Hydraulic grocery may face roadblock

Plans for a huge new Whole Foods grocery have been endorsed by the city’s Planning Commission, but developers are still missing an essential ingredient: the property on which they’ve pledged to build part of Hillsdale Drive Extended.

In seeking approval for the project, which would bring a 66,600-square-foot store and three-level parking garage to Hydraulic Road, developers have agreed to construct the first section of Hillsdale Drive. But according to the property owner, the developers don’t yet have the right of way for that section of the road.

Charlottesville resident Michie Bright said she and her sister own the 14 acres where the new Whole Foods and corresponding portion of Hillsdale Drive are slated to be built.

“I don’t know exactly how they can OK the development of Whole Foods without having the roadway under their jurisdiction,” Bright said.

The $30.5 million Hillsdale Drive would connect Hydraulic to north of Greenbrier Drive through the Seminole Square shopping center. The Terrace Theater and a car wash in the Kmart shopping center have already been demolished to make way for the new store and connector road.

During the Planning Commission’s meeting Tuesday, Bright said, “You’ve talked about everything but not about [Hillsdale Drive] itself. The people who are developing this do not own the property.”

The Whole Foods project development team is led by Charlottesville-based Red Light Management Co., which owns rights to the Hydraulic Road parcel through a 99-year ground lease.

A developer involved in the project could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Bright would not comment on property negotiations. But a June report from city planner Nick Rogers said developers were negotiating the right-of-way to construct Hillsdale Drive, and until permission for public use is given, city staff could not give final site plan approval.

Some planning commissioners warned Tuesday that too much emphasis is being placed on Hillsdale Drive to alleviate traffic when the road may not be finished for years. The state has given Charlottesville $3.1 million for the design and engineering costs, but no more money is in the pipeline until 2014, when the city is slated to receive another $332,000.

“I do have heartburn as it relates to what this will do to traffic,” Planning Commis-sioner Hosea Mitchell said of the entire project. According to a traffic study, the proposed site use would generate roughly 5,850 trips per weekday.

Pending Hillsdale’s completion, Hydraulic is set for changes to accommodate the extra vehicles, including moving the traffic light at the intersection with Kmart and Kroger closer to the U.S. 250 Bypass.

“We may be many years with the traffic problems that this is going to generate,” Mitchell said.

Changes have been made to the Whole Foods project since it was last brought to the Planning Commission in June, much to the commission’s approval. The parking garage has been brought back 15 feet from Hydraulic; thin brick has been removed from parking structure design plans; and additional landscaping will be done on and off site to surpass the city’s 10 percent tree canopy requirement. As stated in previous plans, the project also allows for a large community space for meetings and farmers markets.

“I don’t really ever get heartburn, but if I did this might reduce it,” Commission Chairman Jason Pearson said.

Dan Rosensweig, the only commissioner to vote against the entrance corridor plan, said he thinks more needs to be done to inspire pedestrian activity on Hydraulic.

“I appreciate the tree screening and making the effort to push the parking lot structure back off of Hydraulic, but I feel like without any feature to attract any kind of pedestrian life to that street, we’re kind of throwing Hydraulic under the bus,” he said.