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Planning commission approves Whole Foods proposal for Haight Street corner with traffic monitoring condition
Summary
Commission unanimously approved a Whole Foods Market at 690 Stanyan Street after staff and Whole Foods described façade, loading and parking plans, community outreach, and mitigation measures; commissioners added monitoring language to address Haight Street turning movements.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved a proposal to re-establish a full-service grocery at 690 Stanyan Street Jan. 28 after hearing presentations from planning staff, Whole Foods representatives and neighborhood supporters.
Jonas Iona and planning staff summarized an addendum to a prior EIR and said the proposal would replace the former Cala Foods footprint without increasing gross floor area. Whole Foods presenters described a modest façade refresh, perimeter landscaping, retaining the existing parking/loading configuration and operational measures intended to limit curb impacts — off-peak lot loading, parking validation agreements with nearby public lots, and valet attendants to move cars quickly through the site. The retailer estimated roughly 150 new jobs would be created and said it had substantial community outreach and letters of support from neighborhood associations.
Neighbors and community groups generally supported the project as a neighborhood-serving use that would animate a dilapidated block; speakers said the store could improve safety by adding late-night activity. Commissioners discussed the placement and height of windows on the Haight Street frontage — planning staff and the sponsor explained teller-style check stands and security concerns that led the sponsor to keep windows at a higher level — and discussed traffic and loading. The Haight Ashbury Improvement Association requested ongoing design coordination on rooftop HVAC and asked that the staff condition monitoring include the Haight Street entrance to evaluate left-turn and other conflicts with adjacent Muni stops. Commissioners added language to Condition 11 to monitor the Haight Street entrance as recommended; the sponsor accepted the amendment.
With those conditions, the commission voted unanimously to approve the project; the chair said the prior, more ambitious housing plan for the site remains an entitlement option but the current Whole Foods proposal will proceed under the adopted conditions.
