What’s next for Winter Springs Wawa after vote to deny project

The Winter Springs Planning and Zoning Board has recommended against allowing a Wawa gas station and convenience store at the intersection of Tuskawilla Road and State Road 434 – but that’s not the final say on the development.

The project stalled because, staff said, the way the developer plans to configure the site doesn’t conform to the Winter Springs Town Center code. Planning and Zoning Board Chair Kok Wan Mah said city staff does not often recommend denial. 

The Planning and Zoning board originally recommended a delay back in August.

“I was hoping that the applicant team and staff could come to some kind of agreement,” Mah said. “I do still have concerns about what this does for our Town Center district. … And for me, it’s more to maintain the integrity and intent of the Town Center District.” 

Overall, all five members of the Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously against approving the waivers needed for the project. 

Ryan Stahl, president and CEO of Equinox Development in Maitland, said development on the larger Winter Springs site started eight years ago on the site. The overall development was designed with input from the residents. 

It currently has an Aldi grocery store, Crunch Fitness and a Fifth Third bank on site. The idea is to park your car and “knock out two or three items in one stop,” Stahl said.

“I stand here with a bit of frustration and sadness because this was being done as a cohesive fix to the marketplace,” Stahl said to the Planning and Zoning Board. “Not a single person got up here and spoke against it and yet you guys unanimously denied it.”

Ultimately, the Planning and Zoning Commission makes a recommendation. It will be the Winter Springs City Commission that makes the final decision on whether or not to approve the project, which is expected to be at its Oct. 13 meeting.

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Residents have previously raised concerns about traffic, and worried that the site needs to be designed carefully for pedestrians because it would likely be popular with Winter Springs High School students.  

But Louis Atti, president of the Jesup’s Reserve Townhomes Homeowners Association, said he wanted the board to approve the Wawa. He said that as someone who had worked in real estate, the property’s hexagon shape was a challenge. 

“And I’ll tell you that place could stay vacant for a long time,” Atti said. “We don’t want that to be the case. Our 500 residences support the marketplace.”

How to make a gas station have the Town Center feel

The plan is to build a Wawa gas station and convenience store at Tuskawilla Road and S.R. 434. 

The convenience store would be 4,736 square feet, and there would be six double gas pumps under a 5,903-square-foot canopy, for a total of 12 gas dispensers. But the area is part of the Winter Springs Town Center, and the Town Center district zoning crosses S.R. 434. 

The Town Center is zoned to feature a blend of residential and commercial, with a more pedestrian-friendly design. The zoning calls for development to be closer to the main roads. 

Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann said the Winter Springs Town Center is designed to be different from the rest of Winter Springs. It’s not just commercial, and is denser housing, compared to single-family homes in the rest of the city. 

“It’s designed to be an inclusive, walkable area in our community,” McCann said. 

• Winter Springs Wawa by the numbers
• Address: 180 Tuskawilla Road
• Size: 1.22 acres
• Applicant: Tuskawilla Property Investors, LLC
• Expected employees: 45
• Traffic: Expected to generate 693 daily new external trips
• First meeting: May 6, 2025
• Final decision: October 13, 2025

Because the site plan calls for the gas canopy where people would gas up to be closer to State Road 434 than the convenience store, the staff recommended against approval. The Town Center code, as it was previously written, only allows for one gas station – and there’s currently a Mobile station across the street.

But in May of this year, the Winter Springs City Commission approved a slight change to the ordinance, which would allow for a neighborhood convenience store that also sells gas. 

“You could have a convenience store if it was a convenience store with gas,” said Winter Springs Public Information Officer Matthew Reeser. “If the majority of your business is groceries, and you reduce the number of pumps, they changed it to (allow) that.” 

Ultimately, staff recommended the Planning & Zoning Board deny the project because it does not meet the ‘fundamental and urban design concepts’ and ‘corner store or neighborhood convenience store with gas pumps.. 

“The convenience store placement is required to be oriented close to E. SR 434/Tuskawilla

Road,” staff wrote in their findings. “It is not consistent with the use of a ‘corner store’ or neighborhood convenience store to have the building placed 182 ft. behind the corner.”

At the August 7 meeting, one resident was worried about the traffic issues from the new gas station. Gina Shafer, a former Planning and Zoning Board member and a resident of the Winter Springs Village, also didn’t like Wawa’s original design.

“Look, I didn’t want a gas station, but hey, you gotta live with it,” resident Gina Shafer said. “But make it look like it’s out at Disney World because that is our Town Center. If you have to do the fake back, because that’s what they do like a set, that’s what you do.”

Winter Springs City Commissioner Victoria Bruce, who is not on the Planning and Zoning Board, also addressed the Planning and Zoning Board in August. She said she wanted to see electric vehicle charging stations at the Wawa.

“It’s unclear why EVs weren’t discussed,” Bruce said. 

Stahl, the developer on the project, said they are open to including charging stations. Stahl said he is open to putting a charging station at another location in the larger development. 

But to place them on the actual Wawa site would mean they would be along Tuskawilla Road. 

“Nobody’s asked,” Stahl said about the charging stations. “The only place to put them … is fronting Tuskawilla, and it was unanimously agreed, including by Wawa, that that would not be an attractive place to line up a bunch of Tesla charging stations.”

Cory Sitler, an engineer with Kimly-Horn representing the developer, told the Planning and Zoning Board that Wawa doesn’t typically stray from its store designs. If approved, this would be the first Wawa in Florida with different colors than the standard store.  

He acknowledged that it may seem like they are asking for “a lot.”

“So this was definitely an uphill battle, from Wawa’s perspective, but we did want to show that we wanted to work with the city in terms of making a cohesive development and something that will have the same look and feel throughout the entire development,” Sitler said. 

While the Planning and Zoning Board did not approve the site plan, developer’s agreement or waivers, they did approve a plan for nearby parking for the Wawa’s employees, if the project is approved. 

Stahl said the color change was a concession on Wawa’s behalf, and an indication that the gas station wants to be in Winter Springs. But flipping the layout of the side was too much for Wawa, he said, adding that it’s a safety issue. 

If the convenience store’s front faces State Road 434, staff won’t have a clear line of sight to the gas pumps if there’s a fire and they need to be shut off. Stahl also said having the back of the store along S.R. 434 would place the dumpsters along the highway. Another issue, he said, is that drivers need to recognize it as a gas station before stopping. 

Stahl said that he wants to have the planning board’s support. 

“But ultimately, it’s the decision of the (Winter Springs City) Commission,” Stahl said. “I’m not going to let the P&Z preclude us from going forward.”

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America Corps Member.