Wrightstown okays Country Store zoning

An effort to reopen a revitalized version of the Wrightstown Country Store is gaining momentum.
The owner of the popular institution in Wrightstown has been granted zoning relief by the township’s Zoning Hearing Board, a hurdle that had to be cleared if the newly imagined store was to come to fruition.
Owner Eric Kretschman wants the location to feature a new deli, food store and flower shop. But to create things as envisioned, he needed variances from local zoning law.
After a recent hearing, the proposed project earned relief that included zoning variances that will allow parking on the front and side yards of the property, the expansion of the existing retail use beyond 25%, a higher-than-standard-allowance maximum impervious surface coverage ratio of 67.9%, and more.
The zoning relief may be good news for Kretschman and others who want to see the store reopened, but it doesn’t mean that work can begin.
Chester Pogonowski, chairman of the Wrightstown Board of Supervisors, the three-person board that locally governs the township, noted that land development approval still must be obtained. That would come, if at all, from supervisors only after a public hearing or hearings.

Pogonowski said a land development application has not been submitted as of yet. “Once the application is submitted, we generally have 90 days to approve unless the applicant gives us an extension providing for additional time,” he said.
Bobbie Pringle and her husband, Tom, owned the Wrightstown Country Store for some 34 years. In their latter 70s and with health issues a concern, the couple closed the operation in January 2020 and put it and the site it sits on up for sale.
The store was in operation since the 1970s. It’s located at 557 Durham Road (Route 413) in Wrightstown – at the intersection with Penns Park Road. The location is along one of the primary north-south connector roads in Bucks County. Known for its delicious sandwiches and quality affordable coffee, the store was popular with locals and commuters alike.
Kretschman is a real estate investment/private equity professional. He was controller for Montgomery County from 2004 to 2008.

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