Some groups are opposed to the way a developer is planning to bring a Whole Foods store and retail plaza along the Monroe Avenue corridor in Brighton.
It's a project totaling around 94 thousand square feet around the former Mario's restaurant and Clover Lanes.
Attorney Daniel Spitzer represents the group "Save Monroe Avenue."
He says this anonymous group is made up of residents and business owners.
Spitzer says the group doesn't oppose the redevelopment of the plaza, which includes a 55-thousand square foot grocery store.
They just want to see it redeveloped in accordance with the current comprehensive plan, and the current limits on density and use.
"So that the Monroe Avenue corridor, which is already in terrible shape is not made even worse and that the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses are not forced into a significant decline in value because of this clearly super sized and oversized development," he said. "Get a proper traffic study, do the environmental review properly, after you've had a proper traffic study, and let the community sit down and evaluate the impacts."
Spitzer says his group wants to see a supplemental environmental impact statement, and all legal remedies remain on the table.
Developer Danny Daniele this project will benefit the town by generating around $10 million dollars in revenue and by creating hundreds of new jobs.
He says they are awaiting word from the town of Brighton on the traffic studies that have already been conducted.
"What we find when we do projects whenever the results of a traffic study come out to be against what another group may want them to be, the first response is usually 'we want another traffic study," he said.
Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle issued a statement:
The Brighton Town Board is currently conducting its environmental review of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), prepared by the developer of the proposed Whole Foods Plaza, as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
The Town Board and Town of Brighton staff are conducting that review with the assistance of Stantec, our consultant, which is an international engineering firm with offices in Rochester.
We take our responsibility under SEQRA very seriously and our review of the DEIS and the environmental issues involved with the proposal, including traffic, will be thorough.
The Town Board conducted two public hearings on the DEIS for the project and we will continue to take written comments on the DEIS through 5:00pm on Monday August 1.
The Town Board and I listened to many thoughtful comments during the public hearing, and we will review and give due consideration to all comments received during the public hearing and the public comment period.