Avoiding Another Wawa Key To Hatboro Downtown Ordinance, Officials Say

HATBORO, PA —When borough officials held a public hearing last week on a "Town Center" mixed-use ordinance for the downtown district, one name kept coming up: Wawa.

Council members brought up the convenience store. And so did residents during a two-hour hearing in which the Borough Council adopted an ordinance clearing the way for developers to present plans for taller buildings and apartments along a stretch of York Road.

Just a stone's throw away where York Road meets Horsham Road, work on a Wawa convenience store is underway. And that sight leaves a bitter taste with many.

"This has been a journey to help improve our zoning and to protect us from things like Wawa," Councilwoman Nicole McMenamin told the crowd at the Jan. 23 public hearing

Councilwoman Nicole Reichner echoed the same sentiment when she stated that the mixed-use ordinance would give the borough more control over development, especially in the downtown stretch on York Road between Byberry Road to Montgomery Avenue.

"We don't want something bad like a Wawa coming in," she said.

In a November press release, borough officials explained why they met with the planning commission and 35 residents to discuss the RC-2 Ordinance Amendment.

"As the majority of our residents know, the Borough spent years in a zoning battle against Wawa due to a deficiency in Hatboro’s zoning code," Borough Manager Diane Hegele said. "This process was time-consuming and costly, only for the Borough to lose to Wawa in the end."

In February 2021, the council established a zoning sub-committee comprised of council members, borough staff, planning commission members, Montgomery County representatives, and resident volunteers.

The committee was tasked with reviewing the borough’s current Zoning Ordinances, many of which have not been updated in decades, in an attempt to address any other inadequacies in the ordinances and prevent another Wawa situation from arising.

The committee’s first project was creating a “Town Center” ordinance that would focus on properties along York Road.

While the committee was working on the ordinance, the borough was approached by multiple developers who each proposed their own unique zoning ordinance amendments that would allow them to develop on York Road.

The ordinance contains guidelines for developments that the borough’s current zoning did not address in order to eliminate any loopholes, borough officials said.

Since the first draft was created in March 2022, this ordinance was reviewed in countless public meetings and was modified according to public comment/feedback received.

Even with the "Town Center" ordinance's approval, any applications for land development would be "extensively reviewed" by the planning commission, Montgomery County Planning Commission, borough engineer, planning expert, and the Borough Council prior to any development being built.