New Falls Twp. Wawa Will Sell Beer & Wine, But Some Residents Oppose It

Wawa’s ongoing expansion to sell wine and beer at its stores will continue in Falls Township.

The Falls Township Board of Supervisors on Monday evening voted 3-1 to approve an inter-municipal liquor license transfer requested by Wawa. The license will be transferred to Falls Township from Springfield Township in Upper Bucks County.

The supervisors’ approval forwards the request onto the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board which will review the transfer request.

The new Wawa at the Fairless Hills Shopping Center at 500 Lincoln Highway at the corner of Arleans Avenue and Lincoln Highway is set to open in early 2023 and wants to sell beer and wine, part of a new initiative by the popular privately-operated convenience store chain.

Ellen Freeman, the attorney representing Wawa, said the company has 15 stores in Pennsylvania that sell beer and wine. She noted more are coming and they have operated in a similar manner in other states for years.

Nearby, the new store along East Lincoln Highway in Middletown Township sells beer and wine and the under-construction locations on Bristol-Oxford Valley Road in Bristol Township will sell beer and wine.

All consumers who purchase alcohol from Wawa are carded, Freeman said. She added that Wawa makes use of a card scanner transaction gadget to make sure that identification is genuine.

Wawa is limited to selling two six packs and four standard bottles of wine per customer at the store, Freeman said.

The establishment will offer a dining area for up to 30 customers at once, five cooler doors, and shelves of beer and wine, Freeman said.

Under the law, Wawa has to permit customers to consume two 12 ounce cans of beer and one 8 ounce glass of wine in the store’s seating area. Although, the likelihood of that happening is low as Wawa won’t encourage drinking on site.

Bob Farkas, a resident near the location, said the sale of beer and wine at the new Wawa “isn’t necessary.” He complained there are beer bottles already disposed of in the area.

Freeman said his point of view was “just one opinion.”

Farkas and another resident also raised concerns about traffic with the addition Wawa, but those concerns weren’t related to the liquor license.

Resident Toni Batiste said she has concerns about people drinking and driving after leaving Wawa. She also was concerned with how close the sale of beer and wine was to the kid-centered Funzilla amusement center that sits across the parking lot.

“Let’s think about that one,” she said.

Supervisor John Palmer said he recently visited a convenience store near Harrisburg that sold beer and wine. He stated he found the model convenient.

“I didn’t see any abuse going on,” Palmer said. “I don’t see how we can restrict capitalism when it’s throughout our community already.”

Supervisor Brian Galloway pointed to Giant Food Store and ShopRite having a similar beer and wine section and no problems being reported.

Supervisor Vice Chairperson Jeff Boraski was the lone no vote, and said he shared some resident concerns about the liquor license transfer.

“I don’t like them coming back to us after we’ve already approved that business,” Boraski said of Wawa requesting the transfer after their construction plans were already approved.

In other business, the supervisors passed a resolution to oppose any sale of Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority assets to Aqua Pennsylvania. Although the deal has already been called off, the supervisors wanted to make their opinion known.

The resolution called any sale “unconscionable” and noted a sale of the public system to a for-profit company would have “long-term financial impacts” due to rate increases.

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