On September 23, the City Planning Commission unanimously approved zoning-based incentives which, combined with tax benefits and energy efficiency savings, will promote the development of new - as well as the upgrading of existing - grocery stores and supermarkets to bring healthy food to all New Yorkers.

Based on health, income, and density of grocery stores data, the zoning incentives, which focus on poor and bad-nutrition neighborhoods, now goes before the City Council. Hearings are scheduled for the end of October.

The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health, or FRESH, program will help create an estimated 15 new grocery stores and upgrade 10 existing stores, generating 1,100 new jobs and retaining 400 others over 10 years, estimates show.

Additionally, the recently formed Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative, which includes a $10 million New York State revolving loan fund program, will help finance food markets in under-served communities statewide. These city and state programs are in part a result of the 2008 New York Supermarket Commission, which studied access to fresh foods.

“The nationally innovative FRESH program will bring fresh food choices into over 45 under-served and low-income communities and, importantly, also bring jobs to those neighborhoods,” said Amanda Burden, director of the Department of City Planning. “Our goal has been to create an environment where New Yorkers can maintain a healthy lifestyle and where grocery store operators can more easily find opportunities to open new stores.”

Available and affordable fresh foods - vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy, and other perishables - are essential for a healthy diet. And yet, many areas in the city, including Jamaica, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, East New York, Crown Heights, Brownsville, and Flatbush, not only lack healthy food stores but are disproportionately afflicted by heart disease and the twin epidemics of diabetes and obesity.

The Supermarket Commission estimated about 1.1 million New Yorkers are judged obese and two million overweight, many of them living in these under-served areas.

The commission also noted that compact city neighborhoods make it more difficult for fresh food outlets to compete. They handle perishable items with refrigeration requirements, while drugstores and convenience stores sell packaged and canned goods and enjoy higher profit margins.

As neighborhoods lost their grocery stores and supermarkets to slim profit margins, soaring rents, and restrictive zoning requirements, people turned to facilities selling packaged and fast food products and their health declined.

Tom Moranzoni,chief financial officer of the Western Beef chain, which has 25 supermarkets citywide plus others in New Jersey and Florida, put it bluntly: “The supermarket business isn’t a high-profit margin business. So any government incentives that can help us afford to open stores in under-served neighborhoods in which we would otherwise be unable to afford is welcome.”

Open to existing grocery stores or developers seeking to construct or renovate a full-line grocery store, the zoning proposal requires a minimum of 6,000 square feet of retail space for groceries and at least 50 percent for food products, including at least 30 percent for perishable goods such as dairy, fresh produce, fresh meats, poultry, fish, and frozen foods.

Applicants may also qualify for a relaxation of parking space requirements. The first 20,000 square feet of a grocery store will not be counted against the zoning space quotas.

The financial incentives include reductions on real estate taxes, building taxes, a sales tax exemption, and a mortgage recording tax deferral

Western Beef’s Moranzoni sees advantage in the FRESH program.

“We’re looking at it as a good opportunity to get more stores, absolutely,” he said. “We’re exploring the zones designated as under-served, looking at competition levels, and seeing if there is a suitable piece of real estate for us to expand on.”

Councilman Leroy Comrie, who represents Jamaica, saw the impact of economic forces on his constituents.

“Since 2008, we had a string of four local supermarket closings, merchants driven out primarily due to the rising rents in the area,” explained Comrie aide Rance Huff. “They couldn’t afford the high rates any more, and we found it very hard to bring in new renters for the property because of the levels landlords are charging.”

Councilman Mathieu Eugene represents the under-served East Flatbush area.

”The FRESH program will give valuable tax incentives for supermarkets to provide fresh produce in areas lacking such facilities like in Flatbush and East Flatbush,” said aide Jonah Rogoff. “As a medical doctor, Councilman Eugene is a strong supporter of health care and regards this program as an important measure to support the health of our community.”

Barry Dinerstein, a senior planner with the City Planning Commission, sees the prospects for City Council approval of FRESH as good.

“During our hearings, the statewide Food Industry Alliance was in favor of the plan as was twenty-five speakers, while twenty community boards were notified and all that responded were positive,” he said. “We’re very optimistic working hand-in-hand with the City Council and with the support of the speaker.”