Plans for a Florence convenience store have spurred concerns over growth and traffic.
The Boone County Planning Commission received introductory concept development plans for a 5,919-square-foot Wawa site proposed at the corner of Burlington Pike and Cardinal Drive during its Wednesday session.
“Wawa has just over 1,000 stores, mostly on the east coast,” Wawa Real Estate Project Engineer Patrick Warnement said. “The company is trying to get up to 2,000 stores in 10 years and four of the key growth states are Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee.”
Wawa stores are open 24 hours with three individuals on staff at all times for safety reasons. Free coffee is offered to law enforcement and fire personnel, and the company has charitable foundations in communities it serves that have donated $100 million over the years, Warnement said.
“Food comes before fuel for us,” Warnement said. “We didn’t start offering fuel until the mid-1990s, so we’ve been a food shop much longer than we have been a gas station. You’ll see many people come, get a hoagie for lunch, leave and never get gas.”
The 52 parking spaces Wawa is seeking for the project stems from the food first priority, Warnement said.
Concerns about the county growing too rapidly were expressed by Burlington resident Tammy McDaniel.
“Boone County, that area is not fit yet to have something like this,” McDaniel said. “We don’t have the road to do all these fabulous things that everyone’s wanting to do. Boone County needs a break. Every time someone sees something green, they want to build something that’s going to bring hundreds.”
Increased traffic is also an issue, McDaniel said.
“We’re not doing anything about the traffic and the overflow,” McDaniel said.
More traffic concerns were conveyed by Walton resident Michele Kelly.
“My experience, just recently, last week, I’m coming northbound on 275, I have some place to go on 18 and have to turn right, I couldn’t even get off the exit,” Kelly said. “We need to be careful about how much we’re putting, where and when – before other things happen.”
In response to the traffic concerns, the City of Florence deferred to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s previously conducted traffic study.
“We’re going to coordinate that and make sure we’re on the same page with both city and the county,” Warnement said.
The committee meeting for the plan will be at 5 p.m. on Sept. 20 in the Boone County Administration Building Fiscal Court Room and then go before the full Planning Commission Board at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 at its business meeting, the Planning Commission noted.