesses ina west end strip mall willbe forced to move if Ottawa city council approvesa proposal to change the location of an LRT station.

In March, thecity announced plans to realignthe underground trackapproaching theClearystop,and to relocatethe station's entrance. The move would requirethe demolition ofa strip malllocatedat 747 Richmond Rd., home toseven businesses.

Gabriel KhaterownsHouse of Pizza, one those businesses. He said he was never consultedabout the proposal."We live in a democracy ... We should at least be notified and they should at least take our opinion about it."

Christina Thompson, whose consignment storeTreasures Anew has beenin the strip mall for seven years,saidshe too was surprised by the news.

"We were all shocked because our landlord had not informed us. When I did call the landlord, he was as shocked as I was and [he]asked me to send the press release," Thompson said.

Initiallythe city planned to tunnel under the property of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa. But church supporters worried about possible noise and vibrations criticized that design.

Tenants will have time

KitchissippiCoun.JeffLeipersaidthe plan wasn't altered because of that opposition.

"This has been a good outcome for the Unitarian campus but ultimately, it was the advantages of station placement and the infrastructure route that led me to support the city's proposal that they could go through the 747 property," Leiper said.

We should at least be notified and they should at least take our opinion about it.- Gabriel Khater, House of Pizza owner

Leiper said it makes more sense to have the entrance to the LRTstationat Richmond Road,which is busier thanCleary Avenue.

Leiper said if the expropriation goes ahead,tenants of the shopping plaza will have time before they're forcedto move out.

"The earliestconstructionwould begin wouldprobablybein 2019," Leiper said.

Thompson said tenants have senta letter of protest to the city's finance and economic development committee.Members of the publicwill get achance to voice their opinionsat the committee'snext meeting onMay 3before city council gives the proposal final consideration on May 11.