Commerce could soon be returning to the site of the former Wrightstown Country Store.
Local businessman Tom Coates has purchased the property and is interested in having a deli, retail operation and two-bedroom apartment in the main building that once housed the country store – long a Wrightstown institution before its shuttering in 2020.
Coates and his Newtown-based attorney, Ed Murphy, appeared before the Wrightstown Board of Supervisors on Monday, April 1, to discuss the plan.
During the discussion, it emerged that Coates has undertaken renovations on the old store building and is still finishing them off. His plan is to rent part of the space to a tenant that will operate a deli. A deli tenant is said to have signed on.
Meanwhile, the retail store would house what Coates described as a business that specializes in health products, like natural/organic supplements. That tenancy is said to be pending.
Hours of operation could be allowed for between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. for the deli and 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. for the retail store. The deli will place a keen focus on take-out, Coates noted.
Coates needs conditional use approval from Wrightstown supervisors to proceed. The three-person board, which locally governs the township, hasn’t granted that yet, but did authorize the municipal solicitor to prepare a conditional use decision memorializing approval. Supervisors would still have to vote to make the approval official.
“A condition of approval is that the applicant provide line striping to designate the parking spaces, as well as to provide a fog line along the intersection of Durham Road (Route 413) and Penns Park Road to better define the turning radius at that intersection,” which is where the property is located, said Supervisor Chairman Chester Pogonowski.
The lot has 13 parking spaces, according to April 1 testimony.
Coates is also pursuing variances from the local zoning hearing board. He needs them due to a minor increase in impervious surface coverage that occurred in making the units ADA accessible and because there was a small increase in the volume of the building that resulted from replacing the old roof, officials said.
A time-frame on when businesses may begin to operate was unknown as of this writing.
In January 2020, Bobbie and Tom Pringle closed the Wrightstown Country Store as health issues became a concern in their latter 70s. The Pringles had operated the Country Store for 34 years and it was a popular stop for locals and commuters alike.
Subsequently, entrepreneur Eric Kretschman bought the property and had plans that included renovating the store itself, installing a new kitchen, converting a residential unit at the site into a flower/gift shop, and possibly even adding a greenhouse. While work reportedly began, the project ultimately withered and Kretschman sold the property, officials said.
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