COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Too many factors are against the market

This letter only serves as a means to further the understanding of the serious impact on our community and the neighborhood surrounding the proposed building site located at Main Street and Alameda Avenue.

It is not intended to criticize Whole Foods Market, which I think is a fine food market, nor is it a detailed discussion of individuals, theoretical studies or site location. But rather a discussion of potential serious problems, their interface interrelationships and the extent of our City Council to properly analyze the potential serious problems.

We have inevitably developed an overlap of duties and a duplication of efforts and responsibilities between the developer and the community. It is an inefficient means of providing the council with the important facts the council and planning board can investigate, analyze and make sound decisions about.

Problem areas:

Prior to starting any sort of building structure, we must select our candidates who will provide the data needed to help with location, building design, traffic studies, etc. Most are professionals and city staff, however sometimes very important facts would be overlooked or forgotten if not mentioned by the residents who live in the immediate residential areas. These issues are far from different from the residents that live further away in Burbank to which a Whole Foods Market will sound great.

1. Driveway into the proposed Whole Foods structure is off Main Street, which is a two-lane street.

2. Driveway out of the proposed Whole Foods structure is onto Alameda Avenue, which is a four-lane street.

3. Valencia Avenue will be directly across Main Street from the proposed Whole Foods parking structure entrance.

4. Traffic will use residential streets to avoid the already congested Alameda Avenue.

5. The alley running parallel to Valencia, which services all the apartments and condos on Valencia and Alameda, includes horse traffic, garbage trucks and vehicle traffic.

6. Two preschools — one located directly across from the proposed Whole Foods and another preschool located just one block from the proposed structure — with parents picking and dropping off their children in the morning and the evening.

7. McKinley Elementary School, Jordan Middle School and Burroughs High School are located within a one-mile radius of the proposed structure. Many children use Valencia, Main and Alameda to walk home, and cross these intersections daily.