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Plans called for a new driveway and modified parking at the Mt. Ephraim Wawa located at 602 N. Black Horse Pike. Before this property was Wawa, it was the bar/restaurant Degenhardt’s. On December 23, 2003, Wawa purchased the property for $1,150,000, according to public records. (SJO Photo)
April 12, 2023 Update: The Borough of Mt. Ephraim has posted that Wawa has withdrawn their application to be heard before the Joint Land Use Board. The application was supposed to be heard in May, 2023.
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There was a lot of opposition to this application. All along Valley Road, and throughout the Borough, there were “Stop Wawa signs” placed on lawns.
Mt. Ephraim posted the following update on their website:
Wawa has withdrawn their application to put a driveway on Valley Road and will not be appearing before the Land Use Board.
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The March 13, 2023 Joint Land Use Board Hearing was postponed, per an announcement on the Borough of Mt. Ephraim’s website.
Wawa has postponed their appearance before the Land Use Board that was scheduled for the March 13 meeting for their plans to put a driveway at Valley Road. They have tentatively rescheduled for May but we will post the details once they have confirmed.
The Traffic Impact Study (Click image to view)
Preliminary & Final Site Plan (Click image to view)
Additional documents can be viewed by going to the Mt. Ephraim Joint Land Use Board section of the Borough’s website.
Representatives from Wawa, Inc. will appear before the Mt. Ephraim Land Use Board on Monday, March 13, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. for approval to add a driveway, to modify the parking configuration on site, and to make related site improvements at 602 N. Black Horse Pike.
There are six lots referenced for the project: Block 124, Lots 1.01 and 1.02 and Block 35, Lots 1, 2.01, 13.01, and 13.02.
According to public records and the Mt. Ephraim Tax Map, Wawa currently owns and occupies four of those lots. The other two lots are located at 500 S. Black Horse Pike and a house at 5 Valley Road.
To take pictures for this story, I went to the Mt. Ephraim Wawa in the morning on December 31st and it was busy. I never noticed that there is only one exit/entrance point to and from the Black Horse Pike.
In comparison, the Brooklawn Wawa has three entrances/exits: one is on Kings Highway, another is along Route 130/Crescent Boulevard, and the third is on Browning Lane.
A while ago, several Mt. Ephraim residents reached out to me to ask if I had heard anything about Wawa’s rumored plans to install another driveway, but up until now, I didn’t have any supporting information.
It was brought up at the December, 2021 Commissioners meeting when a resident spoke during the public portion to ask about Wawa.
Mayor Tovinsky opened the meeting to the public and asked that residents state their name for the record. Present was Angelique Kappatos from Valley Road who asked if Wawa is coming in this month. Mayor Tovinsky said they have to come before the Planning Board but have not contacted us yet. Kappatos added that she saw PSE&G digging out there around the vacant house and wondered if it had to do with Wawa. Mayor Tovinsky said we don’t have any information about that but PSE&G often does work without letting the town know. He assured Kappatos that when Wawa is coming in, she will be notified. He also said we will be doing more work behind their homes after the first of the year. He thanked her for coming to our meetings.
Now that Wawa has made an application to the Joint Land Use Board, representatives will present their plans for Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval for the project.
Anyone from the public who has questions or concerns may attend the meeting.
*Updated on January 9, 2023 at 1:40 p.m.; March 14, 2023 at 10:10 p.m.; April 12, 2023 at 3:40 p.m.