Wawa project review begins
Experts speak to zoning board, hearing will continue Oct. 25
The developer seeking to put a Wawa convenience store and fuel station on Sumneytown Pike at West Point Pike in Upper Gwynedd has begun to make its case.
“What we’re proposing is to demolish the existing buildings, consolidate the parcels, and construct a 5,058-square-foot Wawa convenience store, with eight fuelling dispensing facilities — 16 fueling positions,” said attorney Julie Von Spreckelsen.
Von Spreckelsen, developer Bruce Goodman, and a team of consultants began making their case Tuesday night, testifying for roughly 2½
hours that their proposed Wawa, to be built on the southwest corner of that intersection, should fall under
the same zoning rules and regulations as the property across the street.
On that corner, the zoning board ruled earlier this summer that plans for a proposed Royal Farms fuel station and store could proceed, and the Wawa team is now seeking the same permission.
“This board made a determination that the sale of motor vehicle fuels is a permitted, by-right, accessory use, to the permitted, by right, convenience store use in the commercial district,” Von Spreckelsen said. “That decision can’t be any more clear.”
Goodman described the project and compared it to similar stations around Montgomery County, and others in Upper Gwynedd. The new store and the canopied fuel pumps would be surrounded by parking and landscaping, with right-turn-only driveway accesses from two driveways on Sumneytown and a two-way driveway on West Point Pike.
“We heard the township
loud and clear at our staff meeting, where they were concerned they just did all these wonderful improvements to the road, and they’re concerned about left turns in and out of Sumneytown Pike,” Goodman said.
Traffic engineer Matt Hammond detailed the two 10-foot-tall signs that would be placed near each driveway entrance, and the calculations behind setbacks that should let drivers see into and out of the driveways while others can see the station ahead.
“We want to provide signage so that vehicles and patrons can see the sign, and make their appropriate maneuvers, without causing congestion on the roadway,” Hammond said.
Other experts testified about the details of the dimensions and placements signs themselves, and the color — Wawa is seeking both red and green LED lights to indicate the prices of regular and diesel fuels, and are asking for several sign-related variances from the zoning board, in addition
to permission for the fuel sales.
Attorney Jim Garrity argued on behalf of the township supervisors in opposition to the plans, challenging the qualifications of the consultants and the Wawa team’s argument that the same permission for the Royal Farms applies to its case. “The zoning board doesn’t have the power to rewrite the zoning ordinance. If the zoning ordnance says the sale of gasoline requires a special exception, it requires a special exception,” he said.
“Your power is to interpret the zoning ordinance and grant relief. It is not to write the zoning ordinance,” Garrity said.
Resident Eric Hanson of Jones Avenue questioned several aspects of the presentation, including the time of day that traffic studies would be done, whether and what times tanker trucks would arrive at and leave the station, and if those tankers would be allowed to travel down West Point Pike. Most of those details
would be addressed during the formal land development process, if the project receives the necessary zoning approvals first, according to Hammond.
Nancy Bednarik, global director of facilities management for Merck, asked if the Wawa team had considered a master plan of traffic improvements completed over the past decade on Sumneytown Pike and at that intersection, where Merck contributed more than $7 million to a total of $22 million worth of infrastructure improvements. Hammond said the scope of the traffic study had yet to be determined, but would take into account county and township data on other projects being planned nearby — including the Royal Farms project.
Resident Liz McNaney of Airy Street asked what the scope of the traffic study would be, whether it would see whether cars that can’t make turns out of the Wawa will end up traveling through nearby neighborhoods to get back onto
main roads, and if the results would be made public.
“The intent of the traffic study is to determine how the roadway operates today, how they will operate in the future, and how they will operate in the future after development of the site,” Hammond said.
“The requirement is that you mitigate the impact of the proposed development on the roadway network — in other words, you do not make the roadway network any worse than it is today,” he said, adding that the study would be submitted to the township as part of the land development process, if zoning is granted.
After the testimony by the six experts on behalf of Wawa, the zoning board decided to continue the hearing until its next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 25. That meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place.
For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.
“What we’re proposing is to demolish the existing buildings, consolidate the parcels, and construct a 5,058-squarefoot Wawa convenience store, with eight fuelling dispensing facilities — 16 fueling positions.”