Testimony On Signs Takes Up Most Of Hearing On Proposed Newtown Twp. Wawa

Questions and answers in painstaking detail about signs dominated Monday night’s Newtown Township Zoning Hearing Board meeting about a proposed Wawa with gas pumps in the township.

The hearing was a continuation of one that started Jan. 30 on a validity challenge filed by the developer Provco Pinegood Newtown LLC to certain provisions of the joint municipal zoning ordinance that governs zoning for Newtown, Upper Makefield and Wrightstown townships.

Provco is proposing a 5,585 square-foot Wawa with eight fuel dispensers on a 4.95-acre parcel at the corner of Silver Lake Road and the Newtown Bypass. Being challenged by the developer at the hearings Jan. 30 and Monday night are provisions of the JMZO that prohibit eight fuel dispensers on properties less than five acres, prohibit signs within 1,000 feet of the Bypass that face on that highway, and prohibit signs considered “electronic messaging centers” under the JMZO.

Two expert witnesses called Monday night by John VanLuvanee, the attorney representing Provco in the matter, indicated by their testimony that they feel the provisions regarding signs relative to the Bypass and the number of fuel dispensers are overly restrictive and are not needed to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents. The sign being proposed by Wawa should not be considered an electronic messaging center as defined in the JMZO, one of the witnesses added.

The witnesses, Transportation Engineer Matthew Hammond and Civil Engineer Michael Tantala, who is considered by many an authority on signs, answered many questions from VanLuvanee on direct examination and from attorneys David Sander and Peter Nelson on cross-examination. Sander is representing the Newtown Township board of supervisors and Nelson the Upper Makefield BOS, both of whom oppose the relief from provisions of the JMZO requested by Provco for the Wawa.

Questions from Sander and Nelson were aimed at establishing the case that Provco could build the Wawa, and that it would be successful, without the requested relief.

The basic use of convenience store with fuel dispensers is allowed by right in the Office Research zoning district where the property is located, so long as it complies with the JMZO. The Newtown Township Zoning Hearing Board previously denied variances requested by Provco on the signs and number of dispensers. That denial is under appeal in Bucks County Court, as is the Newtown Township board of supervisors’ previous denial of land development approval for the project. The validity challenge is another front Provco has opened in trying to get the Wawa built.

At Monday night’s hearing, both Hammond and Tantala testified that complying with the provision regarding a sign’s placement and distance relative to the Bypass could lead to a dangerous situation. It could lead to some motorists taking their eyes off the road to look at a sign outside their normal scope of vision, both witnesses said.

Monday night’s hearing was adjourned after two hours, 20 minutes entirely taken up with testimony by Hammond and Tantala. Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor Michael Clarke said the matter will technically be continued at the April 6 ZHB meeting, but only long enough to announce another date when it will actually be resumed in full. That date has not been determined yet. None of parties need to show up on April 6, Clarke said. Doing it this way avoids having to readvertise, he explained.

VanLuvanee said he has one more expert witness to call. Sander indicated he will call one, and Nelson said he won’t be calling any witnesses. Clarke said public comment will be allowed once both sides have concluded their cases.

Many residents in Newtown Township and the surrounding area oppose the Wawa. They fear, among other objections, that allowing such an establishment along the Bypass could someday lead to that highway resembling Street Road, the Roosevelt Boulevard or other busy roads lined mile after mile with commercial enterprises.