Brookline-Brighton Residents Oppose Kimco's Whole Foods Project: Pt.3

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 this Brookline-bordering 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 Brookline-Brighton 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.

A seventh neighborhood resident opposing the project noted that “without widening Allston Street,” the project will create “a nightmare” for Brookline-Boston neighborhood “residents;” and observed that “the convenience of parking at the Whole Foods as is helps…those who have limited mobility to safely enter and exit the establishmen,” but “right now the plans as designed put the bulk of the entrance on the street level at a very dangerous intersection.”

And an eighth Brookline-Brighton neighborhood resident submitted the following comment to the City of Boston’s BPDA :

“I vehemently oppose everything about this project: Construction mess + noise increase in
traffic; Increased noise; No parking increase in congested streets with single lane traffic; Increase in rents; There is absolutely no need to create another complex which is literally
feet away from a brand new complex, The Brookliner” (which was recently constructed nearer to the Brookline border at 5 Washington Street, at the corner of Corey Road).

In addition, a ninth Brookline-Brighton neighborhood resident, who has “a background in architecture and planning” and has “completed dozens of studies similar to what has been done for the feasibility of this site for development,” expressed opposition to Kimco’s proposed Whole Foods Store luxury apartment complex project in this Brookline-Brighton neighborhood by writing the following comment:

“Unfortunately, due diligence and common sense for parking counts have not
been applied. The parking ratio for the residential units is incredibly insufficient. The
adjacent apartment building with off-street parking provide at least one parking stall per unit
and many of the older apartment buildings only provide street parking.

“New developments almost always assume that they can utilize some of the street parking, but that will be impossible in this neighborhood since the street parking is always utilized. The 0.65 ratio for the residential parking fails to grasp that many people will have cars because this part of
Boston has a lot of vehicle commuters and the incredibly slow service of the B Green line is
not enough of a benefit to discourage vehicle ownership.

“This development will create impossible parking situations and the tendency of Boston drivers to stop in the street when street parking is unavailable will only compound the situation. …The insufficient parking will only create more traffic and infuriate long-term residents in the area...

“Furthermore, the studies showing the truck turning radii for loading vehicles are
too tight and would require professional drivers, which is often not the case. Additional
turning space must be provided, otherwise traffic jams will ensue.

“Lastly, the city is not requesting enough public right-of-way improvements as conditions for the approval of this project. The project is going to damage the sidewalks during construction, so the
reconstruction of new sidewalks is not really a public benefit so much as it is a cost of doing
business for the development…” (end of part 3)