Crime & Safety

Upper Moreland OKs Wawa at Bally's Site

The board of commissioners approved final land development plans for a 'super Wawa' where the now-defunct gym stands.

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. 

Find out what's happening in Upper Moreland-Willow Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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.

Find out what's happening in Upper Moreland-Willow Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“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. 

Provco Goodman is also looking to build a Wawa with gas pumps at a vacant parcel in Abington — about 3 miles south on Old York Road, and Abington similarly modified its zoning code. The project was recently OK’d by Abington’s Planning Commission and its code enforcement committee.

See that story here.

Final land development plans for the Abington Wawa will go before the full board next Thursday.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.