John Mack - Newtown Supervisor
Township Planner Presentation on Rezoning the OLI & LI Districts

Township Planner Michele Fountain was a guest speaker at the May 4, 2021, Newtown Planning Commission (PC) Zoom meeting. The topic was "LI & OLI Zoning District Land Use." It is the first of a planned series of presentations.

At the July 2, 2020, Zoom meeting of the Economic Development Committee (EDC), members Karen Miller, co-president of the Newtown Business Commons Association, and Joseph Blackburn, an Associate with Wisler Pearlstine, proposed ways that the township can revitalize the Newtown Business Commons, which is zoned for light industrial and office use (see map). This is especially important after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and businesses get up and running again but find that more workers can work at home and they no longer need as much office space. Listen to an audio podcast of that discussion.

Figure: Zoning Map Shows Location of OL-I and OR Districts.
OLI=Office/Light Industrial District, LI=Light Industrial District

LI &O-LI Zoning Districts Land Use

See the video of Ms. Fountain’s presentation below.

Download Ms. Fountain’s Powerpoint presentation (PDF format).

O-LI and LI Zoning Districts Uses

The goal of Ms. Fountain's presentation was to start a discussion among PC members regarding new uses that should be allowed in these districts to attract new businesses with high-paying jobs.1 See the current uses of the O-LI and LI districts in the table below.

Meanwhile, listen to the following 30-minute podcast exerpted from the discussion focused on specific suggestions for new uses that were put forward including allowing more restaurants, hydroponic crop growing (e.g., marijuana), etc.

Mack's Newtown Voice · Proposed New Uses For Newtown Township's Industrial/Office Zones

1 How important do YOU think it is to bring new businesses to Newtown? TAKE MY SURVEY

CU=Conditional Use, P=Permitted Use, SE=Special Exception
* When catering to the employees of the OLI and LI districts

Related Content

Seth Shapiro, Director of Planning and Urban Design at BartonPartners, was a guest speaker at the April 1, 2021, Newtown EDC Zoom meeting. He focused on the problems of "Euclidean Zoning," which is a system of zoning whereby a town or community is divided into areas, i.e., O-LI and LI zones, in which specific uses of land are permitted.