A new grocery store for Picton three years in the making is one step closer.

Prince Edward County Council voted in favour of a Site Plan and Site Plan Control Agreement on Tuesday night that would allow for the construction of a Foodland grocery store at 13300 Loyalist Parkway.

Prior to council's decision to approve, questions were asked about any effects on businesses in downtown Picton and the greater issue of building another strip mall after the County declared a climate emergency not very long ago.

But store manager Jamie Yeo was happy with council allowing the project -- that also includes a Dollarama and a drive-thru fast-food restaurant -- to move forward.

"We're happy, obviously, it's been a long time coming.", said Yeo.  "We've been excited about the future expansion and what we can bring in to the community and further expand our local buying and employment."

The 'state-of-the-art, top-notch' store is expected to have thirty to forty employees with a total of 100 people working at the plaza when it opens.

Developer Jamie Chisholm of Picton Properties Incorporated attempted to address any concerns and said Sobeys -- the company that operates Foodland, Farm Boy among its family of supermarkets and grocery stores -- is doing what it can on the matter of environmental issues.

"With the stormwater runoff that exists now, we're actually collecting it from other subdivisions.", said Chisholm.  "We're cleaning it, it's ending out clear, there will be effectively no runoff from our site except in a 'hundred-year storm' and when it does it'll be treated water -- cleaner than anything that exists today."

Chisholm also mentioned greater landscaping and the construction of sidewalks from the downtown to the Millenium Trail at Loyalist Parkway as evidence that the project is addressing environmental issues. 

Councillor Gary St. Jean brought up his involvement regarding a Loblaws store coming to Picton twenty-three years ago when the downtown's vacancy rate was around fifteen percent -- but times have changed and St. Jean described Picton as 'a very different place' with a vacancy rate of three percent.

Yet Chisholm was asked about how the new store would affect businesses in downtown Picton --  and Chisholm answered along with the issue of any effect other grocers in the county including a Foodland store already present in Wellington.

"Between us and the County, we spent $70,000 two years ago doing market studies, analyzing every retail category."  

Chisholm continued, "Picton -- and the area -- is growing.  So, it's to keep the customers Jamie has but it's also to capture the growth coming to town.  The Wellington and other Foodland vendors or Sobeys vendors in the area -- they're investing in this area so they expect those businesses to grow."

Not everyone was satisfied with the decision by Prince Edward County Council to build as a local couple expressed concerns about building a strip mall under a climate emergency.

Matt and Jennifer Ronin of Picton attended Tuesday's meeting and told councillors they caught the issue late and had no idea neighbouring businesses would come with the expanded Foodland store.

Both mentioned that while they commended Yeo as a 'great community member' and saw nothing wrong with the store expanding, they were wondering if there was a way to build without damaging the environment.

Matt told council that he didn't want to see small businesses disappear and asked the group to consider a deferral on the matter.

Jennifer -- a public health nurse -- addressed health as well as environmental issues such as obesity and poor air quality that would result from the development's a large parking lot and drive-thru restaurant.

She ended her commentary to council by asking 'Is this what we want?' and 'This is not Prince Edward County'.

Construction is expected to start in the spring with the new store to open its doors next fall.