BRUCEDALE – The Foodland in Rockwood officially has the township’s permission to continue to use shipping containers and accessory buildings for storage for another three years.
“The outdoor storage area is required … to provide additional space to store products for the Foodland that are needed to meet the daily needs of the community,” Oz Kemal, a professional planner with MHBC Planning, told Guelph/Eramosa council.
Speaking on behalf of the applicant at a Feb. 3 public meeting for a zoning bylaw amendment, Kemal described why accessory storage structures are needed for the store.
Located at 203 Alma St., the Foodland is approximately 509 square metres in size, “which is one of the smallest retail stores in the Sobeys network,” Kemal said.
He noted grocery stores are typically built with large backroom areas that often exceed the front retail space, but the Rockwood Foodland – built more than 20 years ago – lacks that storage area.
“It was a smaller consumer base, so they didn’t feel the need at the time,” said Kemal.
The store now includes an LCBO and Beer Store inside, along with its grocery offerings, all supported by the outdoor storage space.
That space consists of two shipping containers and three accessory structures, Kemal said, adding the structures include one framed shed and two refrigerated storage sheds.
He said the storage is compatible with the county’s official plan, and the accessory structures are allowed within the property’s “Village Service Commercial” zoning, but the shipping containers are the issue.
“It’s those additional accessory shipping containers that are not currently permitted,” he said.
County of Wellington senior planner Joanna Henderson also spoke at the meeting, explaining the official plan allows councils to pass bylaws to allow temporary land uses prohibited by the zoning bylaw.
“This bylaw would provide the applicants with additional time to find a permanent solution for outdoor storage,” she said.
These temporary bylaws cannot exceed three years, but they can be extended, she said.
“This is actually the second temporary zoning bylaw amendment for this site,” Henderson said, noting the previous one was passed in 2020 and expired in 2023.
No members of the public spoke at the meeting on the subject, but Mayor Chris White commented briefly that the store operators “very much need these containers to maintain the level of service.”
Following the public meeting, council returned to its regular meeting and approved the bylaw.
White alluded to plans by a local developer to build a retail plaza with a grocery store on land across the road from the Foodland, saying “hopefully that thing across the street will get finished at some point as well.”
Last fall, council approved the sale of an unopened road allowance to an Ontario numbered company to support the future development.
