In this part of the country, only three things are generally certain: death, taxes and Wawa.
But it seems nothing is certain after all in the tumultuous world of New Castle County zoning politics.
In a situation county council members and real estate lawyers alike call unusual or even unprecedented, a roundly popular Wawa project near Middletown has been trapped in rezoning purgatory for more than four years despite no apparent opposition — a rare circumstance that has turned a location of the locally beloved hoagie and gas station chain into one of the oldest pending projects in the county.
Now, says the lawyer for its developer, the land deal for that Wawa is in danger of being scuttled if a controversial comprehensive rezoning bill is withdrawn this month as expected.
This prospect has incensed hoagie-loving neighbors, frustrated its developer and potentially incurred legal vulnerability for the county, according to New Castle County councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick — turning this Wawa into a fulcrum for the county’s biggest rezoning fight in decades.