Regina city council approves McDonald's at Evraz Place

Regina city council has voted to approve the construction of a new McDonald's at Evraz Place. 

At a Wednesday afternoon council meeting, Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) CEO Tim Reid said REAL is looking forward to the opportunity to develop the western and southern part of the property and bring in additional revenue. He said McDonald's is a particularly good fit for Evraz Place.

"There's frequent turnover, lots of visitation, lots of young families travelling through our facility," Reid said.

McDonald's representative Ryan Babey estimated the restaurant will create approximately 50 new jobs in the community, not including construction. He said the McDonald's at Evraz Place will be a version of the franchise's newest prototype restaurant.

While the proposal passed unanimously, some council members raised concerns about the value of building a new fast food restaurant in a food desert.

"There has been some negative public backlash on the McDonald's ... in terms of healthy options," said Ward 3 councillor Andrew Stevens. "You have burgers, pizza, hot dogs and beer on campus already. Is this the right addition? McDonald's are a dime-a-dozen. Why not look at healthier alternatives, or even locally owned and operated enterprises?"

In a letter to city council, Regina resident Christopher Strain said he does not believe the new restaurant would be consistent with Design Regina — The Official Community Plan (OCP). 

"It defies belief that this proposed McDonald's would fulfil the 'healthy, diverse and affordable food' goal of the OCP," he wrote. "This OCP goal is clearly about addressing 'food deserts,' i.e. lack of access to affordable groceries and similar matters, but the report waters down this goal to meaninglessness — if we can claim a McDonald's is healthy to meet this goal, what could possibly be considered unhealthy?"

The letter also noted there is a Burger King less than 500 metres away.

"The surrounding North Central neighbourhood has a relative shortage of affordable grocery stores," Strain wrote.

Reid said this will be only one part of REAL's larger 15-year strategic vision for Evraz Place, which will include other food options in the future.

"Just to be clear, this is one acre of a proposed 40-acre development," he said. "Without question, we're very interested in bringing local retailers, healthy options and unique options to campus. That's been very clear."