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#NewtownPA Township Rejects Wawa on Newtown Bypass and Silver Lake Road

#NewtownPA Township Rejects Wawa on Newtown Bypass and Silver Lake Road | Newtown News of Interest | Scoop.it

A proposed super Wawa will not be coming to the Newtown Bypass and Silver Lake Road in the township for now.

But the fate of the project that has been met with opposition of township meetings could still be alive if the developer chooses to appeal the decision. Developer, Provco Pineville Acquisitions, LLC, has had to appeal municipal decisions in the past to move forward with plans to build Wawas in Bucks County.

Provco needed to overcome several issues to gain approval, specifically related to parking, gas pump canopies, setbacks and closeness to neighboring residences. Township supervisors also voiced concerns over hours of operation.

The Newton Township Board of Supervisors reached a 3-2 decision to to reject the developer's plan during its meeting on Oct. 26.

 

[For highlights of the discussion & video of resident comments, see my summary of the Oct. 26 BOS meeting.]

While not contained in the township's official decision, Township Supervisor John Mack also said he was concerned Provco would come back with more requests.

"I believe that if we approve this plan, you are going to continue to fight for (monument signage that is the basis for an ongoing appeal before the Newtown Township Zoning Hearing Board) and eventually you are going to wear us down and you're going to get it, and eventually, you're going to get the 18 pumps that you want," Mack told attorney and Provco representative John VanLuvanee. "And right away, the canopy size does not comply."

Mack also noted the security concerns of a family that lives near Silver Lake Road, pointing to an uptick in crimes occurring in or near Wawas in Bucks County.

"Recently, there has been a wave of armed robberies of Wawa stores in Bucks County by the way and not just in Philadelphia, and we're talking about criminals coming to Bucks County," Mack said. "We are going to have to have our police department out there and the family may be subject to somebody running away from the police and taking over their home. The hours of operation, in my opinion, should be limited as some of these other Wawas in Bucks County have started to limited their hours of operations between 5 a.m. and midnight."

Related: Wawa’s Suburban Focus - Including Holland & #NewtownPA - Is Getting Pushback From neighbors

VanLuvanee argued that those issues have little to do with the development plan on a whole, and and responded to Mack's assertions, stressing that the supervisors "have a plan in front" of them that "complies with the ordinances."

Where the plan goes from here is unclear, even as township supervisors consider the matter closed on their end. VanLuvanee hasn't responded to requests for comment, and Mack wouldn't rule out the developer fighting this rejection in court.

It was that threat of litigation that compelled supervisor Dennis Fisher joining Phil Calabro to vote in favor of the project.

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Newtown News of Interest
These Scoops are excerpts from articles published in local newspapers and other sources that may be of interest to Newtown area residents. Please click on the "From" link to access the full original article. Any opinions and "insights" appended to these article summaries are solely those of John Mack and do not represent the opinions of any other person or entity.
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