Wawa Gets Preliminary Plan Approval from Planning Commission

After about 18 months of meetings, proposals, plans and redesigns Wawa was granted preliminary plan approval by the Media Borough Planning Commission Tuesday night. 

The proposal still needs several more approvals by other boards and councils before a Wawa store and gas station would be constructed on the former Media Inn vacant 1.7 acre lot on Providence Road, State Street and Baltimore Avenue. 

Media Planning Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday in support of preliminary plan approval and recommended that Media Borough Council approve the preliminary plan with several conditions, including five waiver requests and three variances. 

Planning Commission Member Jack Doyle voted against the preliminary plan approval.

A rezoning of part of the property is also needed in order for the project to move forward.

In March, the planning commission voted to recommend that borough council support the rezoning for commercial use and redesign Baker Street, which currently cuts through the property.

Media Borough Council has not yet voted on the zoning request change. The zoning request change had been on borough council's agenda in April however was then removed at the applicant's request and has not yet returned. 

Robert Linn, the architect for the applicant Commonwealth Real Estate on behalf of Wawa, said Tuesday that the next steps which are needed to move the project forward include borough council preliminary plan approval, zoning change approval by Media Zoning Hearing Board and borough council, approval from borough council regarding the Baker Street redesign and then final plan approval from the planning commission as well as borough council. 

"We're 18 months into this very long process," Linn said. "We got all these trains riding parallel on the tracks and they all have to arrive at the station at the same time."

In May, Linn presented an entirely new design for the proposed Wawa to mimic a train or trolley station-type look, which Wawa has never done before. The design is a two-story, brick concept and includes hanging red, train-station-like lights, pedestrian walkways, outdoor seating areas and brick street walls. A 3D design of project can be viewed here. 

Traffic at the already congested intersections continues to be a concern. Fewer than 10 residents attended Tuesday's meeting, mostly Nether Providence Township residents, which borders the project, and voiced concerns regarding increased traffic.

A traffic study was conducted by the applicant's traffic engineers and concluded that if a Wawa were built on the property the traffic grade would either stay the same or get better, depending on each intersection, Matt Hammond, the applicant's traffic engineer, said. 

The addition of a right-turn lane on State Street, turning onto Providence Road is included in the Wawa proposal (costing Wawa $150,000 due to the need to move major utility poles and wires) and would increase the grade at that intersection from its now D level to a C level, Hammond said. 

The current D grade level at the intersection of Balitmore Avenue and Providence Road would remain the same, Hammond said. 



This story has been updated and was originally posted at 6 p.m. on July 10.