Artist’s rendition of the improved and renovated Lotte market.
For many years, the Lotte market in Fairfax has been a popular grocery store, especially with its Asian customers. But its exterior has been an eyesore to the public.
Now, though, it’s cleaning up its act – literally – and plans to renovate and remodel its store. It’s moving forward, but under the watchful eye of the Fairfax City Council.
Deputy Zoning Administrator Nancy Cranmer told the Council in January that Lotte has cleaned up its site and intends to no longer have a mini mall, but to just sell groceries. It also hopes to rectify its traffic-circulation problems.
“There’d be one, main entrance off Old Lee Highway, with one lane in and two lanes out,” said Cranmer. “So this should get rid of the unauthorized, off-site parking. Lotte will fund two, new signal poles with mast arms and will create an interparcel connection to the west. And it will get deliveries from other Lotte stores, so semi-trucks will no longer be needed, just smaller delivery trucks.”
Evan Pritchard, the attorney representing Lotte, said four access points would be consolidated into one and additional landscaping islands will be created. There’ll be a new, store façade and signage, and the parking area won’t be used for anything else. He stressed that there “won’t be trash and debris outside, and the former mini-mall will be demolished.” And he said Lotte could provide periodic reports to City staff “to make sure we’re on track.”
MAYOR Scott Silverthorne noted that the City revoked Lotte’s special-use permit several years ago and, since then, the store has been operating without it.
“The grocery store originally came in as a by-right business there,” said Brooke Hardin, director of Community Development and Planning. “But as it expanded, things changed and, in 2008, the permit was revoked. But City staff has been working with them to remedy the issues.”
Still, Silverthorne wasn’t pleased. “This has never been, in my opinion, a suitable site for a grocery store,” he said. “And it doesn’t send a good message to the public to not enforce things we said we would. It’s a traffic nightmare at that intersection and, frankly, it’s a dump.”
Councilwoman Ellie Schmidt asked, “How will we ensure compliance this time around and make sure the business plan is enacted?” Cranmer replied that certain physical things have changed that won’t be a problem, anymore.
“By building the new façade, fixing the parking shortfall, demolishing part of the old building and improving the intersection, a lot of the old problems will no longer exist,” explained Pritchard. “And reporting back to City staff will provide a system of checks. There’s been a change in leadership at Lotte, and we think this’ll be a dramatic improvement over the status quo.”
Representing the owner, Alvin Lee – who authored Lotte’s new business plan in response to staff’s concerns – said the mayor’s comments “have merit. But how do we resolve the issues now? Parking has always been an issue and we’re trying to solve it. We acquired the [nearby] 7-Eleven site to make this viable.”
“And we’ll be improving the whole site and the traffic situation,” continued Lee. “There’s not enough parking now, so people circle the site and leave. But the remodeled site with more parking should yield increased sales.”
“Given the significant revenue drop over the past two years, plus the 7-Eleven purchase, plus the reinvestments, what do the Rees brothers [the owners] think of this as a viable entity?” asked Councilman Michael DeMarco.
“We’ve been there close to 20 years so we could serve the community, and we’ve been getting more foot traffic from the nearby apartments,” answered Lee. “We’d like to continue on there but, if not, we’ll consider another business there. But regardless, the parking issue will have to be resolved.”
“It’s an eyesore today; but if done right, I think it could be a benefit to the community,” said DeMarco. “It’s a much better project than what’s there today.”
COUNCILWOMAN Nancy Loftus said she’d also like an inter parcel connection at the other end of the building, on the Artie’s [Restaurant] side. Lee said he’d like that, too, but it’s up to the adjoining landowner.
Councilman David Meyer said he wanted the utilities undergrounded. He also advised Lotte’s representatives to “keep that property’s frontage as clean and presentable as possible.”
Councilwoman Janice Miller told them, “There’s a great opportunity for you to purchase the Lamb Center site when it’s vacated. That would help with the parking. You’ve been successful there for many years and there are people who are very happy to shop there.”
“You have the green light here to go forward,” added Silverthorne. “But speaking as an individual, I wish you’d consider other options.”