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In March, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an application for Wawa to open a location in Farmville. As anticipation grows, when can residents expect to see any progress?

For those who pass by the future site on the corner of Farmville Road and Commerce Road, it may seem that the project has been long forgotten as construction hasn’t started yet. Fortunately, that is not the case and Farmville residents could see construction start soon. 

According to County Administrator Doug Stanley, the county is working with the developers on a stormwater plan for the site. This process requires a lot of back and forth between the two parties until they agree on a plan. However, Stanley can see this being wrapped up within the next 30 days. 

“After that, then it is up to the developers on how they want to go forward,” said Stanley. 

Here soon once the stormwater plan is complete, the developers can apply for a building permit. Luckily, on the local side of things, that process only takes a few weeks. Depending on how long it takes for the developer to find an engineer and other details like that, construction could start within 30 days of getting the building permit.

According to Stanley, getting a conditional use permit is the first step of a very lengthy process. There are also Virginia Department of Transportation studies, utility plans and other details that have to be worked out before construction can start. With these steps being behind the scenes it can be easy for the public to lose some of the initial excitement. Even though the process is slow, progress is steadily moving forward. 

“[The developers] have made good progress in the process,” said Stanley. “They have spent a good amount of money on engineering, so this project is a go.”

Once construction is complete, the 6,000-square foot Wawa convenience store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is expected to employ around 50 employees to run the store and fuel station. The gas station will have eight gas pumps with the potential of adding charging stations for electric cars in the future, which was a requirement placed by the county planning commission.