"Basically, what happened is we have made so many substantial changes to our plan that [city planning] staff wants to take a little bit more time to review the changes," he said. "In meeting with the residents and City Council members and hearing the comments of the Planning Board, we've made some changes … and we continue to send them changes as we meet with more residents."
Though only minor reductions were made to the proposed size of the market — a key point of contention among project opponents — organizers extended project setbacks, which is the separation between the structure and the property line, from 16 to 25 feet, Hastings said.
The revised plan also moves the loading dock from one side of the building to the other, allowing delivery trucks to bring goods in and out of the store without having to use Main Street to back up to the dock, he said.
Whole Foods officials have also agreed to set aside funds in an account to finance traffic calming measures in the event that increased traffic flow irks nearby residents.
"If the neighborhood comes back and are insisting on traffic-calming devices, there will be an amount of money they can pull from to accommodate those," he said.
But opponents maintain that negative effects on traffic are unavoidable and attempts to mitigate congestion are destined to fail due to the large scale of the project.
"I think there's a misconception about the size of the store and how much of an impact it's going to have," said Roman Gora, who has lived in the Rancho District for 15 years. "If they really want a Whole Foods, check out the one in Glendale … and see how many people come in and out of that store. That store is a magnet."
