Upper Gwynedd Defines ‘Convenience Store’ in Code Update

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

Cars sit parked in the parking lot of the Wawa convenience store in the “Sumney Forge Square” shopping center in Upper Gwynedd in November 2022.

A code update is in the works that’s meant to address a long-discussed topic in Upper Gwynedd

"Its purpose is very simple: it’s to provide a definition for a convenience store, so that we’re able to regulate that use better, relative to parking setbacks and size,” said planning and zoning officer Van Rieker.

"We needed to define something before we could regulate it. It’s not a new use, it’s simply a redefined use,” he said.

In November 2023 the township’s commissioner approved a proposed plan for a Super Wawa at the corner of Valley Forge Road and Sumneytown Pike, meant to replace an older Wawa and vacant shopping center at that corner — one that won a county design award half a century ago — with a newer store and fuel pumps.

That approval brought to a close nearly a decade of developer’s attempts to bring a new Wawa to the township, including a prior plan for the corner of Sumneytown and West Point Pike that spurred years of litigation, as a similar Royal Farms fuel station and store was built on the opposite corner.

In recent months, Rieker told the commissioners on Feb. 5, staff and the township’s planning commission have discussed a draft ordinance that would amend the township’s current zoning code to update the definition of convenience store.

"We felt that a housekeeping text update was necessary, in order to better define some of the issues that come to the fore, relative to a convenience store and the sale of gas and fuel,” he said.

Fuel sales would still require approval by the township’s zoning hearing board, and the proposed code update would define a convenience store as being a retail establishment of less than 7,500 square feet of floor area, "offering for sale prepackaged food products, household items, newspapers and magazines, and sandwiches or other freshly prepared food for off-site consumption.” Fuel sales could be allowed, but any such store "shall not include automotive service or vehicle repair,” reads the code, contained in an eight-page meeting memo and draft included in the commissioners meeting materials.

That code update was discussed briefly on Feb. 5 during Rieker’s planning and zoning update, then assistant manager Megan Weaver summarized the item again later in the meeting under the code enforcement and land planning action items. The draft has been vetted by both the township and Montgomery County planning commissions and the township solicitor, and the commissioners voted on Feb. 12 to schedule a public hearing on the code update during their March 12 meeting.

"The board can take any public comment related to the proposed ordinance, and ask any question,” said solicitor Lauren Gallagher. Township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell added that the hearing would likely be held at the start of the regularly scheduled board meeting that night.

Fire Marshal Inspection

The commissioners unanimously approved a contract with outside fire safety inspection firm Barry Isett and Associates to perform certain building fire safety inspections for the township. That contract will provide additional coverage for the township while current fire marshal Conor McCann and deputy fire marshal Jeff Tomczak, the latter currently on leave, are unavailable.

"We don’t want to replace the position with a permanent replacement, we’re hoping that Jeff will be able to come back, so we’re looking to bring in a third-party vendor to provide those inspections,” said Zadell.

Terms of the contract were not posted publicly, but Zadell said it falls within the fire marshal’s approved budget, and the proposal chosen was the lowest of two firms who provided quotes. A detailed list of over two dozen deficiencies commonly found during those fire safety inspections is posted on the township fire marshal’s Facebook page.

One other fire-safety-related item was also approved unanimously: the board unanimously approved the 2024 list of active volunteers for the township’s emergency responder tax credit, which Zadell said was comprised of members of the Upper Gwynedd and North Penn Volunteer Fire Companies and VMSC – Emergency Medical Services and could help those volunteers claim up to $1,000 off of their township tax bills.

"These are volunteer incentives, to help increase volunteerism. We are always looking for additional volunteers for both fire departments,” she said.

Each year, the chiefs of those departments compile a list of members who have qualified by a points-based system derived from the numbers of hours and calls those volunteers dedicate to the company in that year. Once that list is approved by the board, township staff then work with the county’s tax collector to ensure those volunteers get the credit, the manager said.

Vehicle Purchases Approved

The township’s commissioners approved several vehicle purchases that were included in the 2024 budget, and which replace vehicles that are years, or in some cases decades old.

For the public works department, the board authorized a $164,000 purchase of a 2024 model year side-shift backhoe that Zadell said will replace a similar vehicle from 1997. In a separate motion, the board also authorized the sale of a 2000 Ford truck with over 194,000 miles used by the parks and recreation department on online auction site Municibid, with proceeds going back to that department.

"The life of any construction vehicle, these larger pieces of equipment is 15 to 20 years, so we get a lot out of our vehicles. Our staff in the public works department, especially our mechanic, work very hard to maintain and keep things alive as long as humanly possible,” Zadell said.

One vehicle purchase for police was also approved: a $41,000 model year 2023 Ford interceptor was authorized last year but not yet secured due to supply chain issues, according to police Chief David Duffy and commissioner Denise Hull.

Grant Application Gets OK

Additional unanimous votes from the commissioners gave the manager permission to accept a $421,000 grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Small Water and Sewer grant program, and authorized spending $371,000 of that funding on cured-in-place-pipe liners for replacement of sewer lateral lines throughout the township.

"We had planned to do this work anyway: it’s part of our required and very important attention to I-and-I (inflow and infiltration) work throughout our wastewater system. And now we have a grant to help with that,” Zadell said.

"This just means we’ll be able to do another $421,000 of this work next year, because there might be an endless amount of I-and-I. I don’t know that we’ll ever be done,” she said.

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on March 4 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.

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