Wawa eyeing site on Market Street, Kingston

KINGSTON — Wawa may be coming to the Wyoming Valley.

The convenience store chain’s first contemporary store in the area could be built on Market Street, Kingston on a vacant parcel once occupied by Franconi Auto Parts.

The Delaware County-based chain operates more than 950 convenience retail stores (over 750 offering gasoline) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and Washington, D.C. There are stores in Carbon and Monroe Counties — and reportedly one planned for Scranton — but none in Luzerne County at this time. A small, older format Wilkes-Barre store closed many years ago.

Paul Keating, Kingston Administrator, Tuesday confirmed that Wawa has expressed interest in building a convenience store/gas station on the Market Street site, but he said there are a few more steps that need to be taken before the project receives final approval.

“Let’s say the Wawa project is on the drawing board,” Keating said. “We have held two public hearings to gather public input on the project.”

Wawa spokeswoman Jennifer Wolf told the Times Leader: “I’m thrilled to confirm that we are continuing to spread our wings in existing markets. While we can’t confirm specific locations or timelines for construction at this stage in the process, we can say that we are actively looking into potential sites, including Luzerne County.”

Kingston’s Keating said there were a few concerns raised, but the project might rest on whether Wawa can get approval on its plan to build onto a portion of Reese Park. Keating also said there are zoning issues as well, but he didn’t expect those to hinder the project.

The concerns raised at the two public hearings dealt with issues like noise and lighting pollution, Keating said.

Keating explained that the U.S. Parks Service would have to approve the reduction in space at Reese Park with the condition that an equal amount of park space would be created elsewhere in the municipality.

That is because Reese Park and several other parks in Kingston have a national designation, under which the borough cannot subtract space from a park without adding an equal amount somewhere else.

“It’s called a conversion process,” Keating said. “And it is my understanding that Wawa has also expressed interest in improving Reese Park if the project is approved.”

Reese Park is located off of Carle Street, which is one block off of Market Street. It’s bordered by Bowman Street, South Landon Street and an alley.

Keating did not have a timeline on when the project might receive approval. He said more meetings will be held, but the Parks Department approval is critical for the project to move forward.