A No Frills supermarket is proposed with three other stores on a vacant 2.2 hectare industrial site at the northeast corner of the Bishop and Can-Amera Parkway. It's within walking distance of housing on the south side of Can-Amera, said officials from Paracom Properties.

A big new, two-storey Shoppers Drug Mart is proposed at the southeast corner of Bishop and King streets, where two houses, a motel and restaurant now stand. The store would replace a smaller Shoppers store in the Zehrs shopping plaza at the northeast corner of King and Bishop.

The new store will bring bigger traffic problems to an already crash-prone corner, said Filomena Andrade, who owns the property next door. Waterloo Region says the area has five times the expected number of crashes, especially where the Tim Hortons is located immediately across from the proposed new Shoppers.

"This is only going to increase what is a precarious situation," the lawyer said.

She has up to three dozen vehicles a day visit her law office on King Street, along with daily delivery vehicles. There are also three cars from upstairs tenants who have to use her driveway.

City staff opposed combining her driveway with the new development, which she said would make traffic flow safer. She said the joined driveway was opposed to protect a neighbouring heritage house.

"Safety should come first. That's what your official plan says," she said.

Frank Barrie, a traffic expert for Canadian Commercial said the King-Bishop area has similar collision numbers to other urban intersections across the region and the province.

The Tim Hortons is on a small site with high traffic volume. The Shoppers is "certainly not in the same league" of traffic loads, he said.

City council took no action on either of the proposals for official plan and zoning changes. City staff will collect public comment and return with recommendations to council in the new year.