.....And then there was one...!
The Last Video Store on
Main St in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, likely had no idea how ironic the name would become when they opened. Owner Matt couldn't possibly have expected he would be told to pack up shop and leave, when they were paying rent on time and running a thriving respectable Main St business. And they couldn't possibly have predicted they'd be the very last in that block to be tossed. But that's how it should be, not how it is.
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| All these businesses gone now save one... |
You see,
The Last Video Store is actually the last store or
tenant of any type for that matter in the block since upstairs, live-in tenants, presumably also lived there at one time as well. The developer's group got rid of them by using the old standby
"unlivable conditions' ruse no doubt. Too bad no one championed that before those tenants - likely lower income families - were turfed, presumably after prolonged, neglected maintenance such as I noticed on the ceiling below floors in the units above
T.L.V.S..
The at-hands-length from
developers group,
Main Street Clock Inc, which now clutches the 4 unit block of units and the attached Main St., Newmarket's, clock tower, appears to simply acquire properties and then 'condition" them to be suitable to make applications for whatever they see fit.
Such as condos. And when a town or municipality does not go along with their "plans", they use the municipalities' own laws / bylaws to force their hands - such as boarding up buildings which is actually encouraged in town bylaws for 'vacant' properties. The idea being the unsightliness and non use of the Main St buildings will force towns to act as they wish them to.
For example, they obviously can't plan a condo where seniors live,
but if they move them, it would be deemed ok, no more than a sidebar, despite those seniors not wanting to - losing community ties, familiarities, amenities, friends etc. And after the seniors and apartment residents were gone, it allowed for conditions needed in order to make an application for planning / building something else, like condos. Existing businesses that may take up areas deemed part of those plans then become fair prey for the "sub-developer" to be moved out, in this case for the Main St Clock tower project.
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| The Last Video Store is literally the last store in that block! |
So next up for
them then was creating the conditions for asking the tenants to leave, most easily accomplished by allowing building maintenance to lag and buildings to fall into disarray. This puts the onus on the tenants - often short on funds or knowledge of their rights - to fight or simply buckle to the asks of these landlords whose admitted goals are to be rid of them! Sure, this group made noise after having lost the 1st round to have the clock tower turned into 7 stories of condos, by putting it up for sale, but with offers to sell reportedly refused recently, who can believe them?
Certainly Main St.'s real peoples' needs are not a priority for this group, just bricks and mortar rights.
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| Block bought by group just to board up for now |
As I stood inside
The Last Video Store, I could visibly see water damage leaking down where it had likely made its way from the apartments or units above to his store merchandise. Oh, there was even "talk of 3 months compensation" at one point when all this began I heard - likely as a move to prepare them to leave in a nice orderly fashion - but it never came up again in any more of the developer groups info meetings. What a twisted system we have woven ourselves here!
To recap, we reward groups for destroying businesses and removing people's affordable places to live, by granting them automatic rights to apply for (re)development and zoning should certain ' conditions' be in place - with no penalty or compensation or financial assistance paid to those affected businesses and tenants by either the landlord or town.
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| Newmarket's own need create a Main st Champion of Justice! |
As in the case of Newmarket's
The Last Video Store, there is no fine or punishment for allowing these conditions to come to be either - and since no tenants presumably fought or complained of being turfed, except for the LAST VIDEO STORE, they alas, are fighting them alone.
This is like a
real movie actually - one hand a video rental store, already considered a possible 'dinosaur', yet thriving, providing the service of DVD sales and rentals in a world consumed by more and more online media. A David if you will, already fighting a Goliath, and now adding to his foe another Goliath, a corporate one, one steeped in a win at all costs philosophy and weighted with heavy pockets in which to bombard him with. Nay..this is more like a
Batman or Super Heroes movie when the hero is about to get crushed and there seems no way out!
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| This Main St business & apartment is for sale..will they gut these too? |
Matt stands brave at the 11th hour, told he should be out by today! 15th of the month of October 2014, with no good reason really, and with the landlords having no plan in place for development even. For now Matt is standing pat but for for how long?
He's having a BLOW OUT SALE meantime so go see him!
What will they do next? Will he lose more stock in the future bedlam sure to arise?
Will Gotham be saved!!!? Stay Tuned!!
Same Bat Channel! Pow! Bam!
