People in Oakland’s Lakeshore and Rockridge neighborhoods have been begging for a Trader Joe’s for years now, but the Planning Commission continues to block the openings of two Trader Joe’s stores on Lakeshore and College avenues. According to an article in today’s Chronicle, Commissioners Michael Lighty and Doug Boxer (yes, Barbara’s son) blocked the approval of liquor licenses for reasons that had nothing to do with potential alcohol sales:
They wanted the popular specialty market chain to agree to allow a Northern California grocery store workers’ union to ask employees of the new stores whether they would want to vote to join the union.While it’s not the planning panel’s job to include labor issues when determining conditions on a use permit, Lighty said it was as legitimate a concern as any other.”What I was suggesting is that when we look at major projects we often look at affordable housing, and I’ve suggested we look at health impacts, socioeconomic impacts, gentrification,” said Lighty. “We require developers to meet with community groups even when there are no conditional-use permits or variances involved. I think this is consistent with that.”
We don’t quite agree with several decisions made by the commission, namely opposing community consensus and using loopholes to block legislation, but the issue involving grocery unions is a big one. With last year’s strike, the unions still have a good deal of power, but let’s not forget one key issue that the article stresses: the employees of Trader Joe’s can vote to unionize at any time. Thus, it seems puzzling how a union’s concerns can overshadow “widespread public demand for a grocery store that will be a much-needed boost to the city’s retail base.”
Commissioners went too far in blocking Trader Joe’s [SFGate]
