Ridley eases path for new Lidl supermarket

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP >> The Ridley Township Zoning Hearing Board paved the way for a new German-based supermarket to locate on the site of the old Pathmark at 420 MacDade Blvd. by approving several variances at a recent zoning hearing.

Lidl US Operations, LLC wants to construct a new 35,962 square-foot supermarket on the Pathmark site, which is 3.99 acres. But the SC Shopping zoning for that area requires 7 acres. The zoning board ruled that the change in the larger acreage took place in 1997 and Pathmark was already in existence. A ruling by the board “grandfathered” in the 3.99 acres for Lidl after getting an opinion from Solicitor Michael Dignazio. Other variances approved were relief from the 3-foot width of landscaping on all sides of the building and the solicitor’s legal opinion that no variance was needed for the sign to be erected at the front of the site.

There was no one opposing the zoning variances at the hearing and the zoning board members made the decision to grant the relief to Lidl at the conclusion of the hearing.

Lidl representatives at a recent informational meeting for residents of the area said the new store will not be open 24-hours a day. There will be no deli, pharmacy or photo counter in the store. Seventy-five percent of the items to be sold in the store will bear the Lidl brand name.

Deliveries can not be made before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. and delivery trucks will reach the rear loading area along the west side of the property, sparing residents on Willowbrook Avenue, where some of the homes overlook the parking lot on the east side of the parking lot, the noise of daily delivery traffic. A solid screening fence will also separate the rear driveway of the Willowbrook homes from the parking lot.

Lidl is well known in Europe but it just now beginning to build stores in the United States. The township store will be the first in this region.

Although there is no information on dates for demolition or the construction schedule, a spokesman for the company said the next phase required by the township is land development.