Pardon Me for Asking reports on yesterday’s hearing at the Board of Standards and Appeals about Whole Foods’ request to build a larger store than zoning allows on 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue. The BSA once again extended the hearing and won’t make a decision about the proposed 58,000-square-foot Gowanus supermarket until the end of next month. People who live and work near the long-planned store showed up to testify against the plans, as they did at last month’s hearing, arguing against the project on the grounds that it could drive small businesses out of the area. Opponents “called the project out-of-scale, refuted Whole Foods Market’s hardship claims, argued that the variance will open the way for more such variances and will ultimately lead to more big-box development,” according to Pardon Me for Asking. The Brooklyn Paper notes that if the variance is granted, Whole Foods hopes to have its first supermarket in Brooklyn finished on the property by early next year.
BSA Delays Decision On Gowanus Whole Foods Market Till February [PMFA]
Dissent Sprouts Against Grocery’s Gowanus Plans [BK Paper]
No Resolution in First Hearing Over Gowanus Whole Foods [Brownstoner]
Whole Foods Saga Drags on as BSA Blessing is Sought [Brownstoner]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. While I appreciate having a Trader Joe’s 3 blocks away from my Brooklyn Heights home, I wish Whole Foods or Fairway would build a store on Atlantic Ave. or another street nearby. There is a large, empty lot on Atlantic Ave.

1 2 3 5