Land identified in South End for second City Market

City Market has identified property in the South End of Burlington that the store says would be an optimum site for a second location. Burlington planning official Peter Owens said the city-owned land off of Sears Lane is known as the Morton parcel.

Use of the two-acre parcel must pass several hurdles, according to Owens, who is director of Burlington's Community and Economic Development Office.

Building a second store is "definitely a priority" for City Market/Onion River Co-op, board president Molly O'Brien said. The cooperatively owned grocery store has more than 10,000 members. Its $38 million in annual sales is greater than any single-store food co-op in the nation.

The co-op's market studies indicate the Pine Street corridor would be the "ideal" location for a second store, O'Brien said. It would relieve pressure on the downtown store and meet the needs of customers, she said.

"In many ways it's an honor to be known as the largest single-store co-op in the country," O'Brien said. "But that also has an impact on how the store feels and the experience of our members and customers in the existing store."

The South End land the co-op is eyeing is east of the railroad tracks and west of the proposed site of the Champlain Parkway. The parcel is north of Sears Lane and south of the parking lot across from the Innovation Center.

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Several issues concerning the property need to be resolved before the project can move forward. These include, according to Owens:

• Two pieces of litigation, both under appeal: An Act 250 appeal by the owner of the Innovation Center concerning the Champlain Parkway; a land title dispute that dates to the original acquisition of the property.

• Contested rights to the curved railroad spur that runs along the southwest side of the property.

• Zoning regulations that would need to be changed to allow for a grocery store at the site.

• A restriction tied to the parcel closest to the Champlain Parkway, rooted in its acquisition with federal money for use as a transit center.

City Market's first choice would be to build at this site. Roughly 60 percent of people who shop at City Market head to the South End for home or work when they leave the downtown store, general manager Pat Burns said.

Alison Cannon, a longtime co-op member, is a fiber artist who lives and works in the South End. Cannon said the parking lot of the downtown store is "crazy." But she thinks the South End is not the best place for a second store.

"I really wish that if the co-op is going to develop another location, they would go to Winooski or the Old North End," Cannon said.

Those neighborhoods have greater need for a food store — in particular one that is accessible without a car — and fewer options, she said. By comparison, the South End has two major supermarkets not far from the proposed City Market site, Cannon said.

Sarah Langan, chef at South End Kitchen on Pine Street, said she would appreciate the convenience of a grocery store near her place of her work. She could shop after work without fighting downtown traffic and parking, Langan said.

"As a shopper, man, I'd be psyched to have one down here," she said.

In terms of business, Langan thinks it would be a "good symbiotic relationship" to have City Market a few blocks from South End Kitchen.

South End resident and co-op member Grace Per Lee said by email she would "welcome" City Market to the neighborhood. "I hope that traffic impacts have been studied," she wrote. A copywriter at Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, whose office is at the Innovation Center, Per Lee wrote she'd be more likely to walk or bicycle to City Market at a South End location.

"I think Burlington is unusually lucky to have a store like City Market," she wrote.

City Market initially envisioned a second store that would be about half the size of the original store's 16,000 square feet. Current thinking calls for a store at least as big and likely bigger, Burns said.

The co-op wants to build a store with a production/training kitchen to produce larger amounts of hot-and-cold bar foods, and grab-n'-go products, Burns said. The kitchen at South Winooski Avenue, which currently operates fulltime with three shifts a day, would become more of a finishing kitchen, he said.

"I've been saying for 18 months, 'We think we're getting there. We think we're getting there,' " Burns said. Financing is in place, he said.

At some point, City Market will pursue alternate locations — though Burns stresses this would be less desirable in terms of site and size. He mentioned a possible bodega in Winooski.

Owens, of CEDO, said city officials have a weekly meeting about the Champlain Parkway and related issues. He is hopeful issues will be resolved favorably and City Market will build in the South End

"I'm a shamelessly optimistic person," Owens said. "We're committed to trying to find a solution that can move us forward. We're not there yet."

Owens was a working member of Onion River Co-op — wrapping blocks of cheddar cheese — 40 years ago when it was on Archibald Street in the Old North End. Among the first things Owens did when he returned to Burlington was buy a used bike at Old Spokes Home and ride to City Market to renew his membership.

"City Market is such a huge part of the local food system," Owens said. "It's not just about access to good food. It's about a community institution that brings education and advocacy."

A store in the South End would expand and strengthen the co-op's community function, he said.

South End Series

This is the second in a series of stories about issues facing residents and those who work in or commute through Burlington's South End.

Coming Sunday: Hear from artists in Burlington's South End who are worried about zoning changes that could push them out of the neighborhood

See a story about the Champlain Parkway here

Contact Sally Pollak at spollak@burlingtonfreepress.com or 660-1859; www.twitter.com/vtpollak

