South Bruce Peninsula council will not allow a proposed new grocery store in Wiarton to move ahead yet.
Council denied a request from developers to have the holding symbols removed from three properties in Wiarton's south end that are proposed to become a 30,000 sq ft grocery store operated by the Sobeys chain under its Foodland banner.
About 20 people attended a public meeting to voice concern over the project, raising issues like noise and traffic in the area off Hwy. 6 that is largely residential.
Merv Scoble lives across from the proposed grocery store and thinks Sobeys could build a new store on the same lot as its existing store on William St., about a half of a kilometer away from the proposed new build, if they bought the two adjacent parcels of land that are currently for sale.
Scoble says he plans to move if the development gets the green light.
Greg Boyd spoke on behalf of the developers and while frustrated, says they do not plan to give up on the proposal.
He says they will work with staff to schedule another public meeting, even though council defeated a motion that would have asked its staff to schedule an open house.
South Bruce Peninsula council rezoned the properties a year ago following a public meeting, but placed holding symbols on the properties, which effectively prohibits development on those parcels of land until permitted by council.
Deputy Mayor Jay Kirkland says the developers revised the plans based on concerns raised at the time, but did a poor job informing the public of those changes.
"They didn't educate the public on what they've done since the last meeting, which was in March of last year. They've done a lot. And some of the public are still dealing with what they seen back then. They need to be updated and they need to do a better job in the next little while here to educate the public," says Kirkland.
Kirkland says the site plan agreement is expected to come before council in the coming weeks, and council could re-visit the holding symbols at that time.