The battle to bring a Wawa to the township is back before the zoning hearing board where Provco Pinegood LLC is challenging the validity of sections of the township’s E30 use ordinance.
In its latest appeal, Provco, which has been fighting to build a Wawa convenience store and gas station on Lower Silver Lake Road and the Newtown Bypass for the past five years, is challenging the ordinance’s limit on the number of gas pumps allowed, the definition of an Electronic Message Center (EMC) sign and the ordinance’s restriction on signage along the Newtown Bypass.
During its second appearance before the zoning hearing board on Monday night, Matthew Hammond, a licensed civil engineer specializing in traffic planning, and Michael Tantala, a civil engineer, specializing in signage, testified on behalf of Provco.
Hammond testified that if Provco is not allowed to put a monument sign on the bypass alerting motorists of the store and gas station, it could create a dangerous condition on the bypass with motorists making split second decisions to make the turn onto Silver Lake Road after realizing there’s a Wawa there.
Under the E30 ordinance, signs are prohibited along the limited access Newtown Bypass.
Hammond testified that visible signage is important, especially for impulse customers who need enough advance warning to move to the proper turning lane.
“These signs are designed with the appropriate size, height and location necessary to provide a safe and efficient flow of traffic along these roads,” Hammond told the zoning board.
Regarding the use of signs for safety, zoning board chair Paul Cohen wanted to know if that only applied for certain uses. “Do you believe going from an office use to a retail use increases the need for signage?”
“I do,” said Hammond. “Retail use is what I’ll classify as an impulse use. Obviously there are people who want to traverse to that specific use. That signage is important. If it was an office it may not be as important because you’re not normally passing by an office building and saying, ‘Oh, I should probably try to turn in there.’”
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This is definitely a "Catch 22" situation. Without Wawa at this intersection there is no "dangerous condition." The real solution, of course, is not huge signage - it is NO WAWA in the first place. No matter what kind of signage is put there, this intersection will be significantly more more dangerous.
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