FRESH expansion will bring more
green grocers to the Bronx
BY BRONX TIMES
COVID-19 exposed food insecurities
throughout the five
boroughs. Now, the city is hoping
to change that.
On May 19, the City Planning
Commission announced
the start of public review for
an update and expansion of
the Food Retail Expansion to
Support Health (FRESH) program,
to bring accessible grocery
stores to underserved
neighborhoods.
The FRESH program currently
applies to Bronx Community
Districts 1 through 7
and with this update will expand
to Community Districts
8 and 9.
“I’m thrilled that FRESH
is expanding its program to
more neighborhoods across
the city” said Council Member
Rafael Salamanca, Chair
of the Committee on Land
Use. “At the heart of this program
is the belief that a person’s
zip code shouldn’t determine
whether they can
access healthy food, which
is something I couldn’t support
more. I’m proud many of
my Council colleagues agree,
and excited to keep fighting
for programs like FRESH
to improve the lives of New
Yorkers.”
The FRESH update would
also:
Add specific rules an applicant
must follow to create a
new FRESH store near an existing
location. Some communities
have seen clustering of
FRESH supermarkets, making
it difficult for them to prosper.
These new criteria would
limit the potential for oversaturation.
For renovations to an existing
building to construct a
FRESH supermarket, building
owners will no longer
have to replace existing walls
with windows, removing a potentially
expensive step in the
process.
Provide a waiver from
parking requirements for
sites using up to 10,000 square
feet of retail area in lower density
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residential districts.
Since the program
launched, 27 projects have
been approved for FRESH
zoning incentives, out of
which eight are occupied as of
February. Each new grocery
store that opens is expected
to generate between 30 and
100 jobs.
The FRESH update grew
out of a 2018 DCP analysis,
which showed that many
neighborhoods remain underserved
by high-quality grocery
stores, emphasizing the
need to expand and bolster the
program. DCP also recently
launched the Supermarket
Needs Index, an interactive
map that informs communities
of nearby grocery stores
and supermarkets and shows
what neighborhoods remain
underserved.
The launch of the seven
month public review process
starts the clock for
A map showing where the new
FRESH locations will be.
Photo courtesy of FRESH
FRESH update. The proposal
will go to all impacted
Community Boards for the
districts listed above for review,
followed by the five borough
presidents and borough
boards. The FRESH update
will then go to the City Planning
Commission for a public
hearing and vote, followed by
the City Council.
“Expanding the FRESH
zoning incentives will increase
the number of grocery
stores offering affordable and
healthy food to those that have
historically lacked access and
will be key to the City’s recovery
from COVID-19,” said NYCEDC
President and CEO Rachel
Loeb. “We congratulate
DCP on the start of this process
and look forward to expanding
the FRESH
Created in 2009, this
FRESH zoning incentive
gives property owners the
right to construct slightly
larger buildings in mixed
residential and commercial
districts if they include a
FRESH supermarket. It also
allows grocery stores as-ofright
in light manufacturing
districts, increasing the locations
where they can be built
In partnership with the City
Council, DCP will expand
the FRESH zoning incentive
to 11 additional lower-income
Community Districts
throughout the City, including
Staten Island for the first
time, on top of the 19 districts
where it already applies.
The map of where the new FRESH
supermarkets will go.
Courtesy of DCP
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