Villanova-based Provco Pinegood Lansdale LLC may know in a few weeks whether or not its concept to redevelop the Sumney-Forge Shopping Center into a large Wawa gas station becomes a reality for the dilapidated and vacant plaza in Upper Gwynedd Township.
The township Zoning Hearing Board has set 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 1 as the date for a zoning hearing where the board will vote to accept Provco’s special exception request to allow the sale of gasoline at an existing Wawa location, according to The Reporter and the township’s legal public notice of the meeting.
Township Planning and Zoning Officer Van Rieker updated the Board of Commissioners Monday night on the zoning hearing process. Rieker said he expects a decision to be made that evening, which would move the process along to the planning commission and finally commissioners for final approval.
“It’s been advertised, and the entirety of that night will be for that Wawa application, and the neighbors, and anyone else who wishes to come out. Hopefully, we can complete it that evening,” Rieker said, according to the article.
Provco is also asking for a variance for signage: The township enforces that free-standing signage with red or green lights must be 75 feet away from public right-of-way and that building façade signage must be the same height as the building or 12 feet, whichever is less.
Unfortunately, the Wawa free-standing sign, per The Reporter, will have two free-standing signs 3.7 feet from the right-of-way and façade signage between 19 and 22 feet.
Back in October, when Provco had submitted a sketch plan to the township, Rieker told township commissioners the approval process should take six to 10 months, beginning with approval from the zoning hearing board to allow gas pumps on the site. Currently, a Marathon gas and service station exists next to the property at the corner of Sumneytown Pike and Valley Forge Road.
Provco Pinegood Lansdale LLC and Wawa have been involved in two court cases with the township, which have now been settled, per the article.
The property in question, according to The Reporter, was part of a court case in 2012 and 2013 when the township zoning hearing board approved, and then commissioners later appealed in 2012, a plan to add 10 gas pumps and expand the Wawa.
The second court case involved the plan in 2016 to combine the former parcels of The Sumney and Country Bride and Gent into one huge lot for a Wawa and gas station, per reports.
Read more on the sketch plan and the former court cases in detail here.
See also:
Preliminary Plan Submitted to Tear Down Sumney-Forge Shopping Center, Build ‘Super Wawa’
Montgomery Township Residents Sound Off on Proposed Penn Medicine Ambulatory Healthcare Center
Upper Gwynedd Pursuing $1.15 Million Grant to Help Acquire Martin Tract
Discover Lansdale Receives $1 Million Grant for Lansdale Freight House
