A Better Vision for 6&7

The application to expand the Woodlawn/Woolwich (6&7) commercial node failed last evening on a 9-4 vote.  The 6&7 application was a zoning by-law amendment to expand the uses and square footage of the site.  6&7 has proposed a 62,000 sqft expansion of the existing Wal-mart store, with 135,000 sqft of additional retail on the rest of the site.  Currently, most of the site is already zoned for retail (CC-18 zoning).

A number of unanswered questions arose during the presentations - which I think contributed to the outcome of the vote.  Issues included:

• do the proposed buildings have two “real” stories, or just false height?
• is the 25% energy reduction (over 2006 building standards) enough to support the Community Energy Plan?
• will there be a linkage between the Home Depot site?
• will there be any mixed use in the short-term?
• will there be an impact on the 5 other grocery stores within a 5 minute drive from the 6&7 corner?

Is there a better way to develop the site?  I believe there is.

The site plan proposed in this application has some merits - greenspace, pedestrian links between buildings, transit transfer area, etc.  But it has shortcomings too - stand-alone drive throughs, no link to Home Depot lands, no mixed use, etc.  So what do we do now?

I sincerely hope that the 6&7 developers come back with another proposal, taking to heart the concerns voiced by the community.   Southern Ontario has many excellent examples of good commercial development - take the best practices and apply them here.

We can avoid an OMB hearing if 6&7 is truly committed to providing Guelph with a model of excellence.