WESTAMPTON — Customers may soon be able to fill up on more than
just sandwiches at the Wawa on Springside Road.
Wawa will make a presentation to township officials during a
public meeting in two weeks with the intention of expanding its operation to
include gasoline sales.
Under township ordinance, the small convenience store at
Springside and Woodlane roads is not permitted to sell sandwiches and gasoline
at the same location.
Wawa will ask for a zoning amendment to allow the store to do
both. The business also would have to go before the Land Development Board for
approval to make changes to the building.
Timothy Prime, an attorney representing Wawa, said his client
hopes to use surrounding land it already owns to build the gas station.
“Wawa has a lot of extra land around its building,” Prime said
last month. “Right now it’s subdivided, and Wawa would sell it off unless they
can use it for gas.”
The subject has been brought to the township before, and a large
number of residents disapproved because they were worried about traffic
congestion, according to Township Clerk Donna Ryan.
“They tried to turn it into a Super Wawa about 10 years ago, but
the residents didn’t go for it,” Ryan said Tuesday.
Prime said the current proposal would not turn the store into a
Super Wawa, which often offers more than a dozen fuel pumps. Instead, he said
Wawa wants to install six pumps and remodel the store without making it bigger.
“It would still be the smallest model that Wawa offers,” he said.
Wawa’s proposal 10 years ago also was shot down because another
municipal ordinance prohibits three gas stations at the same intersection.
Since then, one station has stopped selling gas and has become an
auto repair shop, which could open the door for Wawa. A Getty gas station still
operates across Springside Road from the Wawa and would be in direct
competition. A Walgreens pharmacy is on the other corner.
Prime said there are no plans to expand the other township Wawa,
which is on Woodlane Road near the Mount Holly Bypass.
Wawa has about three dozen stores in Burlington County and 10 of
them sell gas. Two Wawa gas stations are in Burlington Township. Others are in
Delran, Edgewater Park, Evesham, Florence, Lumberton, Medford, Mount Laurel and
Pemberton Township. Six of those locations are on state highways.
Presentations will be made Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. at the municipal
building on Rancocas Road. The Township Committee’s regular bimonthly meeting
will follow.
Mark Zimmaro: 609-871-8059; email:
mzimmaro@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @mzimmaro
