FLORENCE, Ky. — The initially planned location for a Wawa convenience store at Burlington Pike and Cardinal Drive in Florence has changed.
Wawa is now seeking the Boone County Fiscal Court’s approval to set up shop at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Mt. Zion Road. The first reading of an ordinance outlining zoning for the project was heard by the court during Tuesday’s regular session.
“The submitted concept plan shows the construction of a 5,919-square-foot convenience store with eight gasoline pumps,” Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said. “Construction of a canopy over those pumps, construction of a retaining wall along the western portion of the property, with a maximum height of eight feet, partial relocation of Shoemaker Lane and access to the site from Shoemaker Lane.”
Some Boone County residents previously expressed concerns that Burlington Pike, also known as KY 18, would not be able to accommodate the traffic the project could potentially generate.
Wawa recently withdrew the application for a Burlington Pike and Cardinal Drive location. The company is eyeing construction of a network of stores in Northern Kentucky, officials said.
“The first time I heard the planning for Wawa was (KY) 18, I was totally against that because of the traffic on 18 – I thought that was a bad place,” Burlington resident Tammy McDaniel said. “From what I was able to find out about them, they are fabulous. When they came back and presented where they wanted to go, my first thought was this is going to be a fabulous place for Boone County.”
Wawa is over 200 years old, Wawa Real Estate Project Engineer Patrick Warnement said.
“It started as an iron foundry,” Warnement said. “One of the Wood family brothers created a dairy in Pennsylvania and opened some stores that were basically small grocery stores. We sell a lot of prepared foods. Along the east coast it’s got a very big cult-like following. There are people who have had weddings at Wawa stores.”
Wawa has just over 1,000 stores. The company is attempting to reach the 2,000 store mark in 10 years – with four of the key growth states being Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee, Warnement said.
The second reading of the ordinance outlining zoning for the project is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 at the Boone County Administration Building in Burlington.
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