Montgomery County property records show that Provco-Pineville, LLC has purchased the property at 1109 and 1119 Fayette Street in the Borough of Conshohocken and 1201 Butler Pike in the Conshohocken section of Whitemarsh Township. The sale was recorded on July 15th. The property served as a car dealership and serviced vehicles for almost 100 years under the Moore family, most recently under brothers Tim and Dennis Moore.

In 2010, it was announced that Provco-Pineville, LLC was seeking to redevelop the property as a Wawa with gas pumps. There have been three different efforts since then to get a Wawa approved and all have failed. Provco-Pineville first sought a text amendment to the zoning code, which was not recommended by Conshohocken’s planning commission and then denied by a 6-1 vote by the borough council.

The developer then sought zoning relief from Conshohocken’s zoning hearing board, which was denied unanimously in 2016.

In 2017, Provco-Pineville revisited seeking a text amendment from the borough council which had several new members from it was considered in 2013. This time, the text amendment was passed by a vote of 4-3. However, the neighbors of the property appealed the decision and the zoning hearing board voted to invalidate the ordinance by a 3-2 vote.

That decision was then appealed by the developer and the borough, and Judge Wendy Rothstein of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County ruled in their favor in early 2020. The neighbors then appealed this decision to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, which reversed the Court of Common Pleas decision on August 16, 2021. In his opinion, President Judge P. Kevin Brobson wrote that the zoning hearing board was within its right to declare that the amended zoning ordinance passed by the borough council constituted spot zoning. This decision was not appealed.

That decision was one year old as of yesterday and there have been no official moves to redevelop the property as a Wawa or anything since then.

Throughout this process, dating back to 2010, the Moores still owned the property, however, had an agreement with the developer to allow it to seek approvals to redevelop the property. Many times, if denied the ability to redevelop the property as desired, the developer walks away. However, by buying the property Provco-Pineville shows its commitment to redeveloping the property in some manner.

More to come.