It鈥檚 rare that a community鈥檚 future could hang on a single decision by a municipal council. But that鈥檚 the challenge for Sidney鈥檚 council, as it considers rezoning to allow a new shopping centre on the west side of the Pat Bay Highway at Beacon Avenue, the town鈥檚 main street.
The consequences of getting it wrong are on grim display in hundreds of 91原创 communities, where commercial development outside the town centre has gutted downtowns and created unmanageable traffic jams.
That is not, by any means, the inevitable outcome if council approves the $35-million Sidney Gateway shopping centre. Omicron, the developer proposing the project on Victoria Airport Authority land, argues the project will help the community retain shoppers who now travel to Saanich, Victoria or the West Shore.
But many merchants and landlords fear the downtown will be devastated 鈥� 鈥渁 bloody disaster,鈥� says Clive Tanner, a longtime downtown business owner and landlord.
Gateway, at 100,000 square feet spread among a cluster of buildings on a 10-acre site, would be less than one-quarter the size of Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria.
But Omicron plans a major grocery store and full-service pharmacy, such as London Drugs. Those 鈥� and the stores and services and restaurants that occupy the remaining spaces 鈥� could do irreparable harm to downtown businesses such as the three existing grocery stores.
Council has been proceeding slowly, and asked Omicron to pay for a second economic-impact report. Inexplicably, council allowed the developer to choose the company that would do the report. Urbanics Consultants of 91原创 is a respected firm, but it is baffling that council would not exercise its right to select the consultant and set the terms of reference.
The decision will not be easy. Opponents of the Gateway Centre have pointed to the number of empty storefronts downtown and said that would worsen if the centre were built. But the Sidney Business Improvement Association was established in 2013 to attract more tourists and shoppers. If the problem remains three years later, that raises questions about the downtown鈥檚 future with or without the new development.
And the failings of Sidney鈥檚 official community plan add to the difficulty. These plans are supposed to set out the vision for the community. Sidney鈥檚 OCP, now nine years old, goes into great detail about how buildings in the commercial area should look, but says little about what they should be used for or how the area will relate to the rest of the community.
Councillors are under no obligation to rezone just because a developer would like the change.
Their role is to look at the costs and benefits and the best interests of all citizens.
A new shopping centre would bring increased property-tax revenues and some jobs. It might encourage people to shop in the community, with at least some spinoff benefit for the core.
But it might also hurt Sidney鈥檚 downtown, which has great potential with its waterfront access. It could undermine Sidney鈥檚 goal of being a community where residents can walk and cycle, rather than drive.
Omicron plans to bring forward a rezoning proposal and the new economic impact study next month.
That鈥檚 when council鈥檚 real work starts. Once they have a specific proposal, councillors can begin serious consideration of the project and its effects.
They should be in no rush. This is a critical decision, and councillors should be more interested in getting it right than getting it done quickly.
