Whole Foods Market is hanging on for the long haul in Brighton, despite past development offers from other area locations.

The health-conscious food chain is set to open in a retail plaza on Monroe Avenue, a development proposed by the Daniele family over two years ago. Whole Foods, bought out by Amazon earlier this year, has signed a lease on the property and continues to “reaffirm its commitment” to the location, said Danny Daniele.

However, when Whole Foods was considering the Brighton location, the town of Henrietta reached out to them with a 13-acre site on Jefferson Road, said outgoing Henrietta town supervisor Jack Moore.

Part of Henrietta’s general economic development strategy is to contact large companies that are location scouting the region, said Moore, but the Whole Foods offer seemed well-timed, as he assumed the Brighton project would take a while to get approvals, he said.

“We’ve made sure they know we’re alive,” he said. “That’s my job to reach out to companies like that.”

Whole Foods is apparently not considering any other local site offers, according to company spokesperson Ted Kwong — “We remain committed to our upcoming location in Brighton and there are no plans to open in an alternate location,” he said via email.

So on to the bigger question — when the heck is the store actually going to appear on a property that currently houses the tired looking former shells of Mario’s restaurant and Clover Lanes?

Danieles react to Amazon Whole Foods deal

The Danieles have submitted all required documents to the Town of Brighton under the state’s project review process, said Daniele, and the town board is responsible for finishing a final statement of environmental impact by the end of the year, according to the town documents.

“The ball is their hands,” said Daniele. “We have done everything that we have been asked to do.”

The process has included multiple public hearing meetings with residents, many of whom have decried the proposal as being too large for the property, or being set to receive too many zoning variances from the town. Others have expressed their desire to see a Whole Foods in the area, or to see something new developed at the parcel.

Incentive zoning has been a significant point of community debate as the developers have asked to receive zoning variances in exchange for provided community amenities. They’ve most recently proposed to extend and improve a portion of the Auburn Trail, roughly between the Pittsford town line and Midtown Athletic Club, as one of the amenities offered, said Daniele.

The town will eventually move to create a findings statement that will detail the project's environmental impacts, such as traffic and drainage, considered in the ultimate town approval or denial of the proposal.

Meanwhile, the Danieles have been maintaining the property as best they can while they wait for the next step in the project process. They’ve boarded up a few windows and coned off certain areas of the plaza after people broke into or vandalized the restaurant and bowling lane buildings, said Daniele.

“There’s nobody who wants it to look better more than we do,” he said, adding that neighbors seem exhausted with the process and just want to see an outcome — “We’re hoping we’re getting to the finale on this project,” he said.

STADDEO@Gannett.com