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Dick Krim and Terry Favra, of Ramsey, examine plans for a Wawa near their homes. (Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

RAMSEY — Wawa may be the country's favorite convenience store.

But not in Bear’s Cove, a 55-and-over condominium community.

Developer V-Boys Ramsey Holdings LLC hopes to tear down the former Cury’s Sports Shop on Route 17 northbound and build a 24-hour Wawa convenience store and gas station. But a group of residents has battled for more than a year to stop the plans.

The back of the property juts right up against some of townhouses. Terry Vavra, a Bear’s Cove resident, expects the development will be plagued by noise day and night from trucks stopping on their way to New York, assailed by light from the 24-hour gas station and afflicted by the smells of the built-to-order hoagies from the convenience store.

Vavra is one of more than 40 residents paying Ho-Ho-Kus attorney Robert Inglima Jr., to oppose the Wawa in the Ramsey Planning Board. Aside from their quality-of-life concerns, residents fear the traffic problems the Wawa might cause.

The entrance and exit to the store will fall just before the exit for Williams Drive, the main access road for Bear’s Cove and McFarren Field, where the borough has two athletic fields.

“It affects every resident of Ramsey who would think about bringing their children to McFarran Field, as well as those 104 of us living [in Bear’s Cove],” Vavra said.

Wawa has been on a grand-opening jag of late. The chain opened its first Bergen County location in Lodi in 2013, its 237th in New Jersey, with plans for additional locations in Garfield and Hackensack.

Vavra and other Bear’s Cove residents hope their opposition leads Wawa to a different spot on Route 17.

“It’s kind of a David-Goliath issue,” Dick Krim, another Bear’s Cove resident, said. “But we hope they’re a sensitive corporation.”

Mike Redel, a real estate representative for Wawa, said in planning board meetings that the company was willing to make several changes to mitigate the impact of the store, including constructing fencing and landscaping, reducing lighting and restricting deliveries at night. The plans call for a 5,150-square-foot building with 16 fueling pumps.

Lori Bruce, a spokeswoman for Wawa, added that because the store will mostly serve motorists traveling north, “there will be very little traffic added to the roadway.”

The residents are in it for the long haul. They hired Inglima shortly after they first learned of the plans in June 2013, and expect hearings to continue into 2015.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.