A decision to accept Provco Pinegood’s special exception request to sell gas on the site of what could be a Super Wawa at Valley Forge Road and Sumneytown Pike rests in the hands of the Upper Gwynedd Township Zoning Hearing Board and could be known at its May 23 meeting, according to The Reporter.
Furthermore, North Penn Auto Service has been issued a cease-and-desist order from Upper Gwynedd on behalf of Provo Pinegood, per the report, over its lawsuit in the county common pleas court. Township Planning and Zoning Office Van Rieker reported the update on the progress of Sumney Forge Square Shopping Center to township commissioners this month. He said there have been five zoning hearings in all.
“The applicant rests their case, and then they have time to submit findings of fact and conclusions of law. Both sides do that, it’s then reviewed by the zoning hearing board,” Rieker said. “The anticipation is that there would be a decision rendered [on] May 23 by the zoning hearing board, on the special exception and variance part of the Wawa application: special exception to sell gas, variances for the sign package.”
The lawsuit, per the report, involves a rescinded agreement that allowed the service garage to park cars and trucks on the shopping center property for a number of years. Once the agreement was rescinded, it prompted the cease-and-desist order, litigation, and a zoning hearing board appeal, per the report.
The township solicitor suggested the case be handled as a parallel litigation in the county common pleas court versus the zoning hearing board, according to the article.
“That means, they’re going to contend they have a right to park there, the owner is going to say you don’t have a right to park there — that’s before county court … The idea was that both sides agree to continue any debate at the zoning hearing board here in Upper Gwynedd, until that issue is resolved at common pleas (court),” Rieker said in the article.
Read more on the litigation here.
See also:
Marathon Gas at Sumney-Forge Shopping Center Sues Wawa Over Parking Spaces for Vehicles Under Repair
Special Meeting for Wawa Expansion in Upper Gwynedd Scheduled for March 1
Preliminary Plan Submitted to Tear Down Sumney-Forge Shopping Center, Build ‘Super Wawa’
WATCH: Sumney Tavern in Upper Gwynedd Torn Down Thursday Afternoon
Upper Gwynedd Pursuing $1.15 Million Grant to Help Acquire Martin Tract
