CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Woodard Properties, the developer of the 501 Cherry Avenue project, told Cville Right Now it “respectfully disagrees” with a consultant’s analysis that plans for the Charlottesville Food Co-op are not feasible.

A release from the co-op Monday said Seven Roots, an independent grocery consulting firm, found the design of the property is not conducive for delivery access and waste removal for a grocery store.

“501 Cherry Avenue is the site of a former neighborhood grocery store, and bringing fresh food back to this corner has been a central goal of this project from Day 1,” Woodard Properties said in a statement. “BRW Architects and Shimp Engineering designed the development in close partnership with Piedmont Housing Alliance, the Fifeville Neighborhood Association, and the Music Resource Center. Our design professionals have extensive experience with constrained urban infill sites like this one, and other experienced operators who have studied this project have found it both feasible and desirable.”

One of the main contentions Woodard has with the consultant’s conclusion is the assumption routine deliveries will be by tractor-trailers up to 85 feet.

Woodard said that’s a non-standard configuration.

“Even major national operators like Walmart and Wawa do not use trucks longer than 75 feet, and most local businesses in Charlottesville are supplied by tractor-trailers in the 40-to-50-foot range — the same trucks that back down side streets to supply restaurants and shops on the Downtown Mall,” the statement said. “A neighborhood store of this size is typically served by box trucks up to 45 feet, which the site is designed to accommodate; trucks of 85 feet would not be routed through the surrounding residential streets. Delivery access and waste management are legitimate operational priorities, and we are confident both can be addressed within the current plan.”

Charlottesville Food Co-op, in its reaction to the Seven Roots report, said it would “reach out to project developers, architects, and engineers to assess options for major changes to current project design.”

Woodard said Tuesday their people, BRW Architects, Shimp Engineering, Piedmont Housing Alliance, the Fifeville Neighborhood Association, the Charlottesville Food Co-op and Seven Roots “had a productive design meeting” where they “confirmed that the site is feasible for a neighborhood-scale grocery market, as has always been intended, and produced progress on additional waste removal and delivery solutions.”

“Woodard Properties remains committed to delivering all three components of this project: affordable housing, the new home for the Music Resource Center, and a working neighborhood grocery store, and to doing so in close partnership with the community we have worked alongside throughout,” the statement said.

In its report, Seven Roots determined the current site design “does not provide a viable, dedicated area for semi-trucks to unload and deliver products.”

“Furthermore, the tight turns and steep grade of the proposed site plan’s egress do not allow a large truck to move through and out of the site,” the report said. “The site as planned also does not include a dedicated trash area for the store – an industry standard – to accommodate pallets and other large trash and recycling items. The two suggested trash locations on the site are both shared with residents.”