Construction of a new shopping mall couldn’t begin soon enough.

This is the opinion of a majority of citizens who attended an open house for the proposed SmartCentres development according to an informal survey conducted by organizers of the event.

SmartCentres land development manager Nathan Hildebrand says about 700 came out to see the new plans for the company’s project west of town. Of those, 576 left comments. Eighty-four per cent said they are in favour of the new project, 15 per cent are opposed, with the remainder being undecided.

“I talked to lots of people that night and the overwhelming feeling was everyone was supportive, liked and were impressed with our presentation and how much detail we got into after what happened last year.”

The majority of the comments, he says, indicate an anxiousness to see a new shopping centre built: “Hurry up,” “It’s about time,” and “We travel out of town, we want shopping options here.”

Theresa Wess attended the hearing to see what SmartCentres has to offer. Wess said she is one of those people who is tired of heading out of town to shop.

“My daughter lives here with four children, and that’s where I find we don’t have enough, price wise and choices, to fulfill a family with things that we need,” says Wess.

Thomas Beeson agrees something new is needed in the community.

“Essentially the only thing I, and my family, get in town is groceries and I think that’s ridiculous,” said Beeson.

Having recently moved to Salmon Arm from the Prince George area, O’Neil and wife Nichole Loza believe the proposed SmartCentres operation will be good not only for Salmon Arm, but the Shuswap as a whole. Going into the presentation, O’Neil says traffic was his main concern.

“I work at Adams Lake Lumber, so I travel by that area twice daily and the volumes can be quite heavy, especially in the summer with De Mille’s grocery store…” said O’Neil. “So it looks like they’re going to expand the road and include a new intersection, complete with left-turn lanes. So as long as that looks good, I’m happy.”

Martin Manders wanted to see how SmartCentres addressed environmental concerns specific to the property.

“It looks like they’ve covered all their bases,” he said.

Margaret Dyke, however, was not convinced by SmartCentres effort to mitigate the centre’s impact on the environment. In her opinion, the only way this could be done is to build somewhere else.

“If they put it somewhere else, okay, I would never be going there but alright,” said Dyke. “But not on the grebes’ nesting ground. It’s a sacred trust and we can’t put concrete over it.”

Marc Lamerton, an architect who recently moved with his family to Salmon Arm, said that in urban design circles, such developments are not considered to have much longevity and will become a thing of the past. He said such developments, built on the outskirts of town, force people to drive and have potential impacts on existing businesses.

“Generally speaking, these kind of developments don’t contribute to livable cities...,” said Lamerton.

Hildebrand says, however, that Smart Growth principles are being applied to this development, and that it will be unlike any other of the company’s developments, reflective of Salmon Arm in design and character.

He adds there will likely be another open house, prior to public hearings, so that the public can view the final design guidelines agreed upon with city staff.