The Berlin Planning Commission’s extended discussion last week on the appearance of the Wawa proposed for the northern side of town showed just how frustrating these deliberations can be for both the developer and the commission.

Clearly, they both could use help in determining issues involving architectural aesthetics, what with commission members unable to define more precisely what they want to see and the developer unable to proceed with confidence without solid guidance.

The best the commission could do for property owner Spiro Buas was grant preliminary approval of his site plan with the provision that he return with a building that did a better of job of reflecting Berlin’s architectural flavor.

That’s a broad palette, as attorney Dirk Widdowson asserted during the session, when he noted there were plenty of buildings in town that had no particular architectural style.

The best solution to the problem, however, came after commission member Newt Chandler mentioned his desire to see the design Wawa used in Cape May, New Jersey, a National Historic Landmark. As the developers pointed out, that town and others like it have specific architectural requirements.

Outside Berlin’s historic district, it doesn’t need and possibly can’t impose strict rules governing a building’s appearance, but it certainly can develop guidelines, as the Ocean City Development Corporation has done in Ocean City.

While there’s some question in Ocean City about whether a “guideline” may be safely ignored by a site plan applicant, it remains that developers know it’s easier to go with the program and get their approvals than it is to mount a legal challenge.

With Wawa asking the town what it needs to do to pass the appearance test, and the commission unable to articulate what it wants, it’s evident that design guidelines drawn up in the fashion of the OCDC’s handbook are the best answer for everyone.