Our client, Wawa, Inc., sought to obtain approval to construct the first Wawa store, including gas pumps, on Old Ox Road in Loudoun County. The proposal was to rezone the property from the 1972 Planned Development – General Industry (PD-GI) zoning district to the current Revised 1993 PD-GI zoning district with special exception approval for an automobile service station.
Wawa worked with WCL&W’s Prince William County office to obtain several approvals for Wawa stores in Prince William County. Knowing that approval of a Wawa store in Loudoun County would require local land entitlement experience and political connections, Wawa hired Shareholder Randy Minchew and Senior Land Use Planner Kimberlee Hise (f/k/a Cummings).
Rezoning and special exception approval was necessary prior to construction. In order to achieve approvals, multiple meetings with elected and appointed officials, as well as community outreach, was required. During processing of the applications, the opposition provided numerous documents and statements containing misleading and inaccurate information to thwart the approval of the applications. Randy and Kim provided factual information to counter the misinformation, leading to a successful result.
Despite significant opposition and lack of County staff support, the applications were approved by the majority of the Board of Supervisors on December 3, 2014.
Wawa’s site plan application is currently under review by Loudoun County. It is anticipated that construction will begin later this year.
