Lidl, a German grocery store chain, is one step closer to becoming a reality in the city of College Park.
The city’s senior planner Miriam Bader, along with several representatives from Lidl, presented a detailed site plan along with the city staff’s recommendations for the store on Tuesday night at the City Council’s work session.
Lidl representatives stated the store would be a better use of the site — currently the Clarion Inn at 8601 Baltimore Ave. — because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s designation of the city as a “food desert,” which is defined as a region that lacks access to fresh food, largely due to a shortage of grocery stores. In 2015, city residents spent nearly $60 million on food and drink services, but only about $22 million of that was spent in College Park, suggesting residents are traveling outside of the city to purchase food, according to a February Diamondback article.
If the city’s planning board approves the proposal at an Oct. 20 hearing, the inn will be torn down, and Lidl will be constructed in its place.
“We’re really thrilled at the prospect of potentially going in at College Park — one of our most premier sites,” said Brian Kearney, Lidl’s real estate development manager.
Lidl has 10,000 stores in 27 countries, is ranked the fourth largest retailer in the world and set its sights on the United States two years ago, Kearney said. The chain is also planning a location in Bowie.
“What we’re bringing to the market and why we’re different is that we’re going to offer a premium private label brand … but we’re also going to offer those national A-brand products that you’re used to seeing in more traditional American grocery stores,” he said.
While the store is European-based, it will be adjusting its products for American consumers, Kearney said. He added German beer and wine probably won’t be available at the College Park location, unless the Lidl team works “some legal magic.”
“Primarily we’re going to have groceries that are from American suppliers, local suppliers, but specialty items like our chocolate — it’s award-winning — will actually come from overseas,” he said.
During the presentation to the council, Bader emphasized Lidl’s commitment to the city’s initiative to create a more walk-able College Park. The store has proposed including a bike-share station, additional sidewalks, pedestrian streetlights and a 25-space bicycle rack, according to the site proposal.
However, the Lidl team didn’t agree with all of the city staff’s recommendations for the site proposal, including the recommendation to close off vehicle access to the store from Route 1. City staff prefers the store have one entrance point on Berwyn Road.
“Staff is concerned that access off of Baltimore Avenue will cause a number of vehicular and pedestrian conflicts, and staff believes the entrance is too close to Berwyn Road,” Bader said.
However, that alternate entrance point poses an “operational issue,” said Matt Tedesco, the land use and zoning attorney for Lidl, adding that not having that Route 1 entrance point could possibly prevent the deal from reaching fruition.
The issue was not resolved at the work session, but the Lidl team did approve several of the city’s other recommendations, including landscaping changes and the relocation of a bus stop.
