(rshsdepot) Bad News: North Pemberton NJ Railroad Station

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

Wawa wins OK for store
Friday, July 22, 2005 

By DONNA McARDLE 

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP - The battle has been fought and Wawa won. Wednesday night the zoning board voted to grant the variances Wawa Corp. needed to build a superstore and gas station on the old Trilco site, next to the North Pemberton train station. 

The vote ended almost two years of bickering and controversy over the fate of the 9-acre parcel, bitterly dividing the community into those who favored a commercial ratable and those who favored historic preservation and expansion of the train station into a museum complex, using an $800,000 Green Acres grant as seed money. 

Both sides continued their arguments Wednesday night as the public had its say on Wawa's proposal. 

Historic Trust President Mike Tamn urged Wawa to consider an alternative, renovating their current store already operating across the street and building a new gas station at a former Citgo site. 

Sketches of that alternative appealed to resident Helene Russ, who said, "This is a really good compromise. They stay on one side of the street and we stay on the other. We can have an opportunity to save history and to have growth." 

Resident Rick Brown also argued against Wawa. 

"Redevelopment is key all around the state," he said. "There is not a lot of good developable land in town. We already have a Wawa and gas station. If you approve this, you still will have a Wawa and gas station. It will have net zero effect." 

Wawa supporters also had their say. 

Derrick Daniels, who lives next door to the proposed site, said he'd prefer a super Wawa than a vacant building that serves as a magnet to vandals and troublemakers. 

"No one would say build a Wawa next to me," he said, "but there are problems with the buildings there now. Wawa has been fair with me, agreeing to put in a double row of trees and a berm and directional lighting. They have done things to help me as an owner. 

"The train station has been there for the last eight years I've been here and no one has done anything there. If Wawa gets defeated, how long till the train station can do something. There are four train cars there for many years that have not been fixed. They are not moving forward, so Wawa would be better for me." 

Resident Anthony DiGiralomo agreed. "Wawa said they'd build a better building and bring in more ratables. Wawa is the first one to do it there. We're debating a business that makes money or the historic trust. I've heard this is a busy intersection. I say `What a good place to put a business.' " 

After the testimony, the board voted to give Wawa the variances it needed to build across the street from an existing gas station and near the historic trust's driveway. 

Board members cited ridding the area of a long-standing dilapidated eyesore in the Trilco site, an economic boon for employment and an enhancement to the community. 

Wawa will build a 5,700-square-foot store with 16 gas pumps on the site. It will have to return to the zoning board for site plan approval. 

Councilman Rick Prickett, who spoke about the council's pursuit of the property for historic redevelopment at the board meeting, was disappointed in the vote. 

"We spent a lot of time to put this together," he said. "We really thought this could work. We thought we had a good plan." 




? 2005  The Times of Trenton

? 2005 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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