Former Ottawa City Director Applauds St. John's Tim Horton's Drive-through Ban

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 8, 2009 -- Back in 2003, the City of Ottawa established an aggressive policy to restrict the proliferation of drive-through restaurants because of their direct impact on traffic congestion along main arteries, resulting in road rage and potential delays for police, fire and ambulance services. Drive-throughs encourage car idling creating air pollution. Tim Horton's challenged Ottawa Council's decision and the Ontario Municipal Board sided with Tim Horton's in 2006.

"I am very pleased to see that Canadian cities are fighting back, says Dennis Jacobs, the City of Ottawa's former Director of Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Policy, and the staff member who lead the fight in Ottawa. "Recently, Toronto has also stepped up to the plate adds Jacobs, by looking at ways to make Tim Horton's and other fast food outlets, responsible for their direct impacts on the environment, in view of the disproportionately high amount of garbage that is strewn in and around city neighborhoods."

"What we need however, says Jacobs, is a coordinated effort as individual municipalities cannot expect to make a difference on their own. Fast food is a part of our lifestyle, but the industry must also be environmentally responsible as a retail business. As evidenced in Ottawa, a piece meal approach results in many small battles that can be lost. What we need is a national approach.

Dennis Jacobs is a Registered Professional Planner, a past president of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Since leaving the City of Ottawa in 2007, he has continued to practice land use planning in the Ottawa area as a consultant with the firm Momentum Strategic and Creative.

     Contacts:
     Momentum Strategic and Creative.
     Dennis Jacobs
     613-862-0799 or 613-729-3773
     Dennis@momentumservices.org
     http://www.momentumservices.org