Councillor Mary Margaret McMahon says she‘s determined to find as much “wiggle room” as possible when it comes to the city’s lease deal with Tuggs Inc., the company that is trying to sublease out their prime waterfront space to multi-national chain restaurants.

Tuggs won exclusive food rights to Woodbine Beach Park, Ashbridges Bay Park, Beaches Park, and Kew Gardens Park in an unsolicited sole-source contract in 2010. Council approved the idea based on fears that a large chain might swoop in and pepper the parks with branded fast-food restaurants if there was a competitive bid process.

But now Tuggs owner George Foulidis would like the city to approve a sublease agreement that would see him turn control over most of the food rights to Cara, the corporation that owns Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet, a move that has McMahon and many residents seeing red.

However efforts to stop the rights transfer are complicated by the fact that the lease agreement allows for the arrangement and that the city and Tuggs have not had an amicable relationship over the past few years.

“It’s not been the best relationship at all,” says McMahon, who adds that she was “never a fan of the deal” which was inked before she became the councillor for Ward 32. “I don’t think Tuggs Inc. appreciates their venue location or their lease with the city, nor their community.”

She says community groups have had difficulty running events because they have to obtain permission from Tuggs Inc. She also says the business has taken the city to court several times over various issues, making it difficult to discuss the matter in a way that is completely transparent to residents.

One example is a motion McMahon moved on the matter recently at Government Management Committee that had to be discussed behind closed doors for legal reasons.

“Unfortunately it did have to be in-camera because unfortunately this is a highly litigious issue,” McMahon says.

Still, she says she’s pushing to have as much information as possible out in the public realm as the community tries to block the sublease.

“I continue to push city legal staff to allow for as much information as possible to be made public,” McMahon says.

Many residents have expressed their displeasure with the new proposal, as evidenced in a recent online petition that garnered more than 700 signatures and a new website set up to “Free the Beaches” from the deal.

McMahon says it’s also important that people understand that the sublease is allowed under the lease agreement and that the city is not allowed to refuse the request without good reason.

“There is nothing in the existing lease with Tuggs Inc. stating that only an independent business can operate in this area,” she told residents in a recent newsletter. “The suggestion that a ‘Mom and Pop’ restaurant is preferred over a chain restaurant was a rhetorical argument by those who supported the original lease, but it is not a legal requirement.”

She says city staff have determined that currently, Cara is operating a restaurant on behalf of Tuggs Inc. at the Lakeshore Boulevard site rented from the city, an arrangement that is allowed under the lease.

That said, the councillor plans to challenge the lease assignment request in whatever manner the rules allow.

“What we will be debating in council is whether Cara foods is financially sound to assume an assignment,” she says.

The multinational corporation won’t likely have difficulty proving that it can pay the rent, but the move would send a message about the community’s feelings on the arrangement.

McMahon says she’s also speaking with other councillors to discuss other possible options.

Foulidis could not be reached for comment.