WHOLE FOODS, COUNCIL AT ODDS MARKET MIGHT LEAVE IF CITY WANTS PARK.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE- Whole Foods Market and the city of Glendale are trying to reach a compromise on how to develop a commercial lot, once occupied by Albertson's, to best serve the community.

Two weeks ago, Whole Foods Market announced it had signed a lease to occupy the property, but the City Council has been eyeing the space as well - to develop a 3 1/2-acre park.

``We're working with the city staff and council for something that serves everybody in the community - a Whole Foods Market and park or just a Whole Foods Market,'' said Michael Besancon, president of the southern pacific region of Whole Foods Market. ``Everybody is trying to do the right thing for the people of Glendale, and there are a lot of questions around what that is.''

Discussions have surrounded whether the lot, which runs along busy Glendale Avenue, is an appropriate location for the park, and if a park is planned for the lot, where it would be located.

Council members, who have been discussing the issue in closed sessions, are still trying to decide whether they want to acquire the land for a park.

``Remember, behind the YWCA there's R.D. White Elementary school, and the playground can be converted into a dual-use park - during the day it would be an elementary school playground, and in the afternoon and weekends it can be used as a park,'' said Mayor Frank Quintero. ``That's a possible park site, but we just have not - in my own mind also - made that decision yet.''

Whole Foods has offered space in a building it would construct adjacent to the market on the south side to serve as a community meeting room. Other ideas have included putting a park at the south end of the lot, the northeast corner of the lot, or not putting a park in at all.

City officials, aware that Glendale needs more parks, are always on the lookout for potential lots that could be converted into parks - especially in the dense neighborhood surrounding the Albertson's area.

But that property is also very valuable commercial land, which would make it an expensive place to build a park.

The successful health food store, which has outgrown its 12,000- square-foot location on Glendale Avenue and Glenoaks Boulevard, wants to relocate to the larger, 40,000-square-foot building and open the new store in February.

Besancon believes that the new site on Glendale Avenue between Lexington Drive and California Avenue would be ideal for the store and would likely raise nearby property values, serve as a community gathering site, offer at least 100 more jobs for locals and generate at least double the revenues generated by the current store.

City officials are also aware that the market has proven itself to be socially conscious, with company policies that include returning 5 percent of after-tax profit to the community.

``Typically, we're offering those (5 percent) days to the local nonprofits like the schools and children's organizations,'' Besancon said.

The company's lease at its current location expires in June 2004, and while it has the option of staying there, it may be forced to move out of the city because the space is one-third the size of their typical store format. Average store sizes have about 35,000 square feet of space.

``There's a good likelihood that we'll have to move. We don't want to do that since we've been there for 16 years, but we can't continue to do business for much longer with the size of store we currently have,'' Besancon said. ``I'm going to do what I have to do that's in the best interest of Whole Foods Market, and if I have to find an alternate site, it could very well be outside of the city of Glendale.''