Wawa Coming To Newtown Twp. After Supervisors Approve Settlement

A years-long battle to put a Wawa in Newtown Township has ended on the side of Wawa.

The township board of supervisors voted 3-2 at its Wednesday night meeting to approve a settlement agreement that ends all litigation between the township and the project’s developer, Provco Pinegood Newtown LLC, and clears the way for the 5,585 square-foot store with fuel dispensers on a 4.95-acre property at the corner of the Newtown Bypass and Lower Silver Lake Road.

Before the vote, township Solicitor David Sander explained that the settlement will end a validity challenge filed by Provco to provisions of the joint municipal zoning ordinance that governs zoning for Newtown, Upper Makefield and Wrightstown townships. Those provisions do not allow eight fuel dispensers – the number proposed by the developer – or the types of signs Provco wanted to put up. The township zoning hearing board had held a series of hearings on the validity challenge and another had been scheduled for June 27.

The settlement also ends litigation pending in Bucks County Court of Commons Pleas on the ZHB’s denial of fuel dispenser and sign variances, and the supervisors’ denial of land development approval for the project. In addition, the agreement reduces and simplifies the signage Provco had been proposing and also limits the number of fuel dispensers to a maximum of six.

By virtue of the settlement, Provco will also install six electric vehicle charging stations with two plug-ins each that will be available for public use. The developer will also put up solar panels to help power the new Wawa, Sander explained.

Supervisors’ Chairman Dennis Fisher voted in favor of the settlement agreement along with fellow board members Phil Calabro and Elen Snyder. Kyle Davis and John Mack voted no. Snyder said she felt construction of the Wawa was inevitable because of a convenience store with fuel dispensers now being an allowable use in the office research zoning district where the property is located and other factors that were in place before she became a supervisor. Sander had advised township officials they were unlikely to prevent the Wawa through continued legal fights and Wednesday night called construction of the store a “foregone conclusion.”

“Voting against this settlement will not stop Wawa from coming here,” Snyder said. “And this way we have an influence on what is actually built. I never would have voted for a Wawa to come to Newtown (under other circumstances). I’m not voting for a Wawa. I’m voting to stop the bleeding of Newtown dollars on endless litigation. I’m trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

Fisher had similar thoughts.

“There was going to be a Wawa there,” he said. “Ending the legal challenges will save money.”

But Mack had a much different take, saying the settlement’s approval sets a very bad precedent and will lead to a “zoning Armageddon” in the township.

“There’s a slippery slope happening here and it’s really unfortunate,” he said. “We just exhibited to every other developer that we will cave in.”

Davis said he felt a Wawa at that location could be a danger, enticing kids to cross highways to get to it. He and some residents also said the township should have made a full copy of the settlement agreement available to residents before voting on it. Davis’ motion to table consideration of the settlement to another date in the interest of transparency, seconded by Mack, was voted down 3-2.

John VanLuvanee, the local attorney representing Provco on the project, said he was pleased on hearing the settlement had been approved.

“Provco and Wawa are both happy it happened,” he said in a telephone conversation Thursday morning. “We believe a majority of Newtown Township residents are happy to have it there. It will be a good thing for the community.”

Before Wednesday night’s vote, several residents implored the supervisors to keep fighting.

“If you settle, over time you’ll get more pumps and more signs,” said Tom Crawford, who lives on Lower Silver Lake Road. “They will keep coming back at you. I’m not opposed to Wawas in the appropriate places, but this will be the first step toward turning the Bypass into another Route 1 corridor. If you’re going to give up, you should be voted out of office.”

Resident Bradley Cooper had similar thoughts, adding approval of the Wawa will have a “domino effect.”

Others had more favorable comments.

“The Bypass will never look like another Street Road or Route 1,” said resident John D’Aprile, also a member of the township planning commission. “There are already too many houses close to the Bypass for that to happen. I know a lot of people who want the Wawa and have wanted it for years.”

Another resident said Newtown Township is surrounded by development in neighboring townships.

“If you’re going to attract businesses, you need places for people to get lunch,” he said. “We’re not living in a little bubble just here in Newtown.”

Sander said approval of the settlement agreement means Provco representatives will not have to come back before any township boards. He said Provco will prepare a final plan in accordance with the settlement, the township engineer will review that plan to make sure sure it complies with the settlement and then Sander will write an approval letter.