Critics Fight Whole Foods as BSA Decision Looms

Crain’s has a story about the opposition to Whole Foods’ plans to build a supermarket at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue that covers the by-now-familiar criticisms from some in the neighborhood that the store would harm area artists and small businesses. An example: “Some residents and small businesses would like to keep the vacant lot, nestled between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, zoned for small- and medium-scale manufacturing—a dwindling asset they want to protect. A recent report by the Gowanus Institute claims the site could be developed to create three times the 300 retail jobs Whole Foods promises.” There’s also a quote from someone who says that if the Board of Standards and Appeals decides to grant Whole Foods a variance to build a store on the property larger than zoning allows—the BSA is supposed to announce its decision before the month is out—it could open “the floodgates” to other “retail and residential developers looking to take bites out of the industrial neighborhood.” OK, but what do you think?

Gowanus Locals Wage Final Whole Foods Fight [Crain’s]