Thursday, October 3, 2013

Reminder - 90 minute discussion on Wawa Proposal Tonight 6pm Borough Hall

Will One Be Coming To Media?
Borough Council will begin their workshop meeting tonight with opening statements by the project developers and comments from the community. The meeting begins at 6pm at Borough Hall and will go 90 minutes for this discussion.

What's at Stake?
Tonight's meeting will set the stage for the final vote expected on Oct 19th during the monthly borough council meeting.  Both Media's planning commission and the Media Business Authority have come out in favor of this project. Many in the community have shown support for this effort, but have cited traffic as a concern.

By the Numbers:

  • Wawa to will invest more than $5 million in the building and site.
  • This investment will provide over $1 million in local contractor fees, over $250,000 in worker fees and over $25,000 in landscaping fees.
  • A new store would increase tax revenue to the borough and on average create 35 new jobs. 

Alternatives:
No other viable alternatives have been proposed for this site after the Media Inn was razed almost two years ago. 

14 comments:

  1. Michael Jordan, MediaOctober 3, 2013 at 9:18 PM

    Interesting meeting. A lot of questions about traffic still unanswered adequately. Everyone got a chance to question or comment. Media Real Estate will own the land, Super Wawa will be the lessee.

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    1. Did you get a sense of the public's mood one way or the other in terms of overall support for the project?

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    2. Michael Jordan, MediaOctober 4, 2013 at 8:58 AM

      MediaMike, I'd love a Wawa at the site. But would I love the traffic congestion? No. Those in the audience who were unequivocally "For" the Super Wawa said not a word about the traffic problem. Just build it, no matter the consequences. Live with it. I heartily disagree.

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    3. I'll bite... Did Media's republican candidate for Mayor attend?

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  2. I second MJ's comment. The convenience store part of the design is beautiful and I would love a new Wawa there - just not the 16 pump monstrosity of a gas station that goes with it. They are estimating 25% more traffic will go through that intersection - which I think is BS. It will be much more than that. There will be thousands more cars going through there daily and hundreds of cars in and out of that location PER HOUR. It would be nice to have other options, but if we build that gas station now, that location will never be anything other than a gas station, which I heartily disagree is a great "gateway" into Media. It's just a chain gas station and a convenience store, folks.

    Anybody who thinks this a great idea should go spend some time at the Wawa in Brookhaven and the one across from the Home Depot in Secane. Those locations are both a mess.

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  3. Go to Brookhaven often never a problem. ..before Starbucks there was a gas station.

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  4. Actually there were three gas stations at the intersection as recently as a few years ago (Starbucks footprint, BP, and Lukoil). When this is done, there will be one. Actually, the Getty will probably become history too, so Media would be replacing 4 ragtag gas staions with one. Sounds like a good trade-off to me. Are we really holding out for a business that has the prospect of success without bringing incremental traffic? Is an office building that only adds traffic loads at peak times what we want to fill the empty space in Media? Are we holding out for dog parks and peace gardens?

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  5. I am already driving on Edgemont Street to avoid Providence Road to get to Baltimore Ave and beyond. If and when the Super Wawa comes hundreds are going to be doing the same. It is going to be gridlock.

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  6. If people seriously dispute the traffic study, they could go on the record with a traffic study of their own. Better and cheaper to do it now than on appeal in court. Otherwise, you're going to be unable to credibly dispute the original study, even if your opinions turn out to be correct.

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  7. If you build it,they will come.God bless Wawa.great company.

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    1. Wawa is the Walmart of convenience stores, now with 16 gas pumps. Do you want a baby Walmart at the gateway to Media?

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    2. How about a 7-11 convenience store. No gas pumps. Great coffee, also.

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    3. I would love to see a new Wawa without the gas pumps and 250+ cars per hour coming in and out of there.

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    4. The real money is in the gas pumps. The convenience store is just chump change

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