Mountain Plaza

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No approval yet for Mountain Plaza redevelopment
Public open house set for Thursday March 6

By Mark Newman, Mountain News

Residents living near Mountain Plaza Mall can get a first-hand look at the proposed $50 million redevelopment of the site at Upper James and Fennell at a public open house March 6.

Organized by mall-owner SmartCentres, the open house will be held in unit 84 on the south side of the mall near the Beer Store from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Drawings of the proposed redevelopment will be on display and company officials will be on hand to answer questions.

Meanwhile, the redevelopment plan still has a few hurdles to clear with city officials.

A new location for the loading area behind Wal-Mart and a tree management plan are among the issues city officials want resolved before they get into the fine points of the redevelopment plan.

The proposal by SmartCentres, owner of the mall, was discussed at the development review committee earlier this month but not approved.

"There were a number of issues identified," said Ray Lee, the city's acting manager of development planning. "We have concerns with noise impact."

Mr. Lee said the committee, comprised of staff and officials from a number of city departments, wants to see the loading area at the rear of what is to be a new Wal-Mart moved elsewhere so the truck noise, particularly from refrigeration trucks, will not disturb residents on the south side of the site, including Allenby and Howard avenues.

"The last thing we want to see is an 18 foot high noise wall along the back of the building," Mr. Lee said.

SmartCentres will also be asked to provide a tree management plan that will detail how many and what species of existing tress will be saved and removed and how many new trees will be added as part of landscaping plans.

Mr. Lee said the committee wants to see pedestrian linkages or a system of walkways around the site that will link each of the buildings, the parking lot and nearby bus stops.

"Parking's still an issue," said Mr. Lee, adding he won't be able to say for certain if the matter has been adequately addressed until he sees the final plan for the site. Current plans call for 1,066 parking spaces, including 505 spaces for Wal-Mart.

In addition, the city wants to see a phasing plan that will outline the order of construction.

Christine Cote, the Mountain Plaza Mall project manager for SmartCentres, isn't surprised at what came out of the Feb. 6 committee meeting.

"We knew going into the meeting there would be some issues to work out with the city," Ms. Cote said. "It's nothing we can't work through."

Ms. Cote expects the requested information will be supplied to the city by the end of the month. Mr. Lee said it will likely take another two or three weeks for staff to review the material before the matter is brought back to the development review committee.

"It's a high priority," said Mr. Lee, who added the project, if approved, will "trigger some positive economic impacts" to the area.

SmartCentres is looking to knock down all but one of the buildings on the 7.6 hectare (18.8 acre) site at Upper James and Fennell and erect six new retail buildings, including a 130,103 square-foot Wal-Mart. Construction work could begin later this year starting with road improvements along Fennell and Upper James in the spring or summer. Work on some of new buildings slated to go up along Upper James could begin in the late summer or fall.

Ms. Cote said they don't know yet exactly how many current tenants will be staying, noting some have indicated they plan to close or move elsewhere.

"We would like to retain as many tenants in the mall as possible," Ms. Cote said.

Since proper zoning is already in place, the mall redevelopment does not require approval from city council, nor is a public meeting required.