Some Sidney residents are outraged after a massive shopping complex got the green light from city council Monday night.

The $35-million Sidney Gateway project was approved in a 5-2 vote, meaning the massive outdoor shopping complex will be built at the corner of the Trans-Canada Highway and Beacon Avenue.

The complex will be 100,000 square feet in size and will be anchored by a grocery store. Infrastructure improvements will also be made to the surrounding area including the construction of a traffic circle, pedestrian overpass, upgraded sidewalks and a medical centre with around 12 new doctors.

But while some are touting the project’s economic benefits, other business owners say the mall will effectively cannibalize business in the town’s existing core – and have been pushing officials to scrap it.

“The town received something like 140 letters of which 128 were opposed. What they’re doing, really, is totally ignoring the public and the people who elected them,” said Richard Talbot, president of Supporting Our Sidney. “It’s an absolute disgrace, and we’re going to fight it tooth and nail.”

According to a community organization, there are already 39 vacant storefronts in the core, and other owners say the Gateway project will only make things worse.

“That place across the highway will be dependent on the same market place,” said Clive Tanner. “They can only take it from us.”

A petition against the project netted more than 2,000 signatures out of a population of about 11,000.

But developers and local politicians say the project is good news for the economy by creating 220 new jobs and paying millions in municipal taxes.

“It’s going to keep a lot of sales that are bleeding off to Victoria and the West Shore here,” said Mayor Steve Price. “So now everybody in this area doesn’t have to drive, which is almost impossible to make it down there now with the traffic. Actually in a way this is going to help alleviate the traffic problem down there because not as many residents will go into Victoria.”

Ground is set to break on the project next year.