At Decarie Hot Dog in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough, they’re serving up coffee with a side dish of complaints.
“We’ve had many complaints from our customers that there’s no parking anymore,” said Argiris Ariandos.
“Before there used be parking across the street.”
The space that used to be a parking lot will be turned into a public space for Montreal’s 375th birthday.
Construction started in September and should end in December.
Ariandos said it’s the worst possible time because school is back in session and the busy holiday season is about to start.
“Those four months are crucial months for us,” he said.
“They are the busiest months for us. People go out for Christmas shopping. After Christmas, everything is dead.”
Borough mayor Alan DeSousa insisted businesses were consulted on multiple occasions before the heavy machinery moved in.
Since the work can’t be done in the winter on frozen ground and they didn’t want to interrupt the summer season, city officials said fall was the best time.
As for parking, he argued there are spaces available elsewhere.
“We’ve got lots of off-street parking available in municipal parking lots and on neighbouring streets,” he said.
“There’s no lack of parking, in fact we might have too much.”
DeSousa contended the lot that is being transformed into a park was underused and didn’t generate a lot of money.
He hopes the new public space will keep people in the neighbourhood instead of just passing through.
“I think it’s probably one of the few cases, unlike the Joni Mitchell song that says ‘we paved paradise to put up a parking lot.’ In this case, we’re doing the reverse.”
DeSousa pointed out once the park is built, it will actually help local businesses because people will use the space.
Ariandos said he hopes it’s short-term pain for the possibility of long-term gain.
“Our business is down 30 per cent,” he said.
“That’s not just affecting us, but all the street.”