By Louis Pin – The Sarnia Observer, May 28, 2019
Petrolia will soon be home to the first McDonald’s in rural Lambton County after the town’s council approved a plan to develop a corner at one of the region’s busiest intersections.
Construction is expected to begin before the end of the year on the new McDonald’s alongside a new Shell gas station and car wash at the southeast corner of Petrolia Line and Heritage Road. The businesses are expected to generate dozens of jobs, part time and full time, for the roughly 10,000-person town.
“It’s great news,” said Brad Loosley, mayor of Petrolia, adding he is “thrilled to see this kind of development in town.”
Petrolia council breezed through three readings of the plan Monday, more than a year after the former Petrolia council — including former mayor John McCharles — first laid the groundwork for the development. Loosley acknowledged their contribution during Monday’s council meeting and again the morning after the vote.
Tuesday McCharles said he is happy to see the McDonald’s plan move forward after so many years lobbying the company to consider Petrolia as a landing spot.
“For a number of years I tried to get McDonald’s interested in Petrolia,” McCharles said. “If you had a McDonald’s you had status. Something the bigger cities have. It’s a big stepping stone for a small town to get one.”
Proper zoning was already established for the location, staff with the municipality confirmed Tuesday. Construction is expected to start “before the end of the year” municipal staff said, and hiring is expected to begin sometime thereafter.
The land is not municipally owned.
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