Campaign for Market District Revs Up

Supporters of a proposed Giant Eagle have taken their campaign online.

A group called Friends of Issue 4 has created a website called Vote Yes on Issue 4 that urges voters to pass a rezoning issue March 6 that would clear the way for the project.

The group is headed by Mike Catan and Tim Dean of Darice company, which operates .

Catan's son, attorney Nick Catanzarite, is representing the owners of the property, who want to sell their land to Giant Eagle.

wants to close its 70,000-square-foot store at and build a 110,000-square-foot Market District -- an upscale supermarket with gourmet items, a large prepared foods section and an in-store restaurant -- on Pearl Road.

The project hinges on Issue 4, a rezoning of part of the property from residential to business. 

The rezoning must be approved citywide and in Ward 2, where the project lies.

And residents near the Market District site last week they aren't happy about the noise and traffic a 24-hour grocery store would bring to the area.

The supporters say the project would creat 150 to 250 new full- and part-time jobs, bring in new tax revenue and help revitalize businesses along south Pearl Road.