The directors of Peninsula Co-op are going ahead with plans to build a new grocery store on Tsartlip reserve land without asking their members if they approve.
The planned location for the new Co-op retail complex is not presently commercialized, and such a significant development will negatively impact this largely agricultural area.
Why will Co-op’s general manager, Ron Heal, and the Co-op board not send questionnaires to each member household asking for opinions of the development plan? The answer is clear to me: the membership would not support this plan and the Co-op board wants to proceed.
Why is Co-op’s board of directors abandoning the commercial area of Keating X Road? This is land already zoned for retail. It is a high-traffic area. There is ample space to do whatever development Co-op requires.
If we all as Co-op members let it happen, our Keating commercial area loses, and so does the quiet agricultural area of Stelly’s X Road.
My family and I have been Central Saanich residents and Peninsula Co-op members for about 10 years. I have watched the Co-op build gasoline retail locations on the Saanich Peninsula.
Does the board of directors really believe they are helping our community with this planned retail development, or is Peninsula Co-op like a machine out of control?
Bill and Susan Wilson
Saanichton
