The stretch of Monroe Avenue between I-590 and Clover Street
is congested and chaotic. And Brighton officials and residents worry that
putting a Whole Foods store and retail plaza along the north side of this
densely developed corridor will only aggravate the situation.
“We’re going to have to look to see what further impact this
will have, what ways there are of mitigating it,” says Brighton Supervisor Bill
Moehle. “The proposal as it now stands is certainly
not cast in concrete.”
The Daniele family is proposing four buildings, totaling
about 94,000 square feet of space. A 55,000-square-foot Whole Foods store would
go in roughly the same location as the now-closed Mario’s restaurant on Monroe,
which was owned and operated by the Danieles. One of
the other buildings would be a standalone Starbucks coffee shop with a
drive-through.
A public hearing on the project’s environmental statement
will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22, at Brighton Town Hall, 2300
Elmwood Avenue. Traffic considerations are part of the environment statement.
The town will also take written comments on the statement
through 5 p.m. on Monday, July 18. Send your comments to the town clerk at Town
Hall.
The development would be on a segment of Monroe that carries
approximately 39,000 vehicles a day on average, according to the State
Department of Transportation; it’s the busiest section of Monroe Avenue.
During peak times, traffic on this stretch moves at the pace
of sludge. Cars stack up at lights, intersections get blocked with cars, and
desperate drivers often divert to residential streets looking for an out.
Even when traffic flows well, there are still roughly a
dozen driveways off that section of Monroe and a turn lane down the center of
road, which all adds up to a confusing and sometimes
risky mess.
“The road system on Monroe Avenue is failing,” says Robert
Galbraith, who lives on Allens Creek Road.
The
Danieles pitched the development as an asset
to Brighton. They tout the tax benefits and the new shopping options, and they
offered to improve sidewalks and a multi-use trail that pass along or through
the site. In return, they’re asking the town to let them build a project that’s
far bigger than allowed under the site’s current zoning.
The developers estimate that the project, particularly the
marquee grocer, will pull in a few hundred vehicles during peak hours: some new
and some that would’ve passed through the corridor anyway. And they’ve
presented a plan to try to improve traffic flow.
Under the proposal, the Whole Foods Plaza would have two
driveways, one of which would line up with a new traffic light. The developers
are also working with a few property owners on the south side of Monroe Avenue
to consolidate driveways and locate a main access at the proposed light, which
would be located at what’s now the driveway of the Sakura Home restaurant.
The developers say that reducing the number of entrance and
exit points on the target stretch of road will improve traffic flow by creating
safer, better functioning roadways. But their environmental document also says
that the signal could cause additional peak-hour delays within the corridor.
“The future growth and vitality of this segment of the
Monroe Avenue corridor depends largely on achieving a balance between the
future transportation and land-use demands within the corridor,” the
environmental document says.
Government officials and residents near the project site say
that the developers need to convince them that the signal and access plan will
alleviate the additional traffic caused by the development. They’re concerned
that the developers might have underestimated the project’s potential impact on
traffic and they’re worried about the possibility of extended delays in the
corridor, they say.
The State DOT has to approve the light, but department staff
told the developers that it appears warranted. But the DOT, too, cautioned
about additional delays during peak times.
“We want to make sure that we’re not introducing a
circumstance or we’re going to have traffic backing up on the expressway, for
example,” says Lori Maher, a spokesperson for the State DOT’s Rochester
regional office. “We don’t want traffic stopped on 590, we don’t want
intersections further down the corridor to be impacted and then not function
properly.”
Allens Creek resident Robert Galbraith says that the Danieles should pursue a development that doesn’t impact
traffic as much as Whole Foods, which would draw shoppers from across the
region. But it’s unlikely that the developers will walk away from a tenant with
the prestige and profile of Whole Foods.
Other residents suggest scaling the project back; a
destination grocery store and big retail plaza are just too much for the site,
they say. Town officials have dropped similar hints. During a May 25 meeting,
Town Board member Chris Werner said that he wants the site developed, but that
the Daniele family’s project may be too intense for the “really difficult” corridor.
State DOT staff says that the developers could build a
“relief valve” by putting access points for the plaza off of Clover Street, Allens Creek Road, or both. But many people in the adjacent
neighborhoods don’t like that idea, because it might increase traffic on their
residential streets. The developers removed access via Clover or Allens Creek from their most recent plans.
Ben Werzinger, who lives in the
Shoreham Drive neighborhood off of Clover Street, says that he can live with
the plaza as long as it doesn’t have access points off of Clover or Allens Creek.
“I’m just a little bit concerned that at the end of the day
that we can hold them to that,” he says. “I feel like they’re sort of angling
to put that back on the table and that’s worrisome.”
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This article appears in Jun 22-28, 2016.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA; please do some research on site planning, municipal zoning, traffic engineering and sustainable design principles before you write your next article…this is quite humorous to see such misinformation propagated in our local news.
Density is a sustainable approach to the suburbs; its because of the lack of density that has defined America’s built environment in such a sprawling manner. From an economic development standpoint, congestion is a good thing: more window shoppers. Your argument is not only outdated (hello, 1950 and post-WW2 boom development) it is the very reasoning we have sprawling suburbs devoid of character and entirely pedestrian UNFRIENDLY.
The appeal for most individuals looking to the suburbs (other than schooling) is the fact that they believe it is ‘safer’ seeing as though bus lines are limited (if at all present) and there are tons of cul-de-sacs (no through roads). Unfortunately this is all a poor misconception of ignorant individuals not interested in educating themselves about sustainability, planning and/or design.
If there was something to write about, it should be how that entire corridor is one of the most dangerous in our region…it should be redesigned so that it doesn’t promote high traffic speeds, should include ample pedestrian amenities and promote societal collaboration through a better built environment.
I’m sick and tired of hearing all of this NIMBYism (Not In My BackYard) towards development of any type in the Greater Rochester region, especially from individuals who don’t care to learn about planning and design. Please refrain from you biased opinions about something you clearly are uneducated about.
Greed at any cost.
You might have a point, Michael, if Whole Foods was a small local grocer, rather than a massive destination grocer that will draw shoppers (in their vehicles) from nearly the entire county.
I agree with Michael. This really is low density. You would think with the confluence of 590, 31 and other nearby roads that someone would want to develop some midrise buildings
I live across the street from a Jeremiahs, Moes, and Panera and I live next to a Target, Wegmans, and Taco Bell. I love walking to these places. There is no traffic there and there is even less in this location. Cars between 5-6p is not traffic, its called living around people. Rochester does not have traffic. Brighton is the most unaesthetic place in the county because of the non business friendly mindset of the town. Everything is antiquated looking, including the majority of the populations beliefs. This location is a boon for the county to bring in high end retailers, which is sorely needed. The location has some of the highest incomes in the county living within 5-10 miles. Who cares about a Whole Foods, we have Wegmans, but the cache and zeal of this store will bring new to market retailers, more high end places to spend my money is sorely needed. Level everything from the gas station on the corner, all the way back to Allens Creek Road and create a larger center, with exits on Allens Creek Rd and on Clover. Why anyone with any means would build a home on Clover, that close to the major retail thoroughfare of the East Side, is beyond me? If they can add 2+2, they had to have figured that a new store would be built every once in a while. Id love to be able to walk over to this new center, but there arent condos built close enough to the center for me to purchase.
Obviously this development is driven by the people who own the land. I think it’s just madness to put more traffic on this small stretch of Monroe. Why not put a Whole Foods in Victor at Eastview Mall? There’s lots of retail traffic, an upscale demographic, and significant existing roadways to handle an increased influx. Plus there’s no good grocery in the area. You can write the town, or contact Whole Food’s regional office with your thoughts. 930 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 201.567.2090
The Whole Foods in Pittsburgh (Centre Ave zip: 15206) is a. no where near big enough and b. has a parking lot from hell and I mean all the time. google search for specs. that rochester intersection with 390 and Pitts Plaza nearby is going to be a bottleneck no matter what you do.
Whole Foods is expensive. Starbucks is expensive. The retail stores located in this plaza will be similarly expensive.
Most of the potential customers, those with high-incomes, are already now driving right by this location. Let’s say the traffic is backed up and hardly moving. If somebody turns into the parking lot, well, that’s one less car on Monroe Avenue. If someone goes from the lot to the street, then that’s one more car on the street. There’s no net change. Some people will shop there until Monroe Avenue becomes less clogged. They’ll be doing some good. There just needs to be enough parking. The good news is that you can always dig down and build up for more parking.
The project should be allowed to move forward. This development won’t be drawing tons of people from all over the region. Let’s not get carried away. The vast majority of customers live nearby and are already using Monroe Avenue. Otherwise, Whole Foods wouldn’t want to locate there.
This is of course driven by greed. Obviously, developing the Whole Foods plaza is more lucrative than an Italian restaurant. Why would the Daniele family care about a traffic nightmare when they didn’t care about an eagle’s nest?
Development is all about taking nature and building on it and paving it. If there is already a building on it, development is all about cramming more into a small space.
It seems few can recognize when enough is enough. This section of Monroe Avenue has gradually become more and more unbearable. The city without the innerloop is much less appealing and soon Monroe Ave will become another “must avoid” area.
Greed? Greed is when you do nothing, but expect something in return anyway. There’s plenty of greed in Rochester’s inner city. The government is also greedy, taxing us to death without providing equivalent results. The Danieli’s work hard, create many jobs (share their wealth) and provide a great experience in everything they do. They deserve the success that they have received.
Rochester needs more of these “problems” and fewer people that don’t understand economics.
What makes America great is freedom. Freedom to be a job creator, or free to sit in your back yard and do nothing. If you don’t like it, don’t shop there. But why deny others their desires. It’s pretty simple
Greed is getting COMIDA money to create jobs with a seaplane dock. Greed is when you don’t care about an eagle’s nest because it stands in the way of a Daniele development.
And how about the gift of undeveloped, unspoiled open space…are we free to have that or do you believe money is always the most imoortant thing?
Please try to understand the need for COMIDA. Taxes are too damn high. Especially for businesses and higher income types. In fact we’re #1. COMIDA is just a bribe, and an understanding by government that they take too much. I hate it too, but until they reduce taxes, they have to use it. If we could only have honest government from both sides we wouldn’t have this problem. This is why Trump is so popular. This is why UK left the EU.
Taxes are too high because eirking people like me contribute to tax breaks for stupid things like rich people’s seaplane docks.
What are “eirking people”?
A typing error.
How is the proposed answer “Scrap the development” and not “Improve public transportation”? … This is a weird (by weird I mean depressing) city we live in.
Sara Catherine Jenks,
Same thing happening further up Monroe closer to the city right now with the parking study being done. People complaining there isn’t enough parking so instead of the answer being “more transportation” like any other forward thinking city, the complaints I heard from many homeowners is “why can’t we just build bigger parking lots?” So disheartening right on the doorstep of downtown, hopefully someone with some sense does not let that happen.