City Staff On Fresh Market: "This Box Is Killing" Us

Representatives for The Koman Group told members of the Creve Coeur Planning and Zoning Commission Monday night that work to craft a proposal to bring The Fresh Market to Creve Coeur has been underway since October.

The message they received in a staff report and in comments at the Government Center suggest that more work needs to be done if the luxury grocer is to find a home at CityPlace.

The 25,490 square foot grocery store's site plan has already been widely discussed because it includes a building setback of more than 80 feet from Olive Boulevard.

But Monday, the focus was on the location of the grocer's loading dock, which currently faces Olive Blvd. A project architect said versions of the plan that could put the dock on the rear of the property would leave the site short of required parking or would leave the rear of the building facing CityPlace 6.

The applicant said the existing plan uses landscaping, fencing and other elements to shield the loading dock, which is 80 feet recessed from the front of the building. When asked about the option to enclose the dock, Mark Rubin, a Koman executive, said the loading dock is "a work in progress."

"Let's get beyond assuming it's got to be that," Paul Langdon, Creve Coeur's Director of Community Development told commission members in referring to the site plan. Langdon suggested that a Google search would show the grocer has been flexible in other markets in developing customized site plans. "This box is killing us," he said.

Langdon and the city staff report said the proposal also needs work when it comes to overall landscaping to meet the goals of the city's Comprehensive Plan.

"Not only does the rearward position of the proposed building lead to the parking-forward layout, but it also presses the building into the space that could be used to more effectively connect this site with the east-west portion of CityPlace Drive." 

No vote was taken by the panel Monday. The public hearing on the project was continued to September 3. "I'm not at all convinced this is the final location of the building," said Commission member Charles Pulliam.