posting
01-12-2009, 09:17 AM
Are there community economic development possibilities for the No Frills site?
-- Kingston Electors
Group seeks shopping option
RESIDENTS NOT THRILLED
"Various ideas to replace store put forth at 'emotional' meeting"
by Jennifer Pritchett, Staff Writer
Kingston Whig-Standard, 2009-01-12
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1383192
As the downtown No Frills store is about to close for good this week, residents who have depended on it for decades have kicked into high gear to find a new neighbourhood source to buy their groceries.
About 60 residents and some city councillors turned out for a meeting on Saturday that was organized by the New Frills Downtown Renewable Project, a community group that formed just before Christmas when parent company Loblaw announced it was shutting down the Bagot Street store.
The closure leaves north-end residents, many of whom are seniors and low-income earners who don't own a car, without a grocery store within walking distance.
At Saturday's meeting, emotions ran high as citizens put forward various ideas, including plans to urge City Hall to buy the property to turn it into a multi-use complex with various amenities such as low-income housing, a community friendship centre with a cafe, a daycare, a job centre, offices for public agencies and a co-operative grocery store run by local people.
Other residents at the meeting chaffed at the idea of the city buying the property and felt the group should focus on lobbying city politicians to get another grocery store in another location in the north end.
"This is a grocery store that has been standing in that neighbourhood for five generations," said Cynthia Bell, co-organizer of the event. "It's understandable that it's an emotional issue."
In mid-November, citizens learned that the budget grocery store would be closing.
Loblaw decided to close the aging downtown Grant's No Frills as it's about to open a new 37,000-square-foot superstore on Division Street just south of Highway 401.
Many residents say the new grocery store is too far out of the way and requires them to take a taxi or a couple of buses to shop there.
No officials from Loblaw were available for comment on the matter over the weekend.
Members of the New Frills Downtown Renewable Project are trying to come up with other options.
They're continuing to collect names on a petition and are gathering at the No Frills on Tuesday at 6 p. m. to canvass the neighbourhood to gather more signatures to create awareness about the efforts of the group.
They plan to present the petition to city council at a later date.
However, the group says its focus isn't to try and convince Loblaw to keep the store open. They know it's too late for that.
Instead, they've shifted gears and are looking ahead to the future to develop a strategy that will enable them as a neighbourhood to continue to meet their food needs.
They view the closure of the grocery store as an erosion of services in their community and fear other infrastructure such as schools will follow.
Saturday's meeting was the group's third and they're planning to gather again in two weeks.
Resident Alec Ross pointed to the current review of schools that local boards are undergoing and suggested that citizens could also face school closure in the coming years.
"It's a potential double-assault on our downtown," he said.
He appealed to citizens to attend upcoming public meetings on the school review as a way of preserving those services.
"We can't let the downtown die," he said.
While there were many ideas posed during Saturday's 90-minute meeting at Artillery Park, members of the project focused on three priorities.
Those priorities include advocating for a way to maintain access to affordable groceries in the downtown neighbourhood, pushing council to investigate purchasing the land, as well as to urge city politicians to offer shuttle service in the short term to transport citizens from the north end to the closest grocery store, which is Food Basics on Barrack street.
City councillor Rob Hutchinson agreed that the issue is bigger than just the closure of the No Frills. It's about preserving downtown neighbourhoods and the services on which they rely.
"It's an economic issue and an environmental issue," he said, pointing to the city's emphasis on providing services that are closer to neighbourhoods so people can walk or ride a bicycle to access them.
Hutchinson told citizens that he would look into the issue of providing shuttle service for residents who require transportation to Food Basics in the short term.
He also said the city is keeping a close watch over the property to find out if it's put up for sale.
Hutchinson also said he plans to investigate whether any sale will include a non-competition clause that would prevent the buyer from opening another grocery store at the site. If such a sale were to happen with a restrictive covenant, he said council may be able to intervene.
Councillor Bill Glover told the meeting that there is little hope of getting Loblaw Inc. to reverse their decision, but that citizens have an important role to play when it comes to how City Hall approves future uses of the property.
"The [owners of Loblaw] don't have a great track record when it comes to listening to communities," he said. "It's very important that you tell us what you want there."
He cited the way the large company moved ahead with its plans to tear down the Kingston Centre in the face of community opposition four years ago.
-- Kingston Electors
Group seeks shopping option
RESIDENTS NOT THRILLED
"Various ideas to replace store put forth at 'emotional' meeting"
by Jennifer Pritchett, Staff Writer
Kingston Whig-Standard, 2009-01-12
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1383192
As the downtown No Frills store is about to close for good this week, residents who have depended on it for decades have kicked into high gear to find a new neighbourhood source to buy their groceries.
About 60 residents and some city councillors turned out for a meeting on Saturday that was organized by the New Frills Downtown Renewable Project, a community group that formed just before Christmas when parent company Loblaw announced it was shutting down the Bagot Street store.
The closure leaves north-end residents, many of whom are seniors and low-income earners who don't own a car, without a grocery store within walking distance.
At Saturday's meeting, emotions ran high as citizens put forward various ideas, including plans to urge City Hall to buy the property to turn it into a multi-use complex with various amenities such as low-income housing, a community friendship centre with a cafe, a daycare, a job centre, offices for public agencies and a co-operative grocery store run by local people.
Other residents at the meeting chaffed at the idea of the city buying the property and felt the group should focus on lobbying city politicians to get another grocery store in another location in the north end.
"This is a grocery store that has been standing in that neighbourhood for five generations," said Cynthia Bell, co-organizer of the event. "It's understandable that it's an emotional issue."
In mid-November, citizens learned that the budget grocery store would be closing.
Loblaw decided to close the aging downtown Grant's No Frills as it's about to open a new 37,000-square-foot superstore on Division Street just south of Highway 401.
Many residents say the new grocery store is too far out of the way and requires them to take a taxi or a couple of buses to shop there.
No officials from Loblaw were available for comment on the matter over the weekend.
Members of the New Frills Downtown Renewable Project are trying to come up with other options.
They're continuing to collect names on a petition and are gathering at the No Frills on Tuesday at 6 p. m. to canvass the neighbourhood to gather more signatures to create awareness about the efforts of the group.
They plan to present the petition to city council at a later date.
However, the group says its focus isn't to try and convince Loblaw to keep the store open. They know it's too late for that.
Instead, they've shifted gears and are looking ahead to the future to develop a strategy that will enable them as a neighbourhood to continue to meet their food needs.
They view the closure of the grocery store as an erosion of services in their community and fear other infrastructure such as schools will follow.
Saturday's meeting was the group's third and they're planning to gather again in two weeks.
Resident Alec Ross pointed to the current review of schools that local boards are undergoing and suggested that citizens could also face school closure in the coming years.
"It's a potential double-assault on our downtown," he said.
He appealed to citizens to attend upcoming public meetings on the school review as a way of preserving those services.
"We can't let the downtown die," he said.
While there were many ideas posed during Saturday's 90-minute meeting at Artillery Park, members of the project focused on three priorities.
Those priorities include advocating for a way to maintain access to affordable groceries in the downtown neighbourhood, pushing council to investigate purchasing the land, as well as to urge city politicians to offer shuttle service in the short term to transport citizens from the north end to the closest grocery store, which is Food Basics on Barrack street.
City councillor Rob Hutchinson agreed that the issue is bigger than just the closure of the No Frills. It's about preserving downtown neighbourhoods and the services on which they rely.
"It's an economic issue and an environmental issue," he said, pointing to the city's emphasis on providing services that are closer to neighbourhoods so people can walk or ride a bicycle to access them.
Hutchinson told citizens that he would look into the issue of providing shuttle service for residents who require transportation to Food Basics in the short term.
He also said the city is keeping a close watch over the property to find out if it's put up for sale.
Hutchinson also said he plans to investigate whether any sale will include a non-competition clause that would prevent the buyer from opening another grocery store at the site. If such a sale were to happen with a restrictive covenant, he said council may be able to intervene.
Councillor Bill Glover told the meeting that there is little hope of getting Loblaw Inc. to reverse their decision, but that citizens have an important role to play when it comes to how City Hall approves future uses of the property.
"The [owners of Loblaw] don't have a great track record when it comes to listening to communities," he said. "It's very important that you tell us what you want there."
He cited the way the large company moved ahead with its plans to tear down the Kingston Centre in the face of community opposition four years ago.