Hoboken Planning Board approves site plan review for Whole Foods on Washington Street

The Hoboken Planning Board conducted a site plan review for a Whole Foods store proposed for 101-105 Washington St. near City Hall this afternoon during a brief special meeting on Zoom.

By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View

“The existing bank building will be retained. Minor changes will be made to the exterior of the building,” said Thomas Garlick, the attorney for 101-105 Washington St. LLC.

“It’s not really a full-fledged supermarket. It is what Whole Foods calls a “Daily Shop”…The changes will be on the inside of the store,” he noted. “It fits the interior of the store.”

Planning Board Chairman Frank Magaletta noted that there were clerical errors in their planning board application that delayed site plan review.

“All of these documents were resubmitted with the corrections on or about December 10,” interjected Hoboken Planner George Wheatle Williams.

“We tried to submit it as quickly as possible based on the assessment letter,” Garlick added.

“The customer service area is 4,381 square meters. Is that true?” he asked.

“Yes, I think so,” said architect John Nastasi.

“The convenience store is a conditional use, right?” Commissioner Tom Jacobson asked.

“Right,” Garlick said.

“The grocery store has a cooking on site component that would take place in the basement, right?” Jacobson asked, to which Nastasi replied he didn’t think there would be cooking on site.

“It’s more about organizing the products than getting them to the top, straight from a ballot and an urn,” Garlick argued.

“So it’s more like packing it up and disassembling it?” asked Jacobson, which Garlick said was correct.

“If there was food preparation or cooking on-site, would there be additional conditional use requirements? And if so, were these considered and taken into account? But that seems to be a moot point,” Jacobson noted.

The planning committee approved the completeness review unanimously (3-0).

Board Secretary Patricia Carcone said they need to address other matters such as 914-930 Monroe St. before they can schedule a full planning board hearing for the Whole Foods project.

“Make sure you have strong and very complete credentials,” Magaletta explained.

He added that people at the meeting would be curious about services, the store’s opening hours and delivery details.

To that end, Garlick said a representative from Whole Foods will be there to answer questions.