New WaWa and Walmart? Readers Have Their Say

Are plans to build a Wawa and Walmart at one of the Clearwater's busiest intersections a benefit – or a bad idea?

Clearwater Patch readers seem divided about the news that the retailers are scheduled to open mega-stores in the summer of 2014 at Belcher Road and Gulf to Bay Boulevard. The site is 30 acres of vacant land where a mobile home park had been located.

 Leann DuPont was not pleased by the news: "Just what we need more stores. What about all of the vacancies on Gulf-to Bay? Clearwater looks like a ghetto. Re-vamp the old first!"

Yet David Swanson took her to task, writing in the comments section of the Clearwater Patch: "Today's economic environment does not make it viable to do anything commercial on such small vacant properties. This new development is an example. It has the acreage; it has the desirable location; it has the bigger budget companies which can afford to develop it. For the time being, I think the best they can do with the blight is to knock it down and pay somebody to cut the grass once in a while."

But there was a chorus of other people who complained about the traffic congestion that already is a problem, as well as the number of retailers in Clearwater.

Michaela Heilhecker wrote on the Clearwater Patch Facebook page: "The last thing Clearwater needed, another gas station and a Walmart. How about some nice affordable housing?"

Jeremy Fritchy added: "Oh great, as if traffic at that intersection isn't bad enough."

But Inappropriateranger wasn't thinking about the traffic congestion or the concentration of retail development. Inappropriateranger is a fan of Wawa convenience stores:

"WAWA makes the BEST hoagies. I miss them since I moved from Maryland 5 years ago."

What do you think? Is a Walmart Neighborhood Market plus a Wawa a benefit to Clearwater? Let us know in the comments below.