The bureaucratic hurdles are coming to an end for a proposed Wegman’s grocery store in Concord Township. Supervisors there closed a conditional use hearing on Dec. 3 and are expected to render their decision on Dec. 10 at 6:45 p.m.
The board is also expected to give its decision on the Wegman’s land use application that same night. Concord’s Planning Commission has recommended approval.
Dennis Glacken, the applicant’s land planner, said the final plan is pretty much the same as was previously proposed. The only changes were in the number of parking spaces and some modifications to the shape of the building. While the shape has changed, it’s still a 140,000 square foot building.
Glacken said the total number of parking spaces was reduced from 804 to 752, but that’s still more than the 620 spaces required by Concord’s ordinance. The spaces were reduced because of the inclusion of several islands in the parking lot.
There could still be more parking if the Chadds Ford Zoning Hearing Board grants a variance for parking only use on an adjacent piece of property in Chadds Ford. That decision could come on Dec. 18.
Wegman’s wants parking on the adjacent property near the store’s planned outdoor seating area.
There was no opposition during the Dec. 3 hearing. Whole Foods and Applied Card had initial opposition, but Whole Foods, through attorney Rocco Imperatrice, and Wegman’s reached an agreement regarding traffic.
Wegman’s attorney Robert Gundlach and Garth Hoyt, representing Applied Card, are working on an agreement whereby Wegman’s will pay to move a guard shack so motorists won’t try to get to Wegman’s through Applied Card Way off of Route 202.
The piece of Applied Card Way at Route 1 will become part of the southeast segment of the loop road allowing drivers to go between routes 1 and 202 without using the main intersection. Completing that section of the loop road will be one of the conditions required for approving the project.
December’s session was a continuance from a hearing in May that dealt with conditional use and a text change to the zoning code. That text change was approved and part of that allows for a single store of more than 65,000 square feet, but only with conditional use approval.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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