More time granted to study traffic impact of proposed Whole Foods

The Zoning Board of Adjustment granted Logan Square Neighborhood Association a continuance on Wednesday in the case of Rodin Square, the project that would bring a Whole Foods grocery store and 293 residential units to 22nd and Spring Garden streets. The case is now scheduled for a special hearing on October 9, 2013.

According to Ed Panek, attorney and zoning chair for LSNA, the community is still working on a Neighborhood Development Agreement with developer Neil Rodin. Panek said also that a continuance was needed so that the potential traffic impacts of the project could be studied further. Logan Square Neighborhood Association plans to hire its own traffic engineer to review the traffic study performed by the developer’s engineer.

Michael Sklaroff, an attorney for the developer, requested that a special hearing be scheduled no more than 30 days from Wednesday, noting that the developer has met with the community the community more than a dozen times, starting in February. The Board scheduled the first available special hearing date. ZBA Chair Julia Chapman warned that traffic congestion is not directly the purview of the zoning code—though the project’s proposed curb cuts are a source of contention—and said the developer and community groups would likely need to settle traffic issues through other means.