CHERRY HILL, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A controversial plan to build a Super Wawa in Cherry Hill is off the table, following sustained backlash from neighbors.
For two years, residents of the Barclay Farm section of Cherry Hill have battled against the proposed Wawa, which would sell gasoline at the Barclay Farms Shopping Center on Route 70.
Cosmas Diamantis, the township’s director of community development, confirmed Thursday that developer Hortense Associates was dropping the Wawa proposal.
“The applicant’s attorneys submitted a letter to our department withdrawing their pending application before the planning board,” Diamantis told KYW Newsradio.
Resident Bruce Sizer says the Super Wawa would have been practically in his backyard.
“My main problem was they were going to bring a lot of traffic out into the neighborhood — noise and light pollution and traffic,” he said.
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Yolanda Lorenz, who heads the Greater Kingston Civic Association, said neighbors were concerned about congestion at Route 70 and West Gate Drive.
“It would have brought more traffic through our intersection, which is already clogged to a degree that is ridiculous,” Lorenz said.
Neighborhood activist Martha Wright organized a website in opposition to the plan: “Preserve Barclay Farm.”
“We were blanketing every type of media, both digital and print — and just straight-up talking to one another, getting that word out there that this was not a good thing, and we didn't want it,” she said.
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“Our goal is not to stop the shopping center from doing the best they can with their property. But we also have to protect resident quality of life.”
Nobody is anti-Wawa, Wright further clarified.
“What they are is anti-gasoline. What this means is that, today in Cherry Hill, there are 27 gas stations, plus a Costco, for a town of 24 square miles. We've got gas covered,” she said.
Wawa and the Kaiserman Company, the owner of the shopping center, have not responded to a request for comment.
Diamantis expected a new development proposal for the shopping center to emerge.
“This is an important piece of real estate for the owners and they are always looking to keep it marketable and up-to-date for their tenants,” he said.
Lorenz said she hoped developers would give greater consideration to neighbors when proposing projects.
“I would like for not only this organization, this developer, but all developers to take into account what effect their project has on their surrounding community.”