By Matt LaFever :sfgate – excerpt (excerpt) audio

After nearly five years of legal battles, a Grocery Outlet is finally coming to Fort Bragg, a remote outpost on California’s rugged North Coast. First proposed in 2019, the project ignited a small-town showdown: working-class residents pushing for an affordable food source, an elusive business interests group fighting it in court over concerns about coastal views and traffic congestion. After years of heated debate over everything from the project’s potential impact on wildlife and air pollution to what its exterior stone facade might look like, last week, a San Francisco judge dismissed the final legal challenge, paving the way for construction to begin.

The 16,157-square-foot store is slated to replace the deteriorating Old Social Services Building on a 1.63-acre lot at South Franklin Street, located between South Street and North Harbor Drive. Plans include a 53-space parking lot, perimeter sidewalks, stormwater drainage, and landscaping to manage runoff, according to documents presented to the California Coastal Commission. The store plans to operate seven days a week and employ 25 full-time and 10 part-time workers.…(more)