Martin County approves Wawa gas station despite neighbors’ disappointment

Discussions regarding a Wawa project in Martin County are now settled.

On Tuesday, the Martin County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a new Wawa gas station at the corner of SW Locks Road and SW Kanner Highway.

The board voted 4-1 to approve the site plan, which will bring a 5,500-square-foot Wawa with 12 gas pumps to a 2-acre corner west of I-95.

At last week’s Local Planning Agency meeting, the board voted 2-2 to recommend the development to county commissioners. Many residents attended this meeting to express their opposition to the gas station project.

WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield spoke this week with concerned residents, who fear the development will bring more traffic and congestion to the area.

“This corner is going to cause huge traffic jams in the morning and evening,” said John Turner, who lives across the street from the proposed site. “You’re going to have people going up and down I-95, the turnpike, and they’re not familiar with the area. We’re going to have accidents.

Before Tuesday’s vote to approve the plan, neighbors packed the rooms and more than a dozen spoke against the project.

Many cited health and safety concerns, but one of the recurring issues they raised was that of potential traffic congestion at an already busy intersection.

“There shouldn’t be businesses there piling up more of the traffic that’s there now,” said Michael Pinelli, a neighbor.

Martin County

However, some people, like neighbor Tammy Harrell, spoke in favor of the project.

“Do we have a lot of gas stations in our area? We absolutely do. Do we have a lot of things we actually want to get into? No, we don’t,” Harrell said.

The property has been zoned for commercial use for nearly 60 years.

Commissioner Sarah Heard voted in favor of the plan but doesn’t like the idea of ​​the project. But because of the zoning, she said it was difficult to disapprove.

“It was a legally defensible decision to make,” Heard said.

Christine Truitt, who lives across the street from the future site, said she was disappointed by the commissioners’ refusal to step up to address these legal challenges.

“I think sometimes you have to poke the bear and you have to go to court and fight for what’s right,” Truitt said.

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