New grocery store gets the green light
Identity of company which wants to build at Milltown Mini Golf remains unknown
A local developer has won a bid to build a large grocery store on the Milltown Mini Golf property on Lansdowne Street West, but it was still unclear Friday what new food store may be built.
A new decision from the Local Appeal Planning Tribunal (LPAT) ruled the proposed development can go ahead because Peterborough will need a new grocery store in 2020.
It also said there’s no other large property where one could be built.
The developer is Peter Berardi and his firm is Charter Properties.
He’s proposed a large grocery store and other commercial buildings. Berardi could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Kevin Duguay, the planner for Berardi, said on Friday that a major national grocery chain is “very interested in the site,” but he wouldn’t disclose the name.
LPAT member Sharyn Vincent presided over an eight-day hearing in January at City Hall.
The matter was decided by tribunal because the developer’s rezoning application from 2017 was never presented to city council for approval.
The proposed new grocery store would be the seventh in a one-kilometre radius.
There’s already a Great Canadian Superstore, FreshCo, Sobeys, Farm Boy, Walmart and Costco nearby.
The area is already “overserviced” with grocery stores, said Paul DeMelo,
a lawyer for the city, at the end of the hearing in January.
But the tribunal also heard testimony from market experts who said Peterborough will need another large grocery store by 2020. They said it wouldn’t decrease business for food stores already serving the city.
Andrea Skinner, Berardi’s lawyer, said during the hearing that there’s no other proposed site for that new store. Vincent, in her decision, agrees. Meanwhile the Lansdowne Street West property is partially in a floodplain and the city had plans to build flood water storage areas there.
But Vincent writes in her decision that the city can do that and still allow the proposed commercial development.
Milltown Mini Golf — which is located behind Pizza Hut on Lansdowne Street West — has rented the land for 35 years. A new development would cover the course, which stayed open two extra seasons — in 2018 and in 2019 — while Berardi waited for his rezoning. It’s unclear if it will be open next year.
At a pre-hearing conference in 2018, a concept plan was shown with four commercial buildings: three to the west of Chapters and the LCBO, and a fourth much larger building to the southwest, plus 492 parking spots.
Duguay said on Friday that Berardi also owns nearby buildings such as Pizza Hut, Swiss Chalet and East Side Mario’s on Lansdowne Street West.
A few scenarios are possible. Duguay said those restaurants could move into a new commercial plaza, for instance, and the current buildings could be demolished following the move.
Then again, he said the East Side Mario’s and Swiss Chalet could “conceivably” remain in their current buildings — it’s yet to be determined.
Duguay said the next step is to prepare a site plan for council’s approval.
He didn’t specify how long this all might take or when his client would like to begin construction.