MTO Orders Entrance to Heritage Plaza off Highway 35 Closed

A barricade across what used to be a highway entrance to businesses near the corner of Highway 35 and Bobcaygeon Road in Minden is causing considerable angst for some of those businesses. The barricade was installed on Tuesday, May 25 in accordance with an order by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. The property at the corner, formerly the home of Rusty’s Auto, was purchased by partners Claudio Bortolussi and Gino Cappozoli, who had plans to tear down the existing building and build a new structure to house an as yet undetermined business, perhaps a fast food drive through. “I really relied on that entrance, I really needed it,” Bortolussi said. He said he spoke with Fran Hampel, Corridor Management Offi cer with the MTO in Huntsville Monday and he said she informed him there was no hope of getting the entrance reopened. “She said ‘no way,’ somebody fl ew under the radar on this and that should have been closed a long time ago. There used to be barriers there at one time and somebody took them out,” B o r t o l u s s i e x p l a i n e d . “I’m not prepared to c h a l l e n g e them for 30 or 40 thousand dollars just like Canadian Tire did or just like the OPP did and they lost anyways. I bought that building based on that entrance – on highway access.” He added that highway access was one of the main reasons he made the purchase in the fi rst place. Bortolussi was contacted in writing by the MTO stating in no uncertain terms that the entrance to the highway must be closed. He was given the option of installing a barrier himself or leaving it for the MTO to install and getting a bill from the MTO for the work. He chose to do it himself with the belief that he could install the barricade at a fraction of the cost to have the MTO do it. “As an owner, I need to comply,” he said. He was informed that IGA road was the access to the plaza. “My access was supposed to be Highway 35 and Bobcaygeon Road and I have to close both of them,” Bortolussi said. He was told the Bobcaygeon Road access is a non-conforming entrance. “The Highway 35 entrance is a totally illegal entrance,” Bortolussi said. “I didn’t know that and when they sold the property to us, we got stuck with the problem.” Bortolussi fears the other businesses in the plaza think he closed the entrance of his own accord. He is adamant that if he could keep it open, he would. He said it would not be a wise decision to close the main entrance to a business. “That would be a silly business move,” he said. “The more people who come around, the better it is for everybody. It’s all good for business. The more open things are, the better it is. Bortolussi said he doesn’t want to lock horns with the MTO and he doesn’t want his neighbouring businesses blaming him for closing the entrance. He wants to make it clear he had no choice but to comply with the MTO directive. “They have their reasons and I’m not prepared to challenge them,” he said. Bortolussi says engineers have been hired to come up with an alternative layout that would still allow for the original plan. The forced closure of the entrances has thrown a huge wrench into the gears of the project. Still, he and his partner are doing what they can to work around the obstacles. He said he was told there are only two types of business that are allowed to have entrances to the highway in similar circumstances, a gas station and a motel. “That’s it,” he said. “But when that gas station was closed and it became Rusty’s Auto Body and whatever was there, that [entrance] was supposed to be closed. And when IGA Road became public, that was supposed to be their main entrance. “I’m frustrated myself,” Bortolussi said. “But I’m not going to argue with the MTO. I’m not one of those people who will spend 40 or 50 grand and then lose. It’s a non winning situation.” He said if he had an extra 40-50 thousand dollars to throw around, it wouldn’t go toward a court battle with the MTO, but would go to a local charity. “At some point there needs to be a development there [on the north-west corner of Highway 35 and Bobcaygeon Road] it is an eye-sore and it is a building that doesn’t look good for the town of Minden. Minden does need to move forward. We need to put something up to generate more work for people and give them a place to go and give them more reasons to come to Minden,” Bortolussi said. “I live in Minden so I like people to come and spend their money in Minden.” Bortolussi and his partner are principals in the development of Pine Ridge Estates. He said his customers are extremely happy and he has five more homes in the process of being built. He used that as an example of his commitment to the community. He says he is trying to make the place where he lives a nicer place. With the closure of the main entrances to his property, Bortolussi agrees he will have to provide something that customers will be willing to go out of their way to get. The MTO’s mandate is to ensure the safety of the travelling public. Bortolussi acknowledges that fact and he also realizes that what may be good for businesses is of no concern to the MTO. With that in mind, he says he has come to terms with the situation and he hopes he and his partner, as well as the other businesses that are affected by the access closure will be able to find a way to make their businesses prosper in spite of this setback. Rob Sullivan, the owner of the Dixie Lee Fried Chicken franchise, is worried by the decrease in his business but he says he’s trying to keep a sense of humour about it. “It’s better to laugh than cry. If I didn’t, I’d go nuts,” he said. Sullivan only took over the franchise on the first of March. He was looking forward to a good season ahead, but the installation of the barrier across what was the main entrance to his business has initially had a negative effect on his profits. “My sales have dropped down big time, at least 60 per cent,” he said. Sullivan is aware that it is an MTO directive. “Our hands are tied,” he lamented. He is not worried about another food outlet next door. He considers it a compliment to his business. “It will draw people in.” he said. When the barricade was installed, Sullivan said he contacted the Dixie Lee head office and a representative was sent up the next day to take pictures. He said while the man from the head office was at the store (about two hours) only two people came into the restaurant and they just ordered coffee. Sullivan said the locals will become accustomed to coming to the restaurant from a different avenue, but he’s concerned about whether or not the transient traffic will take the time to find a different entrance. “This business thrives on the cottagers coming up, as most businesses in this town do,” he said. He fears that someone who is accustomed to the entrance being there may not see the barricade until it’s too late, resulting in a crash. “When I bought this place I had access to this restaurant [from the highway], and now I don’t have it,” Sullivan said. “I’ve seen people signal to turn in, realize its closed off and just keep going north.” He said if people don’t know the area, they are not going to take the time to look for the entrance. Sullivan said that he usually employs four people during the lunch time rush. Since the entrance from the highway was closed he has only needed two. “It not only affects me, it also affects my staff,” he said. Sullivan is sympathetic to the plight of his neighbours. He said with the closure of the highway entrance, “they’ve lost a ton of money in property value.” Minden Hills Reeve Jim McMahon said he was unaware of the fact that the barrier was going up until just before it was installed. He said as a courtesy, he was informed by Bortolussi that the MTO had ordered the entrance closed. “The owners came in and gave me a heads up the night before they were going to be doing it because they knew it was going to raise a red flag and ‘we want you to know what’s going on’,” McMahon said. McMahon pointed out that when the local municipalities amalgamated, Minden Hills wanted to sever the property with the old Lutterworth municipal office and keep the adjacent sand dome. But the MTO wouldn’t allow the municipality to have a second entrance onto Highway 35. “They’re pretty sticky,” he said. “As far as development goes on Highway 35 it is limited to what the MTO will allow. They’ve got some pretty strict rules.” Bortolussi provided contact information for Fran Hampel. The County Voice contacted Hample by telephone and she said MTO has a media officer in North Bay who handles such information requests. She asked to have questions sent to her by e-mail and she would forward them to the media relations officer. She declined to give a telephone number for the media relations officer. A list of questions was sent to Hampel Tuesday afternoon, noting that the newspaper’s deadline was looming. She responded, saying that the questions along with some background information had been forwarded to the North Bay office. She said she couldn’t say whether or not a reply would be forthcoming by the end of the day. Answers were not received in time to meet the paper’s deadline.