Newtown Wawa’s “Grassy Knoll”

Rick G., a Newtown Township resident, emailed me with an inquiry about recent work being done at the Wawa site on the Newtown Bypass: “I saw that the land for the new Wawa has been excavated and am surprised that the berm they constructed looks much lower than berms on the rest of the bypass,” said Rick.

A Much Lower Berm

It’s true – it IS much lower and for a reason: so that Bypass traffic can have clear sight of the Wawa and its fuel pumps. This was made clear to me at a township public meeting where it was noted that “There is a ten (10') foot embankment at the Bypass line of the Subject Property and the Applicant is planning to cut that embankment to approximately four (4') to five (5') feet high. The berm has to be cut down in order to provide visibility ...” (read “Newtown ZHB Issues Official Provco/Wawa Decision”)

Rick was “hoping the berm would obstruct the view from the bypass to help preserve the rural ‘ambience’ along most of the bypass. The berm across the street looks like it's 4-5’ higher and obstructs the view of the church.”

I decided to see for myself what was going on with the berm by driving by the site with video rolling. Here’s what I saw:

Newtown’s “Grassy Knoll”

Clearly the rural Bypass “ambience” is NOT being preserved. The video shows that the berm is covered by a layer of hay, which obviously is meant to protect the grass seed that was applied to the berm. Some might say that the result will be Newtown’s “Grassy Knoll.”

An early sketch plan from the developer clearly shows what this site will look like when completed (see video below):

Plantings

Rick asked, “I don’t remember the layout, but will they be planting large shrubs and/or trees along that berm?”

From the plans, it appears to me that the tallest plantings along this berm are only 2-4 feet in height - shrubs really, not trees. In any case, they will not obscure the signage on the roof and the fuel pumps.

The Future Looks Bleak!

Speaking of loss of rural “ambiance,” the “commercialization” of this Bypass intersection with Newtown-Yardley Rd/Lower Silver Lake Rd is likely to increase as other developers pursue their plans to locate businesses there following Wawa’s lead (e.g., Chick-fil-A; read “A Chick-fil-A On The Bypass Intersection Across from WAWA?”).