Once again, the grocery store landscape in Guelph is experiencing change.
The approved Commercial Policy Review (CPR), undertaken by the City of Guelph two years ago, recognized the need for an additional 350,000 square feet of additional grocery and food store space for the next 14 years.
Price Chopper on Speedvale Avenue in Ward 2 has completed their expansion and renovation.
A 35,000 sq/ft Food Basics is scheduled for Clair and Gordon Roads.
The Wal-Mart at the intersection ofWoodlawn Road and Woolwich Street is planning on expanding into the grocery market. Plans have been submitted to City Hall for a 65,000 sq/ft addition for staff’s review and response.
Zehrs, the market leader in Guelph, is continuing it’s domination with proposals for two new big box stores. A 100,00 sq/ft grocery store is planned for the intersection of Starwood Drive and Watson Parkway in the city’s east end. In addition, a 66,000 sq/ft Zehrs store is planned for the West Hills commercial centre off of Imperial Road.
There has also been persistent rumours that if the east end Zehrs is built, the Eramosa Road Zehrs will close. This appears to be a continuation of Zehrs abandonment of inner city small stores in favour of large scale suburban locations.
One of the many considerations that staff and Council will review is site and building design. A constituent recently submitted this letter for Council’s response:
This letter is regarding the article in the Guelph Tribune dated March 9, 2007 and titled “What’s in store”. From this article I have learned that five new buildings will be going up beside Zehrs in the West Hills commercial centre off Imperial Road. The article states that there will be two larger plaza buildings with individual leasable units, and the remaining three buildings will end up as banks, offices, restaurants etc. Furthermore, this article indicates that a site plan application for a large grocery store and three other commercial buildings near Clair Road and Gordon Street has been submitted.
The land space that these buildings will occupy counts towards more impervious surfaces within the watershed. Impervious surfaces magnify the already large volumes of runoff during storm events, thus increasing stream pollution and turbidity, leading to flash flooding, and impacting the stability of streams by causing erosion. Preventing rainfall from infiltrating back into the aquifer results in a loss of base flow for streams, and a drop in water throughout wetlands fed by springs. It’s a complete disruption of the hydrologic cycle.
This is an excellent time to illustrate to the City of Guelph residents and surrounding municipalities that Guelph is serious about the environment. One of the most important ways to expand a city using environmentally friendly methods includes reducing impervious surfaces by designing buildings, plazas, and parking lots that are stacked on top of one another rather than side by side.
Why not build your large Loblaws store in the south end with the two other buildings stacked on top of it? In addition, this building should be structured so that the roof could hold grass, gardens and flower beds. Roof top gardens not only cut down on impervious surfaces but they also cut down the building’s heating and cooling costs. The parking lots for these superstores could also be stacked with the top layer consisting of another green roof. Another option would be to build the parking lot using porous materials. Countless cities throughout Canada and the United States have already begun this trend. The Town of West Hartford, Connecticut built a shopping mall’s overflow parking entirely of grass, underlain with sub-bases designed for infiltration and plastic grid systems (Jim Gibbons 1999, Nonpoint Education For Municipal Officials). Vancouver, B.C has started using porous materials for their alleys and back lanes (Puget Sound Action Team 2000, Natural Approaches to Stormwater Management). There are numerous different methods of reducing impervious surfaces during the expansion of cities.
Please take this opportunity to prove that this new Mayor and City Council are not only thinking of environmentally friendly building but implementing environmentally friendly building.
Prove that Guelph is still a leader when it comes to the environment. Expanding cities is inevitable, so lets build them right this time. JAL