During the Nov. 10 Community Board 6 Land Use meeting, board members soundly rejected a proposal to
construct a ground-level supermarket within a proposed 11-story affordable housing complex in the Belmont
section. Photo Google Maps
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N BTR OV. 19-25, 2021 3
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Last month, Belmont residents
pleaded with Bronx Community
Board 6 members to
deny a request to construct a
ground-fl oor level supermarket
within a proposed affordable
housing project on the 660-
668 E. Fordham Road block that
would’ve come at the expense of
59 parking spots in the area.
At the Nov. 10 CB6 Land Use
Committee meeting, those residents
got their wish.
CB6 board members unequivocally
recommended a denial
of the request, with a large
majority of the 34-person board
either submitting a ‘no’ vote or
abstaining, with only one board
member voting in favor of the
proposal.
However, the project is not
necessarily dead on arrival as
the decision ultimately lies with
the New York City Council; the
community board vote is merely
an advisory recommendation.
The proposed 11-story building,
which is earmarked for the
660-680 E. Fordham Road plot, is
bringing a total of 145 proposed
dwelling units to the area, 20%
of which — 28 units — would be
affordable under the city’s inclusionary
housing program.
Developers Shahadi Development
intended to lease the
ground-level space to a fresh
supermarket, with C-Town being
one of the prominent bidders.
The supermarket proposal
is part of the city’s Food Retail
Expansion to Support Health
(FRESH) program, which offers
zoning and tax incentives
to encourage developers to build
more supermarkets in high-need
neighborhoods that face barriers
to food access.
Wednesday’s vote is another
blow to the FRESH program, as
only eight FRESH supermarkets
are operating in the program’s
12-year run.
The CB6 district — which includes
the Fordham, West Farms
and East Tremont sections — is
considered a food desert, according
to the city Department of
Health. In the Bronx, 62% of the
borough’s residents are suffering
from food insecurity, according
to NYC Health Data.
But the need to preserve parking,
which accounts for roughly
5% of land use in the CB6 region,
ultimately won out during the fi -
nal vote.
Residents cited vehicle congestion
from the nearby New York
State DMV and Fordham University
— which designates private
parking to students and faculty —
as major headaches for residents,
and that the addition of the supermarket
would only exacerbate an
area whose participants are constantly
fighting over parking.
“I want to beseech the community
board on the true condition
of the parking in this neighborhood
and to understand how
inundated we are on Cambreleng
(Avenue) and in Belmont,”
said longtime Belmont resident
Donna Devito.
Additionally, a nearby parking
garage on the 660 E. Fordham
Road block is closed and out of service.
In their proposal, developers
said that 47 total parking spaces
would continue to be provided at
Medalliance, a nearby medical
facility at 625 E. Fordham Road,
where developer Sean Daneshvar
serves as the president.
CB6 recommends denial
of Fordham supermarket
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