Permitting the construction of a new Super A supermarket in the Granger subdivision would kill the convenience store next door, says city councillor Yvonne Harris.

Harris told council members Monday evening she is wholeheartedly opposed to the application for the construction of a grocery store on the site.

There are more suitable locations with access to Hamilton Boulevard that would not provide direct competition to the existing business, Harris told her colleagues.

The lots in question, she emphasized, were originally zoned for residential use.

'We are going to run the existing business into the ground when we do this,' Harris said.

City administration is recommending the application be approved but subject to several conditions. Examples are the placement of a landscaped buffer on the south side of the site between the store and the nearest homes along Wilson Drive.

Developer Sam Jurovich, the owner of the Porter Creek and Riverdale Super A stores, will also be required to have a professional traffic study completed and mitigate any concerns identified in the study.

Harris and Coun. Dave Stockdale were the only council members who expressed outright opposition to the application, though there were other concerns raised.

The two amalgamated lots in question were initially zoned in 1992 as single-family lots but were rezoned in 1993 for multi-residential use.

The lots were rezoned again in 2002 to neighbourhood commercial, when a group of local investors put forward plans for a neighbourhood pub and restaurant.

Stockdale reminded council the rezoning application of two years ago stirred up significant discussion but was finally accepted when the investors downgraded their plans from a local bar to a family-style pub and restaurant.

He said he didn't think the grocery store was appropriate, as it amounted to loading up commercial developments next door to each other in a residential area on lots that were once designated for residential use.

'I think it should definitely go on the other side of Hamilton Boulevard,' Stockdale said.

Coun. Mel Stehelin suggested the alternate commercial property in the Copper Ridge area, which will become available in August with the completion of phase 10, would not be suitable.

The lot is situated in the heart of the residential area. Building a grocery store at that location would have a significant impact on local traffic flow, Stehelin surmised.

Mike Gau, acting manager of the city's planning department, told council that approving the grocery store for the area would give area residents the opportunity to shop in their neighbourhood and greatly reduce the need to drive downtown for groceries.

He said it would promote walking and other forms of active transportation such as cycling to go shopping.

'The proponent has stated the new store would cost approximately $2 million to construct and would create as many as 35 permanent jobs that could enable nearby residents to work in their neighbourhood,' said Gau.

It was also pointed out, however, that local traffic entering the proposed Super A would do so off Wilson Drive, as it would be against policy to permit the customers to enter and exit off Hamilton Boulevard.

Dee Balsam, co-owner of Herbie's Grocery, the nearby convenience store, has registered her objection to the rezoning application. She has suggested in the past that's it been a backdoor process that should not have been allowed to happen.

She explained earlier this year that she and her husband, Herb Balsam, supported the initial rezoning from multi-residential to neighbour commercial because they were in favour of a neighbourhood pub and restaurant.

It would create more business traffic for their store, she said.

Had the couple known that rezoning would eventually lead to their greatest competition right next door, obviously they never would have supported it, she said.

Balsam, a former city clerk and 2003 mayoral candidate, suggested the system is flawed. Once it was rezoned to commercial, she said, there was no requirement that it be used for the purpose initially stated a neighbourhood pub.

The city, Balsam has said, needs to build in those types of checks and balances to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Stockdale also asked city staff to provide him with the addresses of the 15 area residents who submitted letters to city hall on the matter four opposed and 11 in favour.

The councillor said it's always been his belief that on issues like this, where residents are asked to comment, more weight should be given to homeowners who are closer to the proposed development, as they will be impacted the most.