Waterloo Costco

[Drake]

http://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/news...o-the-omb/

Wednesday, July, 02, 2014 - 10:10:05 AM
Costco developer taking it to the OMB
James Jackson
Waterloo Chronicle

A developer is taking the city to the Ontario Municipal Board over its decision to delay a proposed Costco warehouse store on the city’s west end.
Rice Commercial Group has appealed the city’s decision to approve the development earlier this year with a holding provision that freezes any construction until a full traffic analysis can be completed.
In an email to the Chronicle, John McGovern, vice president of development with Rice Commercial Group, said he would not comment on the appeal, “out of respect for the delicate nature of the issues involved.”
Leading up to the approval of the Costco site in April, the developer had said it wanted to open by late 2014, but the host of traffic study provisions included in the approval could delay the project for more than a year.
“The (holding provision) was put there to allow time for a good analysis of the traffic impacts on the west side,” said Chief Administrative Officer Tim Anderson.
Coun. Karen Scian said the appeal was expected and work will continue on the traffic analysis while the case is being prepared.
“This does not stop the process, this underlines the urgency we need to operate under,” she said. The study’s terms of reference, the public input component and identifying traffic mitigation elements still must be addressed.
“We will continue to work towards that,” Scian said. Some preliminary work on the terms of reference has already begun and is expected to come to council in the fall.
The Waterloo West Commercial Centre includes a Costco and a four-island gas bar with a combined 160,000 square feet. Another 65,000 square feet of other retail and commercial uses are also proposed for the site across from the regional landfill on Erb Street West.
A transportation impact study for the project identified “significant travel delays” in the area at peak times on opening day. That study only considered a 30 per cent build-out of the nearby employment lands that will begin to be developed once the lease with the Waterloo Golf Academy expires in 2017.
Anderson expects it will take at least 6 months for the hearing to get underway at the OMB and he hopes any progress the city makes in the meantime will help defend council’s decision to conduct a thorough analysis before granting final approval to the developer.
Area resident and local environmentalist Kevin Thomason has been vocal in his opposition to the approved Costco location and is worried the appeal suggests the developer is, “trying to bully and push themselves into Waterloo, regardless of the many concerning consequences to our community.”
Several infrastructure improvements have been proposed to help relieve that congestion, but would not have been in place in time for a 2014 opening. They include roundabouts at Gate 1 and Gate 2 of the landfill, the widening of Erb Street West to four lanes in front of the site, and the construction of a new collector road from Erb Street West north to Columbia Street in the Vista Hills community.
Ira Needles Boulevard will also be widened to four lanes in two phases between now and 2016, according to the region.