Projects up for votes
Board could approve Wawa fuel station plans, grant approval for ‘Newbury II’ development
Two long-discussed development projects, one residential and one commercial, will be up for votes by Upper Gwynedd’s board of commissioners Monday night.
On the board’s agenda will be requests to grant conditional use approval for “Newbury II,” a development of 30 houses near Hancock Road and Prospect Avenue, and for a proposed Wawa on Sumneytown Pike near Church Road.
“There will be an action, one way or the other, on the Wawa. The board will be prepared to either approve, or deny, the plan,” said Township Manager Len Perrone.
The proposed Wawa fuel station and convenience store would be located at the southwest corner
of Sumneytown Pike and West Point Pike, where the Sumney Tavern and Country Bride and Gent bridal store are located now. The land development plans were discussed at length over the course of the summer, and in July the board voted down a version of the project, citing concerns over the impact the planned Wawa would have on traffic in the area, and the safety hazard of a driveway near a curve in the road as drivers head east on Sumneytown Pike toward the site.
Since then, Perrone said, the applicant “did relocate a few things” on the plan, and details of those changes will be presented Monday night, for the pub- lic to comment and the board to vote.
“They are open, one way or the other. We’re not coming into it predisposed,” Perrone said.
The other project up for a board vote is known as “Newbury II” and would be a complex of 30 twin houses on an 8.3-acre parcel next to Sanctuary United Methodist Church near Prospect Avenue, Hancock Street, and the existing “Newbury I” development. Several variances for that project have been approved by the township zoning hearing board, and a conditional use request was discussed in October to allow that type of twin house on that parcel.
“The zoning is changing on that property, so there is a procedure called a conditional use hearing. We’ll take testimony right in the front (of the meeting), and get a record of the things that go into this request for rezoning,” Perrone said.
Both items will be discussed during the commissioners’ next meeting, which will be held starting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20. Several other action items are also on the board’s agenda, including a letter of support to state lawmakers backing Senate Bill 251, which would allow local police departments to use radar to track speeding drivers. Also on the board’s agenda will be an updated lease agreement for the concession stand at the Nor-Gwyn Pool, a winter services agreement with PennDOT regarding snow plowing on local roads, and the final payment for construction of pickleball courts at the township municipal complex.