Earlier this spring, Osuuskauppa PeeÄssä applied for a zoning amendment for the Kelloniemi area that would allow a new S-market to be built on the green space between Kellolahdentie and Touvitie. The proposal has drawn opposition from some local residents. Kelloniemi residents Anna Slita and Prakirth Govardhanam launched a municipal initiative calling for the planned location of the new store to be reconsidered.
According to Slita, the couple does not oppose the construction of a new grocery store itself, but rather its planned location. She says that under the current proposal, part of the new S-market's parking area would be built on an existing green space.
"It simply doesn't seem sensible to us, and we do not consider it to be in line with Finland's long-standing approach to nature conservation."
The couple believes that the new S-market could instead be built on the site of the current Sale store, which is planned to be demolished, together with the surrounding parking areas. In their view, the issue is also about sustainable urban development, where new construction should primarily be directed to areas that have already been developed instead of expanding into natural green spaces.
"There are three parking areas there which, together with the current Sale building, would create a site large enough for both the new S-market and its parking facilities without the need to destroy nature," Slita says.
According to the couple, the parking facilities could also be implemented as a multi-storey parking structure instead of extensive surface-level parking lots.
The municipal initiative gathered a total of 68 signatures. Slita and Govardhanam submitted it to the City of Kuopio last Wednesday, the same day that the City's Urban Structure Committee approved Kelloniemi's new local master plan.