LA Tires in Dorval will be moving its operation to Vaudreuil-Dorion.
After eight years in business on Des Sources Boulevard next to Highway 20, the garage will be beginning in a new off-island location as of Oct. 1.
“I still do not want to move,” owner Lorenzo Arena said.
“It’s taking a gamble, moving to Vaudreuil. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I don’t want to move, but they leave me no choice.”
Parkland Fuel Corporation, the parent company of Ultramar and owner of the land, has plans to re-imagine the lot.
The new development project will see the space transformed with a new depanneur, a re-designed gas station, a Starbucks complete with drive-thru and a car wash.
The Municipality of Dorval approved a bylaw zoning change allowing the project to go through.
Arena said the city promised it would help him find a new location for his garage in the city limits but he claims the city offered little help.
“Obviously the city doesn’t care about their community at all … zero,” Arena said.
“They showed me the map and said fend for yourself. They did nothing for me.”
In response, the city called the situation “unfortunate.”
“We feel that it is truly unfortunate for the city to lose a local business that was appreciated by the surrounding neighbourhood,” city spokesperson Sébastien Gauthier said in a written statement.
Gauthier said the city directed Arena to several areas in Dorval, according to city zoning, where a garage could operate.
“There was not much more the city could do and the next steps were in the hands of Mr. Arena, who seemed very pleased with the meeting,” Gauthier said.
Resident Alexandre Smith is protesting the decision. He, like many of Arena’s clients, wants the city to reverse the move.
“It makes me extremely mad that the people in power had a chance to save this but they instead bow to big corporations,” Smith said.
Smith has staked a sign outside the Ultramar gas station calling on Dorval residents to boycott the gas station.
“Who needs a coffee shop? People need a garage,” Smith said.
Arena says he hopes his loyal clients will make the drive to Vaudreuil but worries about steady business.
“I’m just hoping 50 per cent will follow,” he said.
Global News reached out to Parkland fuel corporation but had not received a response by the time of publication.
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