Wayne Planning Board Approves Whole Foods Application

WAYNE, NJ — The Planning Board approved Whole Foods Market's application Monday night to bring a grocery store to town. The vote was unanimous.

Whole Foods will expand the footprint of the former A&P store in the Valley Ridge Shopping Center on Valley Road to more than 40,000 square feet, an increase of more than 4,200 square feet.

"We welcome them with open arms to our community and are very excited that Whole Foods has chosen to make Wayne there new home," Mayor Chris Vergano said in a statement following the vote.

The store will bring about 150 to 175 jobs to town, Mark Mobley, director of real estate for Whole Foods Market said during his testimony before the board.

The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is expected the store will be at its busiest on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 until about 5 p.m., Mobley said.

The store will have indoor and outdoor seating areas to accommodate diners who buy freshly-prepared food that Whole Foods is know for.

Whole Foods sought dozens of design waivers and two variances for two new signs that will be built. Many of the waivers relate to traffic, lighting, and parking.

Whole Foods coming to Valley Road will "not have a significant impact on traffic" on Valley Road and Preakness Avenue, Stonefield Engineering and Design LLC concluded in a traffic study. The firm estimated that 34 more vehicles would enter the parking lot on weekday evenings and 37 more on midday Saturdays.

There was some discussion regarding the driveways. Whole Foods agreed to leave the entry and exit lanes as is. Valley Road and Preakness Avenue are Passaic County-owned roads and Whole Foods agreed to county officials' request of having a traffic analysis conducted regarding the western-most driveway on Preakness Avenue, which is near that street's intersection with Valley Road.

A new 15-foot-tall, illuminated sign will be built along Valley Road with Whole Foods' portion of the sign being at the very top.

An opening date for the highly-anticipated grocery store has not been announced yet. Whole Foods previously said it may take "years" for the store to be built.

Vergano announced in April that Whole Foods signed a lease to bring a store to the shopping center. Vergano said the town worked for months with Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., the shopping center's owner, and Whole Foods to complete the deal.

A&P had been located in the 36,000-square-foot space for years until the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2015. A&P vacated the space later that year.

A Korean market was slated to go in the space, but the tenant defaulted on their lease and had to be evicted.

Related:

• Whole Foods Opening In Wayne
• Wayne Whole Foods Store May Be 'Years' Away From Opening
• Bergen County-Based A And P Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo by Philip Arno Photography via Shutterstock.com