Neighborhood Council Eyes Commercial Guidelines

It was the end of an era, of sorts, at JP Neighborhood Council Tuesday night.

The council dissolved its last group working on Whole Foods and assigned future discussions on the broader subject of gentrification to a different, existing committee.

The Neighborhood Council has played a role in the often heated debate about the pros and cons of Whole Foods' new, popular store. The council formed an ad-hoc committee that produced a . It also formed a Whole Foods negotiating team that to convince the grocer to sign a formal "community benefits agreement."

Last month the council revived its Whole Foods Commmittee. The group met and came up with three proposals.

The proposals originally included a mandate to survey residents about gentrification. The full council rejected that idea, saying it was impractical. The council accepted these revised proposals:

1. Ask the Housing and Development Committee to integrate all future discussion related to the new Whole Foods in Jamaica Plain and the impacts it will have in our community into their future agendas.
2. Ask the Housing and Development Committee to create options to assess the impact on the community regarding issues of gentrification
3. Ask the Housing and Development Committee to create commercial development guidelines.

The vote was 15 yes, 1 no (Alex Rodriguez) and 1 abstention (Oliver De Leon).

The council then voted unanimously to disband the Whole Foods Negotiating Team.

Council Member Joseph Wight said creating commercial guidelines would be helpful before, as is often rumored, a Starbucks seeks to open in JP.

The council has previously crafted residential development guidelines, such as calling for "inclusionary zoning" that promotes higher percentages of affordable housing on city-owned property.

Jullieanne Doherty, Mayor Thomas Menino's liaison for JP, urged the council to closely involve the directors of the neighborhood's three Main Streets business districts in any discussions of commercial guidelines.

[Editor's note: The initial posting gave an incorrect person as casting the lone "no" vote.]