RIDLEY TOWNSHIP — The township zoning hearing board has rejected a series of variances needed by Harper Associates that would permit the building of a Wawa with six gasoline islands at the southwest corner of Kedron Avenue (Route 420) and MacDade Boulevard. But John Harper said his firm will appeal the board’s decision in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.
“It’s very distressing, especially when you look at the economic conditions of the boulevard,” Harper said of the zoning board’s rejection.
In rejecting the Wawa development, the board cited zoning relief needed for development that would permit a building height of 28 feet rather than the permitted maximum height of 25 feet, a variance to permit underground gasoline-petroleum storage tanks with a capacity of 65,000 gallons, two electronic message boards on each of the permitted free standing signs rather than the permitted 10 square feet, and continuation of a nonconforming use to permit driveways in the “B” Residential Zoning District.
Also addressed by the zoning board were parking considerations and a flood plain area.
At a public meeting in December, about 200 people jammed Garling Hall in the township municipal building. Concerns were voiced by some residents about increased traffic and noise from a 24-hour operation. But one Fernwood Avenue resident said he thought a new Wawa was a good idea, noting that the vacant stores on MacDade are “not good to see.”
Harper also took note of the vacant stores on MacDade.
“Some have been vacant for years,” he said. “I look at MacDade Boulevard as a ‘blighted property.’ I am distressed that the township would turn away a very viable business like Wawa. For the township to turn away Wawa was a grave injustice.
“Hopefully, the judge (in Common Pleas Court) will see differently than the zoning hearing board,” he added.
The township received a $75,000 grant from Delaware County several months ago for a MacDade Boulevard Street Enhancement Plan, which is now under way.
In addition to Harper’s proposed Wawa, there are five Wawa stores in the township. The company’s 50th anniversary celebration recently took place at its very first Wawa on MacDade Boulevard and Swarthmore Avenue.
