The mythical on-again off-again Gowanus Whole Foods is one step closer to becoming a reality. Last night Brooklyn's CB6 Land Use Committee voted 11-4 to approve a variance for the store that would allow it to build a 56,000-square-foot shopping center (still smaller than their original plan) on the spot, which is currently zoned for a 10,000-square-foot building. However the variance still needs to pass the full board next week before a final decision gets kicked up to the NYC Board Of Standards and Appeals.
But don't think that everyone in Brooklyn is excited to have "Whole Paycheck" coming to to town (hello, this is Brooklyn!). Pardon Me For Asking reports (with video) from the meeting, where a major concern seemed to be how the store will affect traffic, especially once Fourth Avenue is fully developed and the Nets start playing over the Atlantic Yards. Though Whole Foods already expects 68 percent of the store's eventual customers to drive there, the Traffic Impact Study it provided was only for 2012 (as opposed to when those other projects are completed) and left "out some major intersections like Smith and Third Street, which is just blocks away and will most certainly be impacted."
Whole Foods reps think their traffic study was sufficient. There were also reportedly some community concerns about the fact that the store will be built extra-large on a flood plain beside a Superfund site, but those concerns were brushed aside. And so it goes! Whole Foods Gowanus is one step closer to being a reality. When it finally opens may it not give you gonorrhea.
