Council set to vote on proposed Sobeys liquor store in Cathedral neighbourhood

Regina city council is to decide whether to approve a contentious Sobeys liquor store in the Cathedral neighbourhood at its Wednesday meeting.

The building would be built on a lot at the northeast corner of 13th Avenue and Retallack Street, which has sat mostly empty for a while. A small office would be demolished to make way for the development.

Neighbourhood resident Joanne Havelock has a number of concerns, including the traffic impact.

“It would attract more traffic with more people going to the liquor store. It’s already pretty busy in that area,” Havelock said.

“Already I can’t park on my street in the afternoon because people park in front of my house and then walk downtown.”

In its report to council, city administration said there is enough space for the store. As well, it said 13th Avenue is a “pedestrian oriented commercial corridor” and most buildings don’t have large spaces for parking.

During public consultation, 124 residents said they were completely opposed to the project; 28 would accept it if features were different; and 70 were in support. Three others were grouped in the “other category.”

Some residents opposed a big-chain store moving in.

Other issues that came up included the building’s size and design, which Havelock said lacks creativity and does not match the rest of the neighbourhood. She wanted to see the community involved in the “original conception of what that property could be.”

“For example, the Safeway building is just a cookie-cutter of all the Safeway buildings all over Canada. And the Sobeys liquor store is just a cookie cutter of all the liquor stores across Canada,” she said.

“There could have been other opportunities such as roof gardens or solar panels on the top or a combination of residential and commercial. However, those options aren’t really available because the design is presented to the public so far down the line that it’s too late to include those innovative ideas.”

A letter to the city from Sobeys reads that the store will have a footprint of 514.2 square metres and would bring life to the streets.

“The building is intended to seamlessly integrate with and complement the pedestrian-oriented nature of 13th Avenue on what is mostly a vacant site today,” the letter states.

Public safety was another concern that was brought up, with worries that alcohol sales would result in higher crime and loitering.

Residents also said a liquor store should be further away from schools, daycares, community centres and Street Culture Project, which is located at the north end of the block at Victoria Avenue.

Earlier this month, administration was directed to conduct a social impact analysis into whether alcohol sales would increase social harm and alcohol usage.

Its report says there has been some literature making the link between liquor stores and higher crime and addiction. However, it says the conclusions can’t necessarily be reached here as well.

“As previously noted, most of the resources are United States based, where the typical situation is different than the Saskatchewan context, as alcohol sales are generally more deregulated and privatized in the United States,” the report said.