Ferguson Township’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Wawa’s preliminary land development plans for a store at the corner of North Atherton Street and West Aaron Drive, though some neighboring residents continued to voice worries about traffic, safety and noise and light pollution.
The Delaware County-based company plans to construct a 5,330-square-foot convenience store and six fueling islands on the former auto dealership property at 169 W. Aaron Dr., with access points from Aaron Drive, Bergman Boulevard and a right-in/right-out on Atherton, a modification that was part of the plan approval.
Although Wawa agreed to several conditions to address resident comments, the plan continued to draw many of the same concerns from residents of the Overlook Heights neighborhood as when it was first revealed more than two years ago.
Chief among those concerns is that the neighborhood that resident Rob Venema described as peaceful, quiet and walkable will become a corridor for cut-through traffic seeking to avoid the busy North Atherton Street. While the neighborhood typically sees little through-traffic now, Venema and others said they expect that the addition of a waypoint like Wawa will result in drivers using local roads to bypass North Atherton.
They also worry that the opening of an entrance at the rear of the property from Bergman Boulevard, which was previously gated, will encourage drivers to use the Wawa property and neighborhood roads to avoid the multiple traffic lights on Vairo Boulevard as well as North Atherton Street. The neighborhood could potentially become an avenue for traffic all the way from Waddle Road to Clinton Avenue, Venema said.
“To be honest, I am shocked that we are here discussing this matter with the Board of Supervisors today,” Venema said. “Two years ago, we were told by most of you that the developer would have meetings and be open to input. They have heard our input. They have done nothing to address the concerns. Their plan remains largely unchanged from its original concept.”
Venema called an increased traffic volume through the neighborhood “a recipe for, not possible, but inevitable disaster.” Trevor White, a township resident and supervisor-elect, said it “will increase the chance that somebody gets hit and killed by a car.”
Wawa’s plan, however, meets the requirements of township ordinances and the Municipal Planning Code, administrators and supervisors said, and the company has offered several mitigating measures beyond what is mandated.
“Our hands are tied,” said Supervisor Patty Stephens, an Overlook Heights resident, echoing the sentiment of several other board members. “If there were something to go above and beyond to reject this, that sets us up for litigation, which is even more costly. So we do have to sort of follow the rules.”
Based on resident comments, the township planning commission recommended that the board consider several conditions. Among them was a barricade that would only allow access in and out of the neighborhood from Aaron Drive for residents and emergency vehicles.
The township agreed to review traffic conditions when the Wawa is completed and operations have normalized, but cannot require the company to make off-site improvements. Adam Wilusz, township consultant engineer, said that barricades might have unintended consequences for access to Suburban Park and other traffic flows, and that converting a portion of Aaron Drive to one-way may be the more “pragmatic” solution.
Wawa has agreed to contribute a to-be-determined amount of money to the one-way conversion and signage.
“Their proposal is to monetarily contribute to those so that it can be studied after the store operation has been normalized and residents who might be affected adversely by that one-way have been consulted so that we can properly have public input and make that as an educated decision, given the potential impact it has in the neighborhood,” Wilusz said.
The right-in/right-out on Atherton will “be a good way of keeping as much traffic as possible out of the neighborhoods,” Tony Fruchtl, of project engineer PennTerra, said. He added that normal activity on the Wawa will site “would not be conducive to be cutting through,” and that when delivery vehicles are on site they will prevent using the Bergman Boulevard ingress and egress point.
Wawa is also installing a raised concrete median on Atherton Street that will prohibit traffic from attempting to cross the road into the site before the traffic light.
Among pedestrian safety measures, Wawa will make an off-site improvement to the adjacent sidewalk across Aaron Drive, providing connectivity to the sidewalk that extends into the neighborhood past commercial businesses. The plan includes a crosswalk and a receiving ADA ramp on the adjacent side of Aaron Drive to give pedestrian an alternative crossing location without interacting with Atherton Street traffic.
Residents also raised concerns about disruptive noise and light from Wawa.
Fruchtl said most operations are on the Atherton side of the property away from the neighborhood. Noise from the fueling stations will be buffered by the building, speakers at the pumps can only be heard from about 15 feet and fueling trucks will enter the site from Atherton Street, he explained.
Deliveries and trash pickups occur at the back of the building, closer to the neighborhood, and Fruchtl said Wawa will “do as much as possible to keep those during daylight hours.” Delivery routes are set up to minimize backup alarms, and trash and recycling containers are behind an 8-foot brick wall to mitigate light and sound.
Lighting for the site has been adjusted to meet township ordinance for preventing off-property trespass, Fruchtl said. Wawa is also adding fast-growing arborvitae evergreen plantings to the landscape barrier at the back of the property, which Fruchtl said “do a lot to eliminate lighting and noise overflow.”
Wilusz wrote in a memo that the plantings were preferable because they could grow to heights greater than a wall or fence.
Megan Orient, a neighborhood resident, said she did not believe the arborvitae would be sufficient, noting that the now-closed bank across the street had similar plantings and when customers used the ATM she could hear the buttons when her windows were open.
She also urged supervisors to do more to address the traffic concerns.
“Sometimes the minimum is not enough,” Orient said.
In a separate motion, supervisors directed township staff to develop a plan with options for addressing resident concerns not ameliorated by the plan conditions, including potential traffic control measures in the future.
Wawa will be required to submit a final land development plan before construction can move forward.
The location is one of four Wawas proposed in Centre County, joining stores planned for Benner Pike near Bellefonte, the intersection of Earlystown Road and Old Fort Road near Centre Hall and the intersection of East College Avenue and Squirrel Drive near State College.
The company has not disclosed construction and opening timelines for any of the planned locations.
