When the Plymouth Brethren Church bought the former Spencer Valley School across the street from his house, Marty Van Heuval didn’t think much of it.
Until the trucks started coming, that is.
“I come out of my back door one Friday night, towel on, ready to come out in my bathing suit, and there’s a Coca-Cola truck right at the side of the road,” Van Heuval said.
After that came other trucks delivering produce, meat, and other grocery supplies, he added.
Before the new school, called OneSchool Global, opened for the semester, families were driving in and out of the parking lot as late as midnight, according to Van Heuval, to buy groceries at the school store.
Cade Stone represents both Campus&Co., the company that built the store inside the school, and OneSchool Global’s Hamilton Campus. He said, “While the store does not have set hours of operation, our members primarily use the self-service store during business hours.”
But Van Heuval is unhappy with the store operating next door to his home, full stop.
“They told us that it was going to be a tuck shop,” he said, adding that one parent he spoke with said the shop would sell items such as extra uniforms.
“We don't want trucks coming up here. It's a residential street,” Van Heuval said of the Old Brock Road neighbourhood.
No options for bylaw enforcement
Typically, school tuck shops are stocked with school spirit-wear, pencils, pens, candy, chips and other snacks and treats, meant to be purchased by students during the school day or at school events.
Ward 13 Coun. Alex Wilson says when it comes to bylaw enforcement, defining what is and isn’t a store can be complicated.
“My understanding is part of those enforcement decisions come to who is allowed to buy goods and services from the tuck shop,” Wilson said.
The school is not zoned as a grocery store, but because it only sells groceries to families with children at OneSchool, zoning bylaws don’t apply.
Which, Wilson added, makes addressing concerns from neighbours difficult, because “that is a permitted use in school sites, it's owned as a school and they're not seeking to change the zoning.”
The major concern Van Heuval’s wife, Petra, shared was truck traffic on the road, which is not properly graded for it.
Wilson agreed that is an issue.
“There's a cost for wear and tear of trucks on the roads and the highways,” Wilson said, and with so much industry in Greensville contributing to heavy truck traffic, he said he could see how additional trucks from the school store could “be the final straw” for neighbours.
'Shut the store down'
Conflict between new neighbours, Wilson said, isn’t uncommon.
“In areas where a new neighbour comes into town, there are sometimes conflicts between neighbours,” Wilson said, adding he hopes OneSchool is open to hearing out the Van Heuvals' concerns.
In an email to FlamboroughToday, Stone wrote that the school has opened its doors to the community and worked with neighbours to address issues with their lights being too bright.
“We will continue to work to build strong relationships with our neighbours,” Stone wrote. “We will continue to listen to our neighbours and respond to any concerns raised with us.”
But Van Heuval said he doesn’t see much room for compromise.
“Shut the store down, get it out of there. No truck traffic, no retail sales to your private members. That's my negotiation,” he said
