Bensalem zoning board to review Wawa at Neshaminy Mall

By Thomas Friestad
@ThomasFriestad
Posted Jan 7, 2019 at 2:46 PM Updated Jan 7, 2019 at 2:46 PM

Neshaminy Winding Brook LLC will request eight variances, relating to signage and store dimensions, before the township’s zoning hearing board Thursday evening.

The lucky number seventh Wawa is going through the development approval process in Bensalem.

The township’s zoning hearing board will hear a request Thursday evening from Neshaminy Winding Brook LLC for eight variances, for a Wawa with 12 gas pumps off Route 1 and Rockhill Drive, at the entrance to the Neshaminy Mall. If built, it would be the seventh Wawa in the township.

The convenience and gas chain is proposed to take up 2.14 acres of overflow parking space on the 22.18-acre parcel housing Sears, which recently shut its doors after its company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Several of the variances relate to signs proposed for the Wawa, including requests for two free-standing signs along Rockhill Drive instead of the permitted one, and for sign height and face area to exceed township maximums.

Representatives of Neshaminy Winding Brook LLC, an affiliate of the Doylestown-based Verrichia Co., say the variances will allow for signs consistent with those in the immediate area, in Bensalem’s highway commercial district, and sufficiently visible so motorists can identify the Wawa in time to make safe turns.

Also requested are variances allowing the 4,736-square-foot Wawa to exceed Bensalem’s 3,000-square-foot maximum for convenience stores with gas, and for the proposed development to exceed the township’s maximum impervious space and minimum natural green space allotments.