Brighton-Brookline Residents Oppose Kimco’s Whole Foods Project:Pt.1

The Kimco real estate firm, which purchased in 2014 the commercially-zoned land site at 15-35 Washington Street in Brighton--upon which a Whole Foods grocery store and parking lot is currently located, wants to construct on its land a high-rise, luxury apartment building complex exceeding 35 feet, as part of a Whole Foods Reconstruction project between Corey Road and Allston Street, near the border of Brighton and Brookline.

Yet zoning laws in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, between Corey Road and Allston Street, on Washington Street, prohibit construction of apartment buildings exceeding 35 feet—unless a property owner and developer can provide sufficient evidence that the neighboring community will benefit from a proposed project.

Most of the over 200 neighborhood residents who have submitted comments to the City of Bosotn’s Boston Planning and Development Agency [BPDA]’s website, however, have expressed opposition to Kimco’s proposed Whole Foods Reconstruction luxury apartment project and indicated that the project will harm, not benefit, the neighboring community. One neighborhood resident, for example, argued against the City of Boston approving Kimco’s proposed project in Brighton, by writing the following:

“The construction of a new residential high-rise complex occupying the entire block from
Allston Street to Corey Road will lead to intractable traffic problems. It will be a monstrous problem for the entire area.

“From time to time we already face problems for pedestrians and vehicles. Imagine you have added more businesses, 290-plus apartments, as well as about 100 apartments in a new development [by another real estate developer] across the street from the..school [at 5 Washington Street] on the corner of Washington and Corey Roads.

“In other words, it will add at least 350 vehicles for the new residents of this block, who move
in and out at least twice a day and during peak hours. That's not counting the growing number of cars and trucks at the new Whole Food and CVS….

“Also, consider that 20 and 30 Washington Streets are mostly for elderly and disabled, and
ambulances or fire trucks come and park on Washington Street almost every day. In general, a good residential area consisting of low-income buildings, a…school, a middle-size Whole Food store will be turned into a monster bee hive...And the city council also has an obligation to think about these people.”

And a second neighborhood resident expressed opposition to the City of Boston approving Kimco’s age-unfriendly Whole Foods Reconstruction luxury apartment complex project by writing:

“…To be honest, the Brookliner [luxury apartment building at 5 Washington St. in Brighton] has just been put up and we do not know how that will affect traffic. If there is anything the designers need to do, they need to drive through Washington Street/ Corey Road/Allston Street/Summit Ave. You will find that there is too little space for us to drive NOW (traffic jams occur very often).

“This will be dangerous for cars, pedestrians, emergency workers, seniors, people with mobility issues, and bikers. Also, I just found out Whole Foods is on the 2nd floor. I do not like this since it makes accessing groceries harder since carts do not easily move between floors in a timely
manner. Also, elevators and escalators break…”

A third neighborhood resident also submitted a comment to the BPDA expressing her opposition to Kimco’s proposed age-unfriendly project, which noted the following:

“When you plan for an addition to an existing, heavily populated and established community,
the infrastructure has to be taken into consideration from the start…We have serious traffic issues currently and we have multiple new residential developments on Washington Street (within a half a mile) nearing completion. With that and adding the proposed 15-35 Washington Street development is detrimental to our community…

“…I have witnessed too many near accidents with cars, bikes and pedestrians. The streets cannot handle the traffic and widening them to alleviate is not an option. I think about the likelihood of being stuck in traffic and I am less than a block away from home or needing to get to an appointment, but I can’t get out of the parking lot with the traffic. How in the world can emergency vehicles get through likely traffic jams when there is an emergency?

“This is an area that has retirement facilities, nursing facilities, a rehabilitation facility, an
early childhood school, an elementary school, many senior citizens and people with mobility
issues. If accessibility for the elderly and people with mobility issues were a concern/priority, the
design would have put Whole Foods on the first floor, ground level…The design remains…to locate Whole Foods above street level. You remove the ability for some independence to current Whole Foods customers who are not able to drive and have limited mobility…

“The proposed development project for 15-35 Washington Street is not safe and accessible….”