Cleveland Park Giant Remodel Back On The Shelf
A hot-button issue in the District of Columbia is the ability of all its residents to have access to groceries. Cleveland Park certainly doesn't have that problem -- but it is a neighborhood that is the home to one of the most vitriolic fights over grocery stores in the city, a battle that is twelve years strong and shows no signs of going away anytime soon.
You probably know the basics by now: Giant Food has been trying to remodel its out-dated store at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Newark Street NW since 1998. We had thought the debate had lost some steam fourteen months ago. How foolish of us to doubt the power of the NIMBY! Just as it was in 2006, the redevelopment has been put on hold due to a legal action by a small group of citizens who think that the new store will cause big parking and traffic issues. Here's the details of the group's latest move, from the Cleveland Park listserv:
The Hogan Lovells law firm filed an appeal to the DC Court of Appeals earlier this month on behalf of WNNC, Wisconsin-Newark Neighborhood Coalition,and the Idaho Avenue folks. The appeal says nothing new. Very briefly: they argue that the Zoning Commission does not have jurisdiction in this case; the PUD is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan; and Idaho Avenue is not wide enough for trucks. All of these issues have been covered before. Giant's attorneys will file their brief in the next couple of weeks; then the petitioners have about a month to respond; and then a date will be set for a hearing, which will probably be several months away.
So let's go ahead tack on at least another couple of years to this saga, then.
Many Cleveland Park residents are not pleased. For example, Bill Adler's All Life is Local blog believes that the anti-Giant group's refusal to admit that Cleveland Park isn't some isolated, idyllic dreamland has long worn out its appeal:
For some people, that vision includes the idea that a neighborhood like Cleveland Park --what they think of as a "village" in Washington, DC-- shouldn't even have a modern, well-stocked supermarket. They worry that a large supermarket will attract shoppers on their way home from work. Personally, I've never understood the fear of having people who live outside of one neighborhood shop in another. It's actually a good thing when dollars are brought into a community.Other supermarket opponents insist that Cleveland Park can get along just fine with a small supermarket. "Busy city dwellers do not need to spend an hour doing the family shopping, walking miles around inside huge markets," wrote one person on the Cleveland Park Listserv who opposes the concept of a larger supermarket. Never mind that other people want a better supermarket; the opponents think they know what's best.
Ah, nothing says small-town charm quite like bickering endlessly about the inalienable right to never, ever change anything.