[UPDATED AND REVISED 01/05/2017] The Daniele family’s getting a little edgy about its proposed Whole Foods store and retail plaza on Monroe Avenue.
The Brighton Town Board decided last week not to put the proposal’s latest traffic analysis and environmental statement up for public comment. The decision amounts to another delay for the controversial project, which the developers originally hoped to open in summer 2017.
Danny Daniele, president of Daniele Family Companies, blamed Wegmans for the delay. Wegmans has a store on Monroe and the company told Brighton officials that it’s concerned about the impact that Whole Foods Plaza could have on area traffic.
But Daniele says that Wegmans is worried that Whole Foods would cut into its business.
“The town of Brighton has now become very scared of a well-funded lawsuit which would inevitably delay the development and cost the taxpayers money to defend,” Daniele said in a statement. “Whenever you bring in competition, it’s inevitable other stores will want to retaliate and fight back.”
“We have voiced concerns about added traffic to Monroe Avenue in a letter written to the Town of Brighton,” says a statement from Wegmans. “Nothing has changed and we have no further comment beyond the letter.”
After this article was posted, Wegmans spokesperson Jo Natale provided an additional statement.
“We compete with Whole Foods all over the east coast; that is not our concern,” Natale wrote. “This project is too large for what zoning allows, and the traffic problems it will create will impact every business and commuter on Monroe Avenue. We are not alone in voicing these concerns.”
The Daniele Family Companies proposal does exceed the total project size allowed under the site’s zoning, but the company submitted an incentive zoning application. That means the company is asking the town to approve a denser project in exchange for some public amenities.
Brighton Supervisor Bill Moehle says that the board rejected the study and statement because they were incomplete. The company provided an updated traffic analysis, which incorporates a recent timing change in the Monroe-Clover traffic signal, as well as responses to a previous round of public comments.
But it didn’t synthesize the information into a narrative explaining what the numbers mean, Moehle says.
The Danieles can submit revised documents, he says.
Neighbors say that the project – not necessarily the Whole Foods store itself – is too much for the location. Residents, commuters, town officials, and some nearby businesses are worried about the development’s potential impact on Monroe Avenue traffic, particularly during the already crushed commute hours.
This story has been updated to replace paraphrased comments from Wegmans with the full statement. An additional comment from a Wegmans spokesperson was also added.
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This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2017.
Obviously, the Daniele family did not expect anyone to stand in their way.
I doubt that Wegmans has much to fear from Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods. It sounds more like sour grapes on the part of the Daniele family.
Whole Foods, like Wegmans, isn’t perfect. What I do like most about WF (as a vegan) is 1) that they carry more vegan options; 2) they offer a FREE whole food plant-based nutrition/lifestyle program to all of their employees. Wegmans offers the Weight Watchers program (I don’t know if it’s free or discounted) to its employees. WW, like Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig, has a low long-term weight loss success rate; 3)WF’s co-CEOs are vegan and have helped WF become the most progressive large US grocer in terms of animal welfare concerns, such as not selling battery cage eggs anymore.
I can understand people’s and businesses’ concerns about traffic, but also why the Daniele family wants WF at that location.
I live less than a mile from the proposed WF. I drive that stretch of Monroe all the time. I don’t need an expensive traffic study to know it can’t possibly accommodate the extra traffic without gridlock.
I highly doubt the Danieles’ desire to have a Whole Foods store on their property has squat to do with the chain’s position on veganism and animal welfare, Lisa Taylor. The welfare of bald eagles living nearby on the shore of Irondequoit Bay didn’t faze the Danieles all the years they fought to build that gawdawful residential development on Empire Boulevard. They strike me as rich people out to amass as much wealth as possible, not altruists who want a Whole Foods on their land in Brighton because the supermarket chain’s top execs are vegans.
Dollar signs, people, dollar signs. Traffic be damned. Daniele closed Mario’s when this project wasn’t even approved. The money to be made with this deal must be incredible.
Tom and others, have you overlooked the investment by the owners? The risk the owners are taking? The jobs that will be created? The taxes that will be paid?
If you don’t want others to profit from their investment, that’s fine, they’ll move to friendlier turf, but when all the jobs are gone and the tax revenue is zero, then what?
The risk was that they shut down a thriving restaurant and evicted their tenants (Clover Lanes) before getting approval to build a project that would ultimately require multiple zoning variances.
The issue is not some conspiracy to stop development, it’s traffic. There are six traffic lights in a half mile stretch from Edgewood to Clover. The project’s proposed mitigation to the traffic is to install a seventh light, smack in the middle of three on-ramps and three off-ramps from 590.
Most town boards roll over as soon as someone starts writing checks. Cheers to the town of Brighton for actually looking out for the people who live there.
Johnny…risk is part of business ventures. The Danielle’s can afford what they are doing or why would they do it. They are expecting a windfall from this project. Unfortunately, the horse ran far ahead of the cart on this one. But just because someone can risk big bucks for a development is no justification to degrade the quality of life of those in the neighborhood of the development.
There is a good degree of arrogance in shutting down a popular restaurant before it’s replacement is a done deal. I would guess the Danieles thought no one had the audacity to stand in their way.
Tom, I don’t know where you get your inside information regarding the Danielle’s income, but I don’t care what their income is. I wish everyone an overflowing basket of wealth. Even you.
The problem is not the Danielles, but the state. We have the convergence of 3 state roads. 31, 65, 590. Where is the planning? The traffic is going to get worse, even if nothing is built there. The Genesee Traffic Council is too busy with their bicycle agenda, I guess they missed this.
We are not a huge city. This should be easy to solve. Add another lane? Make 65 a flyover? Maybe look at the on/ off ramps? Mass transportation? I think even more development would help, if it was mid rise housing, creating more of a community than just a drive through corridor.
I have to somewhat agree with Joe in Spencerport;
The real issue is about the congested, snail moving , bottle necked TRAFFIC that imposes delays, headaches and frustrations for commuters, residents and shoppers in that location.
I can understand the Daniele’s ambition to take advantage of a bigger growth opportunity for their family business; and their frustration in getting all this opposition.
Then on top of all that, they chose to close Mario’s and, I guess, dissolve Clover Lanes Plaza, with the expectation that they would make room for the new project?
Hey, I think they anticipated too quickly and unfortunately may be losing money right now, without the income from Mario’s and Clover Lanes Plaza; that’s not a good thing for them nor is it for those who enjoy the Daniele’s restaurant and what is offered in that plaza. This is a sad situation for everyone.
I can understand that many people would like a Whole Foods store for health or whatever reasons and that it may be competition for Wegman’s, thereby keeping prices in check; but again, the real problem is that this project is an imposition on the residents, commuters and shoppers, in terms of the congested traffic and safety conditions in that location.
Johnny…http://www.danielefamily.com/companies. Specifically check out their $600,000 Royal Atlantic condos in Florida. Don’t cry for the Danieles if Whole Foods development doesn’t happen.
Tom, just because you have a personal issue with someone who makes more money than you, what’s that got to do with this project?
Rochester needs more people willing to take the risk and fewer people on the sidelines throwing rocks at the doers and achivers.
Johnny, you are concerned about the Daniele’s risk, not me. Just pointing out that you don’t need to be concerned about their finances. This is only an issue about what the citizens of the neighborhood want and don’t want. Just because someone has money to do something doesn’t mean they should do it if there are other pressing concerns. That’s the way America works.
You also brought up jobs. Did you think about the Mario’s employees who were unemployed prematurely? How about the bowling alley employees?
There are people who actually believe some evil developer came in and forced Mario’s to close…lots of misinformation and rumors out there…many pretty funny.
Whole Foods would fit in better by Eastview Mall…more room and wealthier clientele.
Anthony Daniele is the President of the Monroe County legislature and a Republican. The Brighton town Supervisor is a Democrat. Maybe there are political issues underlying here?
I’d prefer that they build it in the city, or at least closer to the city. Not Ontario County. That area is pretty congested itself anyway.
Meanwhile, the traffic will continue to get worse even if this project doesn’t get built. Surely large amounts of money will have to be spent to ease the situation. Why do you want to render this highly assessed property as having zero value?
http://13wham.com/news/top-stories/whole-f… CAN YOU SAY ARROGANCE.? And this is why people feel trampled by development and government. This article suggest the voice should of concerned citizens just doesn’t matter.
Doesn’t Whole Foods think that the Brighton location is too close to the Pittsford Wegmans? The customer reviews on the internet indicate that Wegmans beats Whole Foods. How could Whole Foods not care about being so close to Wegmans? There’s more to this story.
How many traffic studies do we need to tell us what our common sense and eyes already tell us? This area already has too much traffic.
Common sense has no place in government. But there is an unlimited budget for traffic studies.
Making decisions based on objective data is preferable to hunches and “common sense”. With a study, the methods used, the assumptions made, and the means of drawing conclusions can be examined, questioned, defended. “Common sense” isn’t subject to review and discussion.