Five months after claiming a majority of its members supported relocating the main bus terminal, Sault Ste. Marie's Downtown Association is conceding the idea is actually overwhelmingly disliked by Queen Street businesses and property owners.
Salvatore Marchese, the association's new executive director, told his board of directors Wednesday night that a second, more comprehensive poll found weak support for the city's proposed relocation five blocks west to Sault Transit's bus barn/administration complex at Queen and Huron.
"We reached out by e-mail, mail notice, and phone calls to 189 members," Marchese advised Downtown Association directors.
"A total of 44 members participated in the survey garnering a 23.28 per cent response rate."
"Twenty-seven respondents gave an answer of one for low support of relocation," Marchese said in a written report.
"Seven gave an answer of five for high support, and the remaining 10 answers varied on the scale."
The revised data has been passed on to city officials, together with anonymised comments submitted by Downtown Association members.
Last October, the business association claimed an earlier poll found 60 per cent of its members supported moving the terminal to the new location, outside the Downtown Association's coverage area.
But local dentist Michael Nanne questioned the validity of that poll, pointing out that neither he, nor any of the 10 other professionals in his building at 212 Queen St. E., had been asked to participate.
It turned out that only a small fraction of the association's membership voted in the original survey, with only 14 members expressing support for the proposed move.
City councillors agreed on May 21, 2019, to seek a new location for the main downtown bus terminal.
Last July, City Council approved public consultations on the plan to move the terminal to Huron Street.
Recommendations are currently being drafted for City Council, which will have final say on whether the move happens.
The Downtown Association's virtual annual meeting is scheduled for this Friday night.