A market will rise in Brooklyn
A Whole Foods market was given the final go-ahead on February 28 to build a store on a 4.2-acre former industrial site — but first had to run the gauntlet of public opposition.
Whole Foods spent years cleaning up the polluted, now mostly vacant, property near the Gowanus Canal — but you'd think that getting approvals to build their store in an organically minded section of Brooklyn would not be hard.
But it was difficult — much harder than building a similar store in the suburbs — because the very specific Euclidean codes did not match up with what the developer proposed. The site was zoned industrial. That creates a forum for opponents to coalesce around whatever idealized vision they have for the site.
While not ideal, the Brooklyn Whole Foods proposal will generally improve the neighborhood. Here are the main points of the plan — according to published reports.
• A 52,000 sq. ft. food store is proposed along with a 20,000 square foot greenhouse on the second floor to grow local, organic produce on Third Avenue and Third Streets, near the fashionable Park Slope neighborhood.
• A small, historic building at the primary intersection of the site will be renovated.
• Surface parking for 248 cars will occupy most of the site.
• The building placement is good: The historic structure holds the corner, while the market will be built around it.
• The parking lot will occupy a substantial length of Third Street frontage, but will include — according to the rendering — a fence, partly made of brick, that will help to define the streetscape.
• Whole Foods will add 320 jobs, some growing food in the rooftop greenhouse — which is a creative touch.
• The parking lot will include a charging station for electric cars.
Opponents made a good point that the plan calls for too much parking — nearly 5 spaces per thousand feet of retail — in a walkable neighborhood. The same complaint was made about a Brooklyn Ikea store, noted one commenter on The Brooklyn Paper website, and that objection turned out to be accurate. "The parking lot is NEVER full but is a permanent blight. It could be half the size, freeing up space for other stores, more park, or whatever!"
Another objection made by a local nonprofit, The Gowanus Institute, is that the site could be more intensely developed in an industrial-artist space — and that this would create three times as many jobs. The objection sounds a bit controlling. Brooklyn, with all of its waterfront, surely has substantial underutilized industrial land. If and when there is a shortage, zoning laws could be made more flexible to allow more land to be developed for light industrial uses.
For more in-depth coverage on this topic:
• Subscribe to Better! Cities & Towns to read all of the articles (print+online) on implementation of greener, stronger, cities and towns.
• See the January-February 2012 issue of Better! Cities & Towns. Topics: Value capture and transit, Social networks aid downtown, Live smaller, Rentals are market key, Streetcar inspiration, Box building, Civilizing suburbs, Alley houses, Sprawl repair, Healthy communities, Funding for infrastructure, Chicago River reversal
• Get New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, packed with more than 800 informative photos, plans, tables, and other illustrations, this book is the best single guide to implementing better cities and towns.
