'Super Wawa' OK'd ... Three Miles Up the Road

It’s official. Upper Moreland is getting a “Super Wawa.”

Earlier this week, the Upper Moreland Board of Commissioners OK’d plans submitted by Provco Goodman Jenkintown, LP, to build a 5,500-square-foot Wawa with gas pumps and 10,000 square feet of additional yet-to-be determined retail space at the former Bally’s gym site near the corner of Routes 611 and 263.

The motion passed 5-2 with commissioners Lisa Romaniello and Kevin Spearing casting “no” votes. 

Upper Moreland Township Manager David Dodies said Provco Goodman showed interest in the vacant site in the second half of 2012.

The zoning near the Bally’s site was modified to allow for the then-proposed Wawa and its gas pumps. Upper Moreland Director of Code Enforcement Paul Purtell said the township passed an ordinance in March that created a “transit overlay district” on top of the current "Town Center-1" zoning.

“It was ‘town center’ and still is,” Purtell said.  “The developer requested [that the township] create an overlay district, but that does not change the underlying zoning. And the overlay could be applied to other areas downtown.”

 The building is rougly 30 years old and Purtell said — though he's not sure — that the site could have been home to a gas station prior to that. 

Abington is on its way to having a Wawa with gas pumps within its border. The Abington Planning Commission and the code enforcement committee recently approved Provco Goodman's final development plans for a Wawa in the 800 block of Old York Road; the full board will entertain the plans at its meeting next Thursday.

Goodman split his time between the two townships on Monday night, first going to the Upper Moreland Board of Commissioners meeting, and then going to the Abington Code Enforcement Committee meeting.