Editor’s note: this article was updated Feb. 2, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. to correct the amount of alcohol that will be allowed to be sold to a customer.
LIMERICK — A month after a public hearing in which several residents and officials expressed reservations about the idea, the board of supervisors approved the transfer of a liquor license to allow the Wawa at the corner of Linfield and North Lewis roads to begin selling wine and liquor.
It’s not like the supervisors had much choice in the matter as the store is already built and the zoning on the site allows the use.
During the Dec. 21 public hearing, concerns about drinking outdoors, the additional mess from empty bottles and inadequate parking.
But lawyer Ellen Freeman, who was at the hearing representing Wawa, said the company has a “perfect record” at its seven other Pennsylvania stores where beer and wine are sold. Those who work there are trained to ask for proof of age of all customers and in how to manage potentially intoxicated customers.
According to the plans, the interior of the Wawa will be re-arranged to create a “beer cave” for beer and wine sales and provide seating for 30. Any beer or wine consumed on site must be consumed in those seats and no outdoor drinking is allowed, Freeman said.
Wawa will only be permitted to sell 192 fluid ounces of beer (two six-packs of 16-ounce bottles) or four bottles of wine at one time, Freeman said.
Mike Spiegel, the Wawa project engineer, told the supervisors in December that Wawa is looking to add beer and wine sales at all of its new stores, as well as some existing stores. Choosing where this is proposed is guided by several factors, including close to “major transportation routes.”
The store in question is nearby to the Linfield Road exit off Route 422 and, according to Limerick Township Supervisors Vice Chairman Michael McCloskey, has “major ingress and egress issues.”
Linda Erwin, who at the time was a supervisor-elect, said parking at that Wawa “is always tough.” However, Spiegel said there are no plans to redesign the parking at the Wawa, which was built in 2005 and McCloskey said, “is the smallest Wawa in Limerick and Royersford.”
Under the new license, Wawa is permitted to sell alcohol from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day but Sundays, when sales can occur from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
As the approval was granted Tuesday, McCloskey, who long served on the township planning commission, issued a warning.
He noted that as most are built, Wawas do not have adequate parking for the old and new uses developing there. When several landscapers park their trucks there for lunch, or delivery trucks take up too much space, he said he has had to park at gas pumps.
Add in addition traffic from those buying wine or beer, not to mention the trucks delivering those goods, and a safety hazard is created should there be a fire, McCloskey said.
He noted that the pandemic has brought many new commercial and residential uses to the fore, the township’s zoning should be updated to deal with it.
“With things like ‘Door-Dash’ and ‘Uber Eats,’ those parking lots are only going to get more crowded.,” he warned. “With more people working at home, we’re going to see different kinds of residential building. We have three exits on Route 422, so we’ve got a target on our back. There’s development coming we don’t want, but landowners have rights too, so our zoning has to be ready for what’s coming.”
The other supervisors agreed.
