Upper Gwynedd Approves Plans for Expanded Wawa at Sumneytown and Valley Forge

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

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

2024 could bring major changes to one of the busiest corners in Upper Gwynedd.

Township officials voted in late 2023 to approve plans for a super-Wawa on the corner of Valley Forge Road and Sumneytown Pike, the latest step in nearly a decade of attempts to redevelop that corner and replace a vacant shopping center there.

"The proposal is, as you know, to raze the center and the existing buildings, and redevelop it into a Wawa store of 5,330 square feet, with gas pumps,” said attorney Christen Pionzio.

In the fall of 2022, the township commissioners and public first heard about the latest version of the proposed project, to be built on the southeast corner of Valley Forge Road and Sumneytown Pike, where the largely vacant "Sumney Forge Square” shopping center and a Wawa store are just behind a Marathon gas station and garage on a separate parcel on the corner, just across the street from North Penn High School in neighboring Towamencin.

The site was the subject of litigation in 2012-13 regarding earlier plans for an expanded Wawa there, and developer Provco Pinegood, which is proposing the latest plans, was also part of a dispute over similar plans farther east on Sumneytown, at the corner of West Point Pike, in 2016-17.

At the end of 2022, the township heard that Provco would ask the township’s zoning hearing board for a special exception to allow the sale of gas, and for variances allowing signage beyond what’s currently allowed by code, and in early 2023 the board heard about litigation between the Wawa developer and the adjacent North Penn Auto Service about the auto shop using parking on the Wawa’s property.

During a pair of presentations in November, Pionzio and a team on behalf of Wawa and developer Bruce Goodman gave the commissioners an update on that litigation, and presented the latest version of plans for feedback and possible approval.

Regarding the North Penn Auto suit, the attorney told the commissioners, "we are very glad to tell you that we settled all of that,” with provisions for the auto shop to use 14 parking spaces in the latest plans.

In the latest version, the attorney told the board, the 4.1-acre site would see the current 21,000-square-foot shopping center building demolished and replaced with a new Wawa store, behind a canopy covering eight pumps and a total of 16 fueling positions.

Impervious coverage on the site would be reduced from the current 64 percent coverage down to just under 48 percent coverage, the attorney told the board, largely by demolishing the current building and adding landscaping and a stormwater retention basin along the southern side of the site.

"The rear portion of our property is significantly green. We do have a stream along the rear of the property line,” she said.

Driveway access would be provided via a right-in, right-out driveway onto Valley Forge Road and right-in, right-out from Sumneytown Pike, with a total of 69 parking spaces on the lot, well above the 38 required by township codes.

The second major question for board discussion centered on sidewalks: traffic engineer Matt Hammond showed how the plans call for sidewalks along both the Sumneytown Pike and Valley Forge Road frontages, ramps with crosswalks at the entrance driveways, and pedestrian paths connecting those sidewalks to the Wawa building.

In the first hearing on Nov. 13, commissioner Liz McNaney asked if crosswalks internal to the site would be upgraded, highlighted or delineated for high school students walking from North Penn High School across the street.

"We like to joke we’d rather have something like this near an elementary school, ’cause those kids pay attention. High school kids are constantly looking down (at their phones), and not paying attention,” McNaney said.

After fielding the feedback in the first meeting, the attorney reported back on Nov. 21 with an updated plan and renderings showing pedestrian islands closer to the driveway entrances, and painted driveways better indicating those crosswalks for kids looking down at their devices.

The board voted unanimously to grant the preliminary and final land development approval for the plans, and in December township planning and zoning officer Van Rieker said the project team was working with staff to finalize documentation prior to issuing building permits.

Following the vote, outgoing Commissioner Martha Simelaro said this brought a close to a topic she’d heard discussed, and "really wrestled with,” during her entire four-year stint on the board.

"One of our campaign promises was that we were going to improve that Wawa property, because it was a blight, and we wanted to improve all of the blighted properties. I do hope, by approving this project, that we can accomplish that,” she said. "I just hope that the project, when it comes to fruition, does become what we’ve looked at, and is a benefit to the township.”

Pionzio answered: "I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Every project I work on with Bruce is top-notch, so I’m certain it’ll be the same here in Upper Gwynedd.”

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place; for more information visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.

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