Wawa challenges legality of proposed Montgomery ordinances

Wellhead protection and service station measures attacked as illegal, arbitrary and capricious

By: Jake Uitti
   MONTGOMERY — Wawa is challenging Montgomery’s proposed wellhead protection and service station ordinances, claiming the former is illegal and the latter arbitrary and capricious.
   The company is seeking to move its convenience store at the intersection of Route 206 and 518 approximately 550 feet east toward Rocky Hill to the former Princeton GammaTech property and add a 12-bay gas station. The project is strongly opposed by Rocky Hill, in part because of its proximity to the borough’s municipal well.
   The amendments to the township’s service station ordinance were on the Township Committee agenda for a public hearing Thursday evening, but after township officials received a letter from Wawa attorney Tim Prime that afternoon explaining the company’s position, the public hearing was postponed.
   The proposed amendments would limit the maximum size of service stations to 4,000 square feet if accessories such as trash containers are inside the facility and to 3,500 square feet if they are outside the facility. The proposed Wawa at the Princeton GammaTech site would be about 6,000 square feet.
   If the revised ordinance is adopted, Wawa will need to apply for a bulk variance from the township Zoning Board of Adjustment if it wants to continue with its original plan.
   Wawa claims, however, that the proposed ordinance "has no logical basis when compared to the design standards established for other permitted uses in districts within which service stations are a permitted conditional use."
   The proposed wellhead protection ordinance would prohibit service stations near certain water wells. The township sent its draft to the state Department of Environmental Protection several weeks ago for its approval.
   The former Princeton GammaTech property is within the wellhead protection area of Rocky Hill’s well, according to the draft ordinance.
   But Wawa contends that the DEP has exclusive jurisdiction over underground storage tanks, such as those at gasoline stations. It also claims that the proposed size limit for service stations is arbitrary.
   "It is Wawa’s position that adoption of this ordinance, specifically Section 2 (f)(2), stating that ‘No new land area devoted to a service station shall be located within any designated historic district and/or within any designated Well Head Protection Area’ is an attempt to circumvent New Jersey’s regulatory scheme on Well Head Protection," the Wawa letter reads.
   Kristina Hadinger, the township’s attorney, said the draft of the wellhead protection ordinance was sent to the DEP for review well before the committee received Mr. Prime’s letter. If the draft ordinance is approved by the DEP, she said, the township will likely adopt it.
   "We are aware of the DEP regulations," Ms. Hadinger said, "and in fact we have sent the ordinance for review. I don’t think we are acting inconsistently with DEP."
   Ms. Hadinger said the size constraint the township is placing on service stations is "in keeping with reasonable standards for uses of this sort and nothing in the law compels the township to allow this type of use. So putting reasonable standards in place, I believe, is a perfectly reasonable course of action."
   On Oct. 23, the Planning Board concluded that the amendments to the service station ordinance that township planners Richard and Cindy Coppola recommended in September were consistent with the township’s Master Plan.
   The board’s decision sent the amendments to the Township Committee for a vote — which will now be postponed to at least this Thursday.
   If Mr. Coppola is not available for the Thursday meeting, committee members said they would postpone the public hearing until a later date.
   As of Monday, Mr. Coppola said he had not reviewed the letter.
   In other business Thursday, committee members said they wanted to talk with Mr. Coppola about a restaurant ordinance for the planned Blawenburg Associates development on the northwest corner of the intersection of Route 601 and 518.
   On Oct. 23, the Planning Board discussed options for the site, only to realize that there was an ordinance for the site restricting the use of compressors — a device found in refrigerators.
   The development, which was approved by the board several years ago, is meant to create a commercial neighborhood in the area, board officials said.
   The development will include first-floor commercial stores and second-floor apartments.
   Officials from Blawenburg Associates said they already had a potential lease with a deli and physical therapist, though due to the restrictions on compressors, any lease with a commercial food establishment would not be permitted.
   As a result, committee members said they want to speak with Mr. Coppola to see if revisions can be made to the ordinance.
   In addition, township resident Valerie Smith suggested that sidewalks should be installed along Route 601 between New World Pizza and the high school because many students are walking between the two locations.
   Township officials said they would be discussing a range of matters with county officials in the next few weeks, and those interested in sidewalks on Route 601, a county road, should contact Township Administrator Donato Nieman at (908) 359-8211.