Warwick: Proposed Super Wawa Moves Forward
By MICHAEL MACAGNONE STAFF WRITER | Posted: Monday, January 20, 2014 10:10 pm
After back-and-forth between developers and the board of supervisors Monday night, Warwick is one step closer to having a Super Wawa.The board heard a revised preliminary proposal for a five-building complex from Buckingham Retail Properties LLC, including the Super Wawa, along York Road at Meetinghouse Road. The plan would connect Meyer Way to Meetinghouse Road and contain entrances at York Road and Meyer Way.
Supervisor Chair Judith Algeo said she was confident the board and developers could work out their issues so the project could move forward.
“I think they’re doing a great job working with us and I think it will be an asset to the community,” she said. Originally, the plans would have included the Wawa, a bank and a pharmacy, but the developer’s attorney Thomas Hecker said Wawa was the only client.
During the meeting, the supervisors talked about their concerns with the signage, lighting, sidewalks and other issues in the proposed development. The supervisors argued in favor of the black metal halide lights like those at CVS and Federal Savings Bank in the township.
The developers’ engineer, Adam Benosky of Boller Engineering, said Wawa had an existing supply chain for LED lights and it would be easier to use LEDs at the Wawa than the metal halide lights.
Wawa would have a 40-square-foot sign outside with its gas prices and logo, larger than the township-code mandated 24 square feet. The building would also have a 66.5-square-foot sign and a second 40-square-foot sign with the Wawa logo, larger than the 10 square feet in the township ordinance. Algeo and the other members of the board objected to the size of the signs. “They kind of yell at you,” she said. “You’re coming up York Road and they’re just yelling at you.”
The supervisors also requested an additional sidewalk inside the proposed development and sidewalks on both sides of the extended Meyer Way, rather than the development side alone. Weniger said the plan would have to go before the planning commission and the zoning board for approvals to move forward
