Community meeting scheduled for proposed Germantown supermarket project

Editor’s note: The original version of this story misstated the date of the meeting. It is Monday, Oct. 15. NewsWorks apologizes for an inconvenience.

A public meeting has been scheduled for Germantown and East Mt. Airy residents to get more information about a Bottom Dollar Food supermarket proposed for a site at Chew Avenue and Washington Lane.

The Chew & Belfield Neighbors Club, Inc. will host a presentation and discussion with the project developer at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, at the Zion Hill Church of God in Christ, 529 E. Washington Lane, said Rev. Chester H. Williams, of CBNC.

“The purpose of the meeting is to let all the neighbors be aware of what’s coming to the community,” said Williams, who hosted a preliminary meeting at his home last week to gauge interest from some civic-group representatives and neighborhood block captains.

The upcoming meeting will be for a wider general audience, he said.

The project area sits just about on the border between Germantown proper and East Mt. Airy, and Williams said the meeting would be a place where any residents living nearby could come to get information.

An estimated 100 jobs

Developer Richard L. Soloff, who owns and has built other Bottom Dollar Food stores in the area, has proposed an 18,000 square-foot store that would employ about 100 people once open. Plans also call for underground stormwater retention, and a parking lot for 62 cars.

Bottom Dollar Food is one of several grocery store brands owned by Food Lion Inc., and has made an aggressive push into the Philadelphia market, with more than 20 stores opened since 2010. The stores feature a mix of private-label and national brand groceries, along with fresh meat, poultry and produce.

NewsWorks has partnered with independent news gatherer PlanPhilly to provide regular, in-depth, timely coverage of planning, zoning and development news. Contact Amy Z. Quinn at azquinn@planphilly.com.