Politics & Government

Hatboro Hears Wawa Plan

Wawa representatives will be setting a meeting for resident feedback and have not yet determined if and when plans would be filed.

If a comes to Hatboro, the would be preserved “as-is,” but the neighboring building, as well as a vacant former nursing home, would be demolished, officials announced Monday.

A handful of the standing-room-only crowd of more than 70 voiced concerns to the Hatboro Borough Council with regard to increased traffic, lighting and flooding in the vicinity of York and Horsham roads, where the store is proposed.

Resident input

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Comments came following Wawa’s presentation – after the convenience store chain’s representatives had left the meeting. When asked why Wawa reps didn’t stay to answer questions, Council President John Zygmont said, “we didn’t ask them to do that tonight.” Zygmont said the borough solicitor had suggested that residents address Wawa at a separate meeting. Specifics of that meeting would be posted on the borough’s Web site once a date was set, he said.

The plan

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Sketches presented Monday for a 5,102-sqaure-foot Wawa with six gas pumps and “associated parking” were conceptual in nature. Wawa Regional Real Estate Manager Susan Bratton said she did not have a tentative date for formal plans to be submitted to Hatboro, or a timeframe for when the store might be built or opened.

First, she said, Wawa hopes to meet with residents to “accommodate all issues.”

“We wanted to introduce the concept,” Bratton told Patch after the presentation. “We’re putting our toe in the water.”

If the store is constructed, it would mean 40 to 45 new jobs, most of which would be part-time, she said. Five full-time jobs would be available as well, according to Bratton.

But, in order to get the ok to build the facility, the zoning hearing board would either have to rezone the area  - from residential – or grant a use variance. Officials said Monday they did not know which approach would be sought.

Impacts

Horsham Road resident Christina Wiercinski said she’s “devastated” at the prospect of a Wawa being a few doors down from her home of 10 years. Lights from cars leaving Spa Escape at rush hour now light her house up “like a football field,” she said.

Additional traffic from a round-the-clock business would ruin her quality of life, she said.

“I’m used to the flooding,” Wiercinski told Patch after the meeting. “I would live with that before I would live with Wawa.”

Traffic

A traffic expert estimated that if the Wawa is built, 80 “new trips” would result in the morning peak; and 100 new trips – or 50 vehicles in and 50 vehicles out – would occur in the afternoon.

Additional traffic from deliveries of the store’s food, fuel and the like, would be scheduled on an “as-needed basis” and could happen at all hours, Bratton said.

“It could be 12 in the afternoon,” Bratton said. “It could be 12 at night.”

Officials suggested several efforts to help with traffic, including:

  • Redesigning the circulation into the site
  • York Road access could be restricted to a right in and right out
  • Horsham Road would be widened
  • The left turn lane would be extended
  • A “runaround” is being proposed to allow for room on the westbound portion of Horsham Road for cars to get around vehicles turning left into the store

Flooding

In terms of addressing flooding, Wawa representatives said the new store would have less impervious surface than is presently the case now, which is expected to help with flooding on that corner. In addition, he said retaining walls would be put in place and underground stormwater management basins could be used if needed.

Historic preservation

Hatboro resident April Fox Regan, who is to preserve historic buildings, said the structure currently housing Spa Escape is nearly 300 years old and should be saved.

“Those buildings are part of our town’s heart,” she said.

Julie L. Von Spreckelsen, an attorney for the developer, said the developer, Summit Realty Advisors, "will preserve the Old Mill as is,” noting that the would-be property owner is aware of ongoing flooding issues and intends to address them. She said the developer is “working on concepts for its preservation,” but said it’s too early to know for sure what those might entail.

Bratton said Wawa has worked with other municipalities having downtown areas similar to Hatboro. In Whitpain, after concerns were raised over building aesthetics, she said the store at routes 202 and 73 had stone incorporated into its design. A similar adjustment was made for a store in Skippack, she said.

Hatboro resident Beverly Harrison told Patch that she believed Wawa would “bring in a lot of business and revenue.”

“We love Hatboro,” Harrison said. “But, it’s really not a tourist attraction.”

The current Wawa

Bratton said the , at York and Monument, will remain open even if a new store is built at the other end of the 1.4-sqaure-mile town.

“We’re looking to improve,” Bratton said. “We’re looking to modernize by building a new facility.”

When asked how Wawa handles issues of , as has been the case at the store in the north end of town, Bratton said the company develops “phenomenal relationships” with the local police department.

“I’m not aware of incidents that we’ve had in the borough with the store up the street,” Bratton said, adding that inside and outside cameras, as well as keeping at least two staffers on at a time deters such problems. “We welcome the local police to come into our stores. We want everyone to feel comfortable.”


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