The issues in the big box debate as we see them
- there is a lot here but please give us a few minutes... (Note -this was originally written some years when two power centres were proposed - the other on Stone Road. That is going ahead. The proposed Wal-mart development in the north end is still in the courts.)

Why are so many people opposed to the proposed development at Woolwich and Woodlawn?
Wouldn't more stores be good for Guelph? Perhaps, but at what price?
If those stores are allowed to come in at the wrong time and in the wrong place, the city's retail structure could be altered forever.
So what? This could leave a lot of people with no access to neighbourhood shopping and fewer shopping choices.
It would mean a loss of jobs and tax assessment. Don't forget, big box stores sell more goods with fewer staff. If they take all the business, the number of jobs lost will be greater than those gained.
Smaller stores pay relatively higher taxes, too.
Supporting local stores means the money stays in the community and is circulated several times. Spending money at a big box or other chain store and it may not even make it to a local bank. Wal-Mart sends all its takings directly to Arkansas.
As local independent stores are replaced by chain stores the decisions about stores openings and closings will be made by someone with no stake in the community and all our local entrepreneurs will be replaced by store clerks.

Here in more detail are some of the issues that we see as important. You may or may not share these views.
Wal-Mart: Wouldn't competition be good for Guelph? Fair competition is a good thing. It keeps prices down. Unfair competition is not a good thing.
Consider this: a developer comes to Guelph, buys a large piece of industrial land (very cheaply), and then seeks a zoning change to allow for a Wal-Mart. It gets it. The developer charges Wal-Mart a minimal rent. (This is normal. Just as department stores in malls pay low rent and are, in effect, subsidized by the rents paid by the smaller tenants, Wal-Marts pay little rent. The other stores pay high rent.)
As a result of paying minimal rent, and having a tremendous buying and advertising power because of its size, Wal-Mart claims to have lower prices than the locally-owned independent stores in the nearby plaza, or in the downtown. Eventually, many of the smaller stores go out of business. The plazas and the downtown have many vacancies and new businesses choose to locate "where the action is" - near the Wal-Mart or in or near the regional mall (where a huge Bay, Zellers and Canadian Tire have recently opened) even though the rents are much higher. The spiral continues downward and the plazas eventually die. The downtown struggles. Some of the people who used to own the small stores get jobs as "managers" in the large stores, at least some of the younger ones do.
Zellers has indicated it will probably close at least one of its smaller stores (Willow West Mall and Eramosa Road) if Wal-Mart goes in. There is only so much business out there.
Two of the Zellers stores act as main anchors for existing community shopping areas. If a major anchor goes, the viability of the centre is questioned. Zehrs, for example, would be more inclined to close one of its stores and build a superstore elsewhere. Meanwhile, the people who rely on those centres for their shopping needs have been abandoned, and have to travel across town to buy everyday items. Is that fair?
But what about competition for Zellers?
Zellers is a big company and can indeed take the competition. It has been fighting Wal-Mart toe-to-toe since they arrived in Canada. So far, Zellers is holding its own. Will a new Wal-Mart store in Guelph bring Zellers' prices down? No. Prices are set by head office, not by the local manager.
Wouldn't it be a good thing to have more choice? Absolutely. The question is whether there will actually be more choice in the long run if the smaller stores close. As stores get bigger, they get fewer. Look at what has happened to grocery stores in Guelph.
But the north end needs more shopping.
There has been a lot of talk about how little shopping there is in the north end. Actually, compared to many other areas, there is quite a lot.
There is a brand new Canadian Tire superstore, a Staples, a drug store, a beer store, several restaurants, a Co-op store and, until recently, a True Value (now closiong as the new big box Home Depot is built at Woodlawn and Nicklyn. As for other amenities, the Speedvale/Woodlawn block also features a huge park, a seniors' centre and a cemetery.
There is no grocery store in the central north end. There used to be a Zehrs near the Canadian Tire (now occupied by Staples). There used to be a Zehrs at Woodlawn and Victoria, too. Both were closed several years ago, and many of the homes off Woodlawn have been built since then.
For grocery shopping, those living near Woodlawn and Woolwich have to drive to the Speedvale/Stevenson Mall, about 2-3 kilometres, or the Willow West Mall, which is a little further.
If a 85,000-square-foot grocery store is built at Woodlawn and Woolwich it can only survive by taking business from other grocery stores. Market consultants have suggested this development could place the Price Chopper (Speedvale/Stevenson) and Bernie's Food Basics (Bullfrog Mall) at risk. If those stores close, the malls will lose their anchors. Once people stop going to a mall to buy their groceries, the other stores start to suffer. How long would either mall last? Do we want to lose these malls? A lot more people live near these malls than live at Woodlawn and Woolwich.
Consider the residents of the west end of Guelph. The area has close to 25,000 people. It finally has a supermarket now and a half-empty shopping centre which cries out for a Wal-Mart. It does have Home Hardware (formerly Beaver Lumber) and a number of donut shops.
Consider the residents of the east end of Guelph. Quietly, over the past few years, a very large community of new homes has grown up in the Eastview area, east of Victoria Road. More development is on the books, stretching up to Watson Road. The nearest grocery store is on Eramosa Road, 2-5 kilometres away. There used to be a Zehrs in the Victoria/Grange plaza. It closed several years ago. There used to be a Select Meats supermarket near Victoria and York. It closed a few years ago. It is now Len's Mill Store.There used to be a Consumers Distributing in the same plaza. It closed a couple of years ago. As for amenities, these residents do have a nice recreation centre. They also have the landfill.
Consider the far south end of Guelph. It is easy to group all the people south of Stone Road as "the south end", but this is a very large area. We often hear comments like "the south end gets everything". The south end does have Stone Road, but most people have to drive a few kilometres to get there, just as residents in the west and east ends do.
As for amenities, they do have the Y . Stone Road is already a huge retail power house, expecially since the bog box Canadian Tire and Zellers were built. There is currently no development of the zoned community shopping centre at Clair and Gordon. This means the 20,000 new residents who have or will be moving into the Clairfields area in the next several years or so will all be driving up Gordon and Edinburgh to buy their groceries and all the way to Stone Road to buy other goods. That's a lot of extra traffic on already busy streets.
Consider the downtown. Yes, the downtown is just another neighbourhood for some people. It has no supermarket, no department store, no hardware tore, and no beer store. It does have city hall, and a lot of banks.

The message here is that no area of Guelph has it all, and some areas have very little. It is the city's job to make sure its planning keeps a balance. This is what the Official Plan is designed to do. The Official Plan is a very large document which looks at the city as a whole and indicates which amenities and services should go where. The plan looks at the population now and the projected growth areas. An underlying principle of Guelph's official plan is that people should be within easy reach of as many amenities as possible, and that includes shopping. This is why several areas have been designated as "community shopping centres".
If people have to travel several kilometres to reach these basic amenities it is unfair to those who do not have their own transportation, and environmentally, it is damaging. It means more traffic, more pollution, more noise, more wear and tear on and demand for roads. And on top of this, it's expensive.
Even though we still live in a "car culture'", we are learning more and more about the damage we have already caused the environment (and our health!) and the importance of planning carefully for the future. Not everyone wants to acknowledge this point. The freedom of the road is a very special privilege (for those with vehicles) and they protect that privilege jealously. When there is a choice between a new highway and a wetland the highway usually wins.
Official plans take a long time to put together as many studies have to be done. Each one represents months, even year, of planning and consultation. These plans are updated about every five years. Guelph's Official Plan is being updated - most of it is one. The commercial policy part is now being put together.
The development proposed for Woodlawn and Woolwich is, we beleive - even if the OMB doesn't agree) completely contrary to what is suggested by the Official Plan. The city's own planning staff, recognize that and this is why they recommended both be turned down. The city's planning consultant has stated quite clearly that the west end shopping centres will be delayed if the proposal go ahead as there is only so much retail business in one community. He also recognizes there will be substantial store closings.

But people want these stores. There was a survey.
If someone asks you if you would like more shopping opportunities in Guelph, how many people are going to say No?
If someone asks you if you'd like a Wal-Mart but it could mean the closing of many small stores and even a couple of malls or plazas, what would be the answer then? If someone asks you if you think a mega Zellers and a huge Canadian Tire on Stone Road is a good idea, but doesn't remind you what this means to the amount of traffic, then what?
A word about process and citizen responsibility.
There were about seven public meetings of one kind or another the first time these proposals came to council. They were all very well attended - standing room only. This is very unusual.. No one can seriously dispute that the vast majority of speakers and letters were opposed. The files are available for inspection. When the public meetings were held for the latest proposals, in the fall of 1998 and in January 1999, and in December 2001 and last year in May 2004, the vast majority of those writing and speaking were opposed.
People may claim that there is a silent majority in favour, but where were they? How else can we measure what "the people" really want, if not by their letters and their appearances at public meetings? But this really isn't an issue about who has the most players on whose team.
It is an issue about what price we will have to pay if we ignore our Official Pan and our staff and consultants' advice.
It is not about being anti-growth. It is about growth in the right place. Let the Wal-Mart go elsewhere in Guelph.. Given the right location, we have the population to sustain the store without jeopardizing other stores.
This is about whether we are going to destroy our current shopping structure by allowing these developments.
We feel we may. And this is why we are fighting this.

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