Florence Township Council considers ordinance to outlaw truck stops and derail a proposal looking to build one in the heart of the township’s industrial alley.
By: Scott Morgan
FLORENCE After more than a year of talks and the occasional public complaint, township officials stand poised to outlaw truck stops in Florence and derail a proposal looking to build one in the heart of the township’s industrial alley.
On Dec. 2, the Township Council introduced an ordinance that if passed in January would forbid more than four tractor-trailers and large, heavy trucks from parking in a single area for more than 15 minutes. The rule, defining such a situation as a truck stop, was spawned by a growing concern over truck traffic at the Wawa convenience store at Route 130 and Cedar Lane, officials said.
According to officials and residents who have informally discussed the topic at random intervals over the past year, unchecked truck traffic outside the Wawa and its neighboring Burger King has caused no end of consternation. Residents have complained often about slow, belching trucks tying up traffic and making noise. At the council’s Oct. 3 meeting, Mayor Michael Muchowski admitted to a group of Tall Timber Lane residents that the trucks particularly those parked in the store lot create "a disastrous situation."
With no laws on the books, however, the mayor said policing the site is extremely difficult. This area of Route 130 is the township’s industrial heart, where the highway junctions with Route 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike and where truck traffic is at its heaviest. When those truckers stop for a morning coffee or a quick bite, said township Attorney Bill Kearns in an interview Monday, they often tie up the parking lot, too.
The spaces that ring the Wawa are standard 10-by-20-foot size, built for cars and small trucks. Without room to fit, Mr. Kearns said, trucks "park anywhere." Mr. Kearns added, however, that Wawa has been working to rectify the problem.
Wawa’s solution has been to design a 27-space truck stop that would be built on a 3-acre plot of land behind the store. The store’s application was submitted to the Planning Board, but township officials decided to consider outlawing truck stops and limit truck parking to four or fewer vehicles.
Representatives from Wawa, including the store’s attorney, Timothy Prime of Marlton, did not return calls for this article. Mr. Kearns, however, said the company has no apparent plan to fight for those 27 spaces.
With the ordinance now formally introduced, the Township Council will resubmit it to the Planning Board for a review on Dec. 20, said Township Administrator Richard Brook. The council is then scheduled to vote on it at its Jan. 19 meeting, he said.
One last important thing to remember, said Mr. Brook, is that this ordinance seeks to keep truck stops out of the entire township, not just near the Wawa. Given, however, that this section of town is so busy now and expected to get worse as the highway’s industrial centers grow over the coming decade it highlights the need to pre-empt truck stops so that existing sites don’t cause problems later.
Ultimately, he said, the township, which has no truck stops, has no place for them, given that even the industrial Route 130 corridor is surrounded by residential development.

