MoCo’s second Wawa gets green light for Burtonsville

Montgomery County may soon be welcoming its second Wawa convenience store after the county Planning Board unanimously approved construction plans for a Burtonsville location on Thursday.

The Wawa and gas station will be at 15585 and 15595 Old Columbia Pike across from the Burtonsville Office Park and Burtonsville Town Square, according to planning documents. The shopping center, near U.S. Route 29, is home to a Giant supermarket, CVS, Petco and several restaurant chains.

In March, the Pennsylvania-based chain with more than 1,050 stores opened its first store in Montgomery County at 405 South Frederick Ave. in Gaithersburg. Excited customers along with Gaithersburg officials attended the store’s grand opening, with Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman and the City Council proclaiming “Wawa Day” in the city, according to Montgomery Community Media.

In addition to the store, the company plans to create two public open green spaces on the property, according to planning documents. The open spaces will be shaded and have seating areas and tables, documents state.

The site currently is home to a 7-Eleven gas station and a Mattress & More Liquidators store on separate lots. The company plans to combine the lots, demolish the existing structures and build a 5,919-square-foot convenience store and restaurant, gas station and 50 parking spaces. In addition, plans propose up to nine electric vehicle charging stations to be installed.

The project also calls for construction of a “new signalized intersection” that will provide access from the Burtonsville Town Square to the Wawa, according to planning documents.

Several pedestrian-related improvements also are included, such as construction of a 10-foot-wide side path along Old Columbia Pike and a 16-foot-wide bike breezeway side path along the ramp to Route 29, according to planning documents. Wawa will be responsible for constructing the intersection and streetscape improvements, planning staff said during Thursday’s meeting.

“I love how you’re putting the pedestrian improvements there,” Planning Board Chair Artie Harris said to Wawa’s developers and legal representatives during Thursday’s meeting. “I also, as I said before, like that you’re going to have so many electric charging stations. We can’t have enough of those if we’re converting to electric vehicles.”

Wawa did not immediately respond Friday to Bethesda Today’s email request for comment regarding the approval and when the Burtonsville location is expected to open.