Hoagiefest on hold: Wawa denied for Freemansburg Avenue

BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — After three public hearings and a 4-0 final decision by the zoning hearing board Wednesday night, the township won’t be getting a new Wawa at Harvey’s Corner.

Along with the Wawa, the proposal from Wagner Enterprises Ltd. and MPW Properties Inc. also called for the construction of a Fidelity Bank and two garden apartment buildings with 16 total units.

• Township zoners voted 4-0 in opposing a zoning change
• The Wawa was proposed for construction at Freemansburg Avenue and Wagner Drive, commonly known as 'Harvey's Corner'
• While a Wawa is coming to 3608 Nazareth Pike, the township will continue its discussion of another location for 4457 Easton Ave.

The projects would’ve taken up more than eight acres at 4900 Freemansburg Ave., neighboring a CVS Pharmacy and a nearby ShopRite supermarket.

The applicants fought for an appeal in the zoning districts, calling for a change from Neighborhood Enhancement Overlay to Mixed-Use Overlay.

That would have set them in the same zoning type as the CVS and supermarket.

Reasoning for the decision

The conclusions leading to the board’s decision included the following, according to official documentation:

• The zoning change “would benefit no one other than the property owner” looking to build the Wawa;
• Many township residents attended the public hearings, “almost all of whom spoke against the proposed change in zoning”;
• The application was not made “for the purpose of promoting the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare” — and the official record lacked any evidence to support the opposite;
• There was no evidence to be found of “spot zoning” as mentioned by the applicants;
• Wagner Enterprises testified during previous hearings that the proposed apartment parcel “need no zoning remedy” and was not the object of spot zoning;
• Wagner also testified that the lot to be used for the bank didn’t need a zoning change, so that portion of the applicants’ appeal was “rendered moot”;
• Since the lot proposed for the Wawa was "not yet of record," the board said it had “no jurisdiction to render advisory opinions”;
• The applicants’ allegation they were “treated differently than surrounding parcels already within the Mixed-Use Overlay without reasonable basis” is “without merit.”

Spot zoning

According to Northampton County Judge Paula Roscioli, “spot zoning” is legally prohibited as defined by case law.

“Spot zoning is a singling out of one lot or a small area for different treatment from that accorded to similar surrounding land indistinguishable from it in character, for the economic benefit or detriment of the owner of that lot,” Roscioli wrote. “In spot zoning, the legislative focus narrows to a single property and the costs and benefits to be balanced are those of particular property owners.

“The question is whether the lands at issue are a single, integrated unit and whether any difference in their zoning from that of adjoining properties can be justified with reference to the characteristics of the tract and its environs.”