The Glebe Meat Market has been operating at the corner of Bank and Regent streets for around 90 years, but owner Stephane Sauve is predicting that the proposed supermarket at Lansdowne Park will drive him out of business.
Sauve is upset with the prospect that the proposed competition will be effectively subsidized by the city and have a big advantage when it comes to parking.
“They are getting the lease on the land for free,” he said Thursday. “I don’t believe that we are going to survive this. It’s going to be too difficult.”
With only a week before city council is set to debate the issue, Glebe merchants have launched a campaign to have the Lansdowne Partnership Plan rejected.
They have set up a website, stoplansdownemall.ca, to promote their position.
Glebe BIA executive director Catherine Lindquist said the campaign is not anti-development, but she said the proposed plan is too large for the area.
“We can sustain between 60,000 to 100,000 square feet. What’s being proposed at one place in the Glebe is 300,000,” she said.
A report from Tate Economic Research for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group concluded businesses were not at risk from the development and that some would benefit from the increased traffic.
