Moments ago I received a phone call from Justin Azzarella, Director of the Elmwood Village Association. He relayed that he was very upset that workers at the corner of Elmwood and Auburn were busy tearing off the roof of the Wilson Farms located at the corner of Elmwood and Auburn. He told me that he was completely frustrated that Elmwood was about to see a new look for the market - a look that was supposed to be approved by the community, but somewhere along the way the public process dropped. From Justin:
"Basically, all we know is that this never went through planning board. They started tearing off the roof today. We've been watching Planning Board for the Auburn store and nothing has come through. This is such a hi-profile location and we assumed that we would have been notified if work was to start on this store. We're not even sure if this is the same facade that was going on other locations. Maybe the work is under a certain dollar amount and does not warrant planning board review... either way we're confused as to the process. How could this not go through public review? We've been getting phone calls from the community asking what is going on. From what we have seen the design is very suburban in looks and the materials don't match anything else on the street. This was a great opportunity to see something nice on the corner. We never heard back from Wilson Farms or the architect... then we saw the work being done and were shocked. "
For some background on the WF issue, check out these comments on a previous BRO post.