BRIGHTON, N.Y. — The site plan and numerous related applications were approved Monday night in a planning committee meeting for Whole Foods Plaza in Brighton.

With three lawsuits and two and a half years of meetings, bringing a Whole Foods plaza to Brighton has been a struggle. Residents have been very vocal about the project, both in favor and against.

“I think it’d be good for the community, and I think the competition for Wegmans is good,” Brighton resident Gary Caruso said.

“Anything will impact traffic, but we don’t need another grocery store, we don’t need another bank, we don’t need another Starbucks, though they may close the other one, we don’t need these kinds of operations,” said one Brighton resident.

The town and developers say it’ll bring $400,000 a year in tax revenue.

“And that’s key to keep our high quality schools and town services,” Brighton town supervisor Bill Moehle said.

However, others are worried about the traffic it would cause on Monroe Avenue and the surrounding area.

“We want a real traffic study that shows usage on what’s going on at the Whole Foods plaza, we don’t want a traffic study done on Whole Foods," said Howie Jacobson, founder of Brighton Grassroots.

The town and developers say an extensive traffic study has been done.

“That traffic study concluded while traffic on Monroe Avenue will continue to be busy, the improvements that this project will make to the corridor will actually make it safer, and run more efficiently,” said developer Anthony Danieli.

Neighborhood associations have sued the town and developers, but one lawsuit has already been dismissed. The town and developers hope the other two follow suit. 

“We’re excited to get moving, we hope, because I think it’s a good project," Moehle said. "I think this project will bring benefits to the community, give a kick start to the economic environment on Monroe Avenue.”

Now that the site plan has been approved, all that is left is to wait on that litigation to clear up, so getting the permits can begin.

“We’re prepared to start, and get this thing moving as fast as humanly possible.” Danieli said.