Meet Mack Monday
Join Me for a Chat
Are you concerned overdevelopment in Newtown or about traffic in the shopping center or about the quality of our drinking water or about preserving the open space in our parks or about any issue that has or will come before the Board of Supervisors and other township boards and commissions?
Feel free to attend one of my "Meet Mack Monday" events that I host each month, usually the 2nd Monday of the month before the first Board of Supervisors meeting. I will inform you of items coming up for discussion at public meetings you may not be able to attend and that are not televised. I will listen to your concerns and together with other residents and business owners I will try to come up with solutions to problems that make sense for Newtown as a whole.
Next Meeting
August 24, 2020, 7 PM via Zoom
Main Topic: Toll Bros. Twining Bridge Road Development
Other Topics: The Township's plans to enable residents to participate in Board of Supervisors Zoom meetings. For background, read "Newtown Supervisors May Open Up Zoom Meetings to Residents".
The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors completed hearings on a conditional use application (“Application”) submitted by Toll PA XVIII, LP involving the development of land located along Route 413 (Durham Road) & Twining Bridge Road proposing the construction of 45 new single-family homes on approximately 150 acres. A full copy of the conditional use application is available for public inspection during regular Township business hours at the Newtown Township Municipal Building, 100 Municipal Drive, Newtown, PA (215) 968-2800.
In the following 10-minute audio snippet from the July 22, 2020, Board of Supervisors (BOS) Zoom meeting, Board members discuss when and under what conditions - via Zoom or live public meeting - the BOS will make its final decision regarding the Toll Bros conditional use application. Questions addressed: If via Zoom, will the public be invited to attend? Is there a possibility that Toll Bros will "bypass" the BOS and submit a "by right plan"? How many housing units are possible under a by right plan? Ultimately, at the following BOS August 5 meeting, it was decided that the meeting to approve or not approve the application would be held live on August 26, 2020, at the Town Center with up to 20 residents being able to attend. However, residents still have concerns.
Register to attend the August 24, 2020, Meet Mack Monday meeting and tell me what's on your mind. Sorry, you'll have to bring your own coffee!
Recent Past Meetings
- July 6, 2020: Police Accountability
- May 11, 2020: Newtown BINGO! Helping Businesses During COVID-19
- April 20, 2020: Diversion of Tax Funds to Cover Deficit Spending
- March 9, 2020: Code Regarding Neglected Property
- February 10, 2020: Speeding on Mill Pond Road
The following is an edited transcript by John Mack, Newtown Township Supervisor, of the July 6, 2020, “Meet Mack Monday” Zoom meeting. The focus of the meeting was police accountability and Town Hall meeting. View the video archive here.
NOTE: The Newtown Township Police Town Hall will take place LIVE on July 23, 2020, at 7 PM at the Municipal Building, 100 Municipal Drive. More information about that meeting can be found here.
About 12 people participated, including: Bob Lutz, co-owner of the Green Parrot Restaurant, Eric Scott Gold, Manager of East Coast Event Group, and Carol Richardson, President of the Newtown Mercantile Group. The topic during the last 50 minutes or so was about helping businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the discussion focuses on Newtown BINGO! A major topic was deciding how people can help sign up more businesses to participate. After the conversation, it was decided to include retail merchants as well as restaurants in both Newtown Township and Newtown Borough. See the video below:
On May 18, 2020, Newtown BINGO! was successfully launched. Read more about that here.
In this Facebook Live session I discussed items on the agendas of upcoming Zoom meetings of the Newtown Board of Supervisors and the Newtown Planning Commission.
Both these meetings will be via Zoom and not available for the public to participate as an attendee. Rather, the public will only be able to send in questions/comments via email. I will discuss the details at this FB Live event.
Topics that discussed included: diversion of tax funds from road repair to cover the general expenses of the township (salaries, consultant fees, supplies, etc.), what Newtown Township can do to help local businesses, and the next step in getting approval to alter the Newtown area zoning code to allow for a Wawa or Wawa-like convenience store to be located in Newtown, Wrightstown, and/or Upper Makefield.
Read "Summary of April 20, 2020, Meet Mack Monday via Facebook Live".
Newtown supervisor Dennis Fisher joined me at this meeting. A resident of Newtown Crossing expressed concern about a private residence on West Hanover Street that looks like a junk yard and is a "horder" house. He showed us several letters from the Board of Directors of the Newtown Crossing Community Association to the Newtown Township Codes and Enforcement office requesting that the township enforce Section 10-404 of the Code of Ordinances.
Section 10-404 of the Code of Ordinances notes that it is the "duty of any owner of land within Newtown Township to remove any nuisance or dangerous structure on premises in said Township upon notice from the Board of Supervisors to do so." Section 10-404 further provides that:
"... the Board of Supervisors may cause the same to be removed and collect the cost of such removal together with a penalty not to exceed $1,000 from the owner, to be collected by summary proceedings before the District Justice or in the manner provided for the collection of municipal claims or by an action of assumpsit without the filing of a claim. In the exercise of the powers herein conferred and to abate any of the nuisances hereinabove enumerated, the Township may institute proceedings in courts of equity."
I discussed this with District Judge Mick Petrucci, but no further action was taken with the township because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Several residents of Newtown Crossing expressed concern about speeding on Mill Pond Road.
Followup: I was informed by a paricipant after the meeting - and after I brought this issue up with the Police Chief at the February 12, 2020, Board of Supervisors meeting - that there are now two "Stop Ahead" signs, an improvement very much appreciated by residents according to a personal note I received. In addition the February 2020 Newtown Police Report documents police activity on Mill Pond Road:
"...we did conduct a two-week enforcement initiative on both Mill Pond Road as well as varied intersections with[in] the neighborhood. The initiative yielded the following:
TIME: Nearly 16 hours (955 mins) were dedicated at varied times.
CONTACTS: 33
- Citations: 28
- Warnings: 05
The majority of the violators were from within the neighborhood."
