Bruce County council is backing a plan to allow a Paisley business to move into a bigger store.
Council approved an official plan amendment to allow Allen's Home Hardware to move into the former Hagedorn property on Bruce Rd. 3, about 1 km south of Paisley.
Planning staff had recommended refusal of the application, primarily citing the desire for commercial businesses to stay in downtown areas and because the Home Hardware business already owns an appropriately zoned vacant parcel of land in downtown Paisley.
Owner Quinn Allen says they've outgrown their two stores in the downtown area, pointing out they had been committed to a new build in Paisley until increasing costs caused those plans to go by the wayside.
"We're seeing a big sales increase in the building sector right now, a lot of development, the new houses market is up, the agriculture market is on strong right now and renovation, with all the real estate sales is very hot," says Allen. "We're able to capture some sales and hopefully, continue in the future and gain more and more."
Allen says now that they have the official plan amendment in place, they will work to close the sale on the nearly five-acre Hagedorn property, which has been largely dormant since 2014.
He says they will spend about six months converting the 30,000 sq ft building into their new retail store, adding they have not yet decided how to use a smaller building on the property, suggesting it will likely be used for storage in the meantime.
Allen says they hope to open in their new location by July of next year.