Mirkarimi supports Whole Foods project

Supervisor Mirkarimi has said it again in today's Chronicle: He supports Whole Foods locating at Haight and Stanyan.

A likely line of attack now for opponents of the much-needed market in the Haight will be to try to restrict parking for the project to make it economically unviable. Mirkarimi is the SF Bicycle Coalition's go-to guy on the Board of Supervisors and vulnerable to pressure from the anti-car bike folks who have never seen a parking lot they liked. (What's to like? Parking is for cars, aka death monsters.)

From the CarFree chatboard: "This site is perfect for the type of development proposed---grocery store with housing above. But the car-based nature of it is problematic." (Jason Henderson) And of course cyclist Katherine Roberts, who tried to stop the underground garage in Golden Gate Park:

But I agree with you that the parking element of the plan is very disturbing, and has not gotten NEARLY enough attention. I'm not a huge fan of Whole Foods, but if they put in a completely car-free mixed-use development with a Whole Foods on the ground floor, I would have zero opposition to this project---and I live less than 3 blocks away from it. It's the gargantuan underground parking lot that I feel will have by far the most adverse effect on the neighborhood, and on the quality of life of those of us who live here.

A conceptual breakthrough from the bike people: a supermarket with no parking!

The design for the proposed market is similar to that at Masonic and Fulton: housing on top, market on the ground level, and parking for both tenants and shoppers underneath. I often shop at the Lucky market there, and I have never seen any traffic backup at the Fulton Street entrance/exit to the underground parking lot.