What could have been a fight between neighbours appears to have ended in a mutual understanding.

The Thrifty Foods in Port Moody was considering expanding its operation to 24 hours, but after consulting with residents living in Suter Brook Village, the grocery store chain decided to pull the plug on the plan.

"This is a business decision based on the fact that we have, on one hand, a very excited group dealing with convenience and everything else and, on the other hand, we have a group that's concerned about the village and noise and other items," said Ralf Mundel, a spokesman with the company.

"We said to ourselves, in a village like this, the last thing we want to do is bring in a divisive issue."

Thrifty made the decision Friday, after meeting with stakeholders in the neighbourhood all last week.

Mundel told The NOW there is a business case to keep the store open 24 hours, specifically, to serve the growing base of customers made up of busy families and shift workers.

There was also an operational advantage to the company going 24 hours, but the details were not discussed.

Mundel said the grocery chain heard positive feedback about the plan from some, but also concerns from residents living in the village, which the company took into consideration.

Though Thrifty Foods has seven 24hour operations in the chain, Mundel suggested the location of the Brew Street store, which opened in 2009, created "unique circumstances."

There are some 2,000 residents living on top of the Thrifty location.

"We realized our decision had to be this," Mundel said, adding the company could revisit the idea down the road, but it is not a focus right now.

The move to abandon the plan was met by applause and a sigh of relief from Sabina Hill.

The Suter Brook resident and strata council member of the Aria1 apartment building in the village said residents opposed the plan out of concerns for noise and security.

"Suter Brook is a template for a model community, and I think running a 24-hour commercial operation isn't really keeping in with that model community," Hill said.

"We have and do support Thrifty economically. We're happy to have Thrifty as our neighbour; we just don't want them operating 24-hours a day."

Hill, on behalf of the apartment's strata, sent a letter earlier this month opposing the plan to Onni Group, which owns the commercial space.

She said the strata would now be dropping its campaign against Thrifty's plan.

"Thrifty's has been a good neighbour in their decision," Hill said.

She described the village as being a busy and boisterous neighbourhood during the day, but a place where residents expect it to quiet down after 10 p.m.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com