Photo by (afm).

The redevelopment of the Cleveland Park/McLean Gardens/Wisconsin Avenue Giant — which has been in the works now for well over a decade — has been at the heart of one of the city’s longest-running and deepest-cutting neighborhood spats. The Post’s Lori Aratani gives the project the recap treatment this morning, offering up a decent primer on the long slate of bickering and the current state of play — basically, the future of the Cathedral Commons development which would house the Giant, as well as residences, is still up in the air. (Financing for the Giant has not yet been secured, and there’s a pending decision from the D.C. Court of Appeals regarding the zoning procedures applied during the development process.)

But while the story is certainly a fascinating case study for those who consider themselves scholars of hyperlocal Washingtonian affairs, we were struck by one specific reaction to the debate shared by one D.C. Councilmember:

“One thing working on Giant’s side was that people were tired of what some considered to be an almost Third-World supermarket,” said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, (D-At Large). “People were quick to blame each other for the delays. I don’t see it that way. I think it was the corporation.”

Now, the District has some truly subpar grocery stores — but I’m not sure if I’d go so far as to call the Giant, despite its incredibly old age, cramped corridors and lack of modern amenities, “almost Third-World.” (And, frankly, I’m not even sure what such an adjective is precisely supposed to indicate. Is every grocery which doesn’t include an olive bar or a wide selection of organic vegetables you’ve never heard of worthy of such a description?) The existing Giant is just a really, really old market — it’s not the first in the District (see also: the Shaw Giant, the Petworth Safeway), and it certainly won’t be the last.