Change is coming to Newark and more may be on the way, as city officials approve special use permits for a new Wawa, consider potential additions to Folk Memorial Park and debate the merits of a free parking pilot program.
A long-planned Wawa was approved off of Elkton Road during a Newark City Council meeting on Monday, March 10.
A dog park is proposed by the owners of Dash In in Folk Memorial Park, just a few months after community uproar prevented a baseball field from being built there.
And, finally, the free parking pilot program was evaluated in front of the City Council.
Here’s what to know.
New Wawa on Elkton Road
A long-standing plan by developers Otts Chapel Associates LLC to build a Wawa on 1105 Elkton Road was approved during the Newark City Council meeting on Monday night.
The project plans call for demolishing the vacant buildings that used to house Leon’s Garden World and Ewing Towing to build a 5,585-square-foot Wawa with gas pumps on about 5.87 acres of land. Sixty-seven parking spaces and eight bicycle parking spaces are planned for the site, as well as two proposed electric vehicle charging stations.
A traffic study approved by Delaware’s Department of Transportation estimated that 5,532 daily trips would be generated by the development.
As it currently stands, the site lies in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 100-year floodplain. In order to keep the site’s plan in line with city and county code requirements, the developers are going to have to elevate the site, effectively removing it from the flood risk zone.
Before the City Council could approve the plan, developers had to get approvals from FEMA that would certify that the elevation would effectively remove the site from the floodplain, as well as get concurring agreements from the city, from New Castle County and from Cecil County, Maryland, which is less than a mile down the road.
The planning commission recommended that Newark City Council approve the subdivision plans and four special use permits in August 2023.
Plans for the site began in 2018, when concepts for the gas station and convenience store were first proposed to the city. Original plans had Royal Farms as the likely tenant of the site.
In 2021, Newark’s planning commission and City Council agreed to annex the property, which previously was a part of unincorporated New Castle County, as well as rezone the site from industrial to commercial usage.
Potential dog park at Folk Memorial Park
Newark officials are seeking public feedback about building a dog park in Folk Memorial Park at 98 Welsh Tract Road.
Wills Group, owner of Dash In gas and convenience store, chose Folk Memorial Park as the recipient for its Reimaging Outdoor Spaces 2025 Signature Project Grant, which would fully fund the design, development and construction of the potential dog park.
Plans for the 130-by-120-foot, fenced-in Dash In Dog Park include ground cover with woodchips, existing grass or potentially artificial turf, and additional trees for shade and screening. It may also include a dog fountain.
The dog park is planned to sit behind the existing baseball/softball field, parallel to the paved trail and may also include improved access to the Villa Belmont condominium complex.
Staff from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will be at the park on Wednesday, March 12, from 11 a.m. until noon to answer questions from residents. The City Council is expected to vote on the upcoming project in the coming weeks.
Feedback on the project can be sent to District 3 Councilman Jay Bancroft at [email protected] or [email protected] by Friday, March 14.
If the City Council approves the proposal, steps would be taken to finalize the park’s location and refine the design.
Community input would be solicited for key design elements such as color schemes, preferred dog obstacles and decorative fence art themes, as well as organized volunteer days for the park’s installation and artwork.
Free parking pilot fails to meet revenue goals
Between Dec. 16 and Jan. 15, the city of Newark conducted a “pilot” test of free weekend parking during the University of Delaware’s winter break to see if more foot traffic was generated downtown.
Free parking was offered between Sundays and Tuesdays, an awkward choice that in hindsight may have confused folks in the area, according to Renee Bensley, planning and development director for Newark, who presented the results during Monday's City Council meeting.
Instead of a projected increase in revenue, the city saw an overall revenue decline of nearly $19,000, she said.
However, in a Monday, March 3, presentation to the City Council, planning and parking staff said the concept as a whole was a success. Businesses reported that the program got people talking and increased patronage at the local stores and restaurants.
Staff recommended that the city move forward with approving another pilot for free weekend parking from June 16 until Aug. 15, and continuing plans to implement a permanent parking incentive period for the 2025-2026 winter break.
Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.