Another Wawa wants a home in Ridley
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP » If all goes well at a zoning hearing on Aug. 9, Wawa will get the go-ahead to build its sixth store in the township and the fifth one along the MacDade Boulevard corridor within the township.
Wawas are located at MacDade and Holmes Road, MacDade and Kedron Avenue, Morton Avenue, just a short distance from the intersection with MacDade, and MacDade at Bullens Lane. A fifth Wawa is on Fairview Road near Fifth Avenue. The proposed new store would be located on MacDade Boulevard between Forrest and Buchanan avenues and would include a gasoline station as well as the traditional convenience store.
The square block site for the proposed new facility is now occupied by the former Jerry Hampton Furniture Store that recently has been operating as a Habitat for Humanity home furnishing resale store. A twin house is located in the 200 block of Forrest Avenue and is part of the plan for development. Reese Street runs along the rear of the property in question. The area is zoned C-1 Neighborhood Commercial and B-Residential.
The zoning hearing application is seeking 19 variances. Among the items included for variances are: a special exception to allow the 18.9 feet canopy, an accessory structure, to exceed 15 feet in height; permission to allow a landscaped strip of 1 foot abutting a residential district where 10 feet is required; a request to allow 75,000 gallons of underground fuel tanks where the total storage capacity is limited to 40,000 gallons; a variance to allow
signage to be illuminated after 11 p.m. in a residential district; a request to allow three parallel signs to be located more than 12 feet above the official street grade in a residential district.
Also, a variance to allow fuel tanks to be located 8.4 feet from a property line where a minimum distance of 20 feet is required; a special exception to
allow a convenience store as a secondary use to a gasoline service station; a variance to allow a 33-foot high principal building where a maximum height of 25 feet is permitted; a request to allow less than a 30 feet planted buffer area along a parcel zoned or used for residential purposes.
Board of Commissioners President Bob Willert said no information meeting with residents is planned before the zoning hearing. He said township officials went door-to-door to inform residents of the Wawa proposal.
Anyone wishing to file an application of appearance with the zoning hearing board must do so no later than 4 p.m. Aug. 9, at the Office of the Township Manager, Code Enforcement Department, at the township administration building at 100 E. MacDade Blvd.