Dear everyone, Apologies for the second email today, but I we received a formal response from Councillor Perks. Below is the Gordon Perk's perspective in full, and our response. You can reach out to Councillor Perks directly at councillor_perks@toronto.ca, or post a comment here, as his team is now actively watching the site. Needless to say, we are not deterred by this response. We are meeting him next week, and will be considering next steps beyond that. Thanks for your support, let's keep pushing this! Here is the response: Scott, Thank you for taking the time to let me know that you support the Tibet Kitchen. Like you, I desperately want this business, which adds so much to our neighbourhood, to succeed. When the owner of Tibet Kitchen contacted my office about a month ago, my staff and I immediately got to work. As you might have heard, he was faced with a rent increase he simply couldn't afford and was looking to find a new location for his business. We provided advice about the kinds of locations he could and couldn't move to, put him in touch with the correct public servants, and offered to help him work through all the necessary paper-work. Since then, I have spoken with the owner and a number of his customers and have been asked to go further than that. Some have asked that the City waive the rules governing where restaurants are allowed so Tibet Kitchen can move to a specific location where it is not allowed. This is something I can not legally do, and frankly should not do. Let me explain. Municipalities regulate the locations of businesses. Local governments create zoning bylaws which govern what use can go where and the concentration of certain uses within an area. Each property is "zoned" for specific uses. The Queen St. West By-law includes a special feature which limits the concentration of restaurants on Queen St W, between Dufferin and Roncesvalles to allow for other uses. You can read more about it here: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2013/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-59243.pdf Part of the reason for this is to protect local business. As you may recall a few years ago a number of west end main streets were suddenly inundated with restaurants which largely functioned as late night clubs and drinking spots. Special zoning rules were implemented on streets like Ossington, College and Queen St W after community consultation, and were approved by Toronto City Council on advice from the City's Planning department. If Queen became an entertainment district or a restaurant row we would lose business that support the neighbourhood: hardware stores, laundromats, bank branches, etc. Your petition asks me to give one specific business an exemption from the rules. This troubles me. I don't believe individual politicians should be able to change the rules so that a specific business succeeds or fails. The opportunities for abuse, even corruption, are too large to ignore. We as a government design bylaws to achieve larger social goals: supporting local shopping; balancing the needs of business and residents; matching transportation capacity to land use. We don't and must not have the power to make a specific restaurant succeed while others fail. Where does this leave the Tibet Kitchen? As I've told the owner, although the City will not approve restaurant use at the particular site he is interested in there are other sites along Queen W and neighbouring streets that may be an option. I hope this helps clarify things. I also hope that you support local businesses in our neighbourhood in the best way you can: eat there, shop there and pass the word to your friends and family about the great spots in Parkdale. Gord ------- And lastly, our response to this message: Dear Gord, Thank you for your detailed response. Since we reached out to you, we've created a petition that has over 1,000 signatures and has attracted the attention of local news. We appreciate your support of Tibet Kitchen and your work to date. Forgive me for being blunt, but it's not enough. The intended effects of this by-law are sensible. The real effects are damaging our community. We urge you to reconsider your decision. We have committed to keeping the people who have supported our petition in the loop regarding our discussions, so we will be sending your response to them by end of day. If you would like to make any amendments before then, please feel free to resend us your response. For the hundreds of locals who have responded to our petition, can you answer the following: given the outcomes of this by-law, do you still support it? We would like to meet with you to discuss at your convenience. Please let us know when you would be available to meet. Kind regards, Scott