Backers of the proposed 100,000-square-foot Sidney Gateway shopping centre expect to learn this month whether the $35-million project will get past square one.
A request to remove nearly 10 acres of agricultural land on Victoria International Airport property was submitted to the Agricultural Land Commission several weeks ago, with the decision expected soon, although no date has been provided, said James Bogusz, airport authority director of airside operations.
The proposed centre’s 10 buildings would take up 7.5 acres in the vicinity of the Pat Bay Highway, with the rest expected to be greenspace and re-routed roadways.
“We understand that they will review this in October,” said Bogusz.
The airport’s total land base is 1,098 acres. It is owned by the federal government and leased to the airport.
Assuming the commission approves removal of the land, Vancouver-based Omicron development services will undertake more public-information sessions and, when those are completed, apply to the Town of Sidney to amend its Official Community Plan and bylaws to allow the centre to go forward.
“There are no fixed time frames for the above, other than those steps will begin after the ALR process is completed,” Bogusz said.
The project’s value would be about $35 million, said Peter Laughlin, Omicron’s director for Vancouver Island. Construction costs alone would run to about $20 million, he said.
Sidney Mayor Steve Price said this week that the town has not seen any kind of proposal, so it’s hard to say whether the developer’s vision is compatible with the town and the Beacon Avenue business district across the highway. “It’s impossible to comment because we don’t know what it is.”
That said, there are “a lot of interesting things that aren’t in Sidney,” said Price, but he has no idea whether they are included in the proposal.
Laughlin said the centre is meant to augment the businesses on Sidney’s Beacon Avenue, not replace them. The majority of operations being envisioned are not currently operating in Sidney, he said, but a confidentiality agreement prohibits him from revealing particulars.
Price said he has heard that big-box stores are not in the proposal. But all kinds of rumours are circulating around town, so “it would be nice” for both residents and council to see the proposal and know the facts, he said.
The shopping centre is slated to be anchored by a grocery store proposed for the southwest corner of Beacon Avenue next to the highway. Much of the space is intended for retail, but also include financial, medical and food-based tenants. Improved traffic access and reconfigured roadways would complement Sidney’s downtown and attract more Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Island shoppers and tourists to the area, Lauglin said.
“It’s going to be a very pedestrian-friendly-style development,” Bogusz said. He said it would feature a plaza where people can view planes arriving and departing, a lot of trees, shaded benches and a large pond.
Sidney’s main street business outlook is improving and the Sidney Business Improvement Area Society is “doing an excellent job marketing the town” all over Canada, the States and even further afield, Price said.
Society president Susan Simosko said that only a handful of 250-plus members have contacted her about the development, with a couple saying they think it’s going to be “the best thing” for Sidney. Others are fearful that the businesses will not complement the town. “One of my concerns is: What is the flow of traffic going to be?” Simosko said. “We certainly want traffic to go back to Sidney.”
Other residents are going public with concerns that the development will “split the town in two,” Simosko said.
She said there are fears that “pedestrian-friendly Sidney will no longer be pedestrian friendly.” She is also curious to learn what options there will be for people on foot to get across the Pat Bay Highway.
Omicron signed an agreement with the airport to be the exclusive developer of the property, pending required approvals for a 62-year lease. If all goes according to plan, construction would start in the summer of 2016 and finish about 14 months later, Laughlin said.
