[See update below.]
The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors on Monday night will resume hearing a validity challenge of its ordinance brought by a developer [KRE Upper Macungie Associates LP] seeking to build a multistory, 245-unit apartment building on Lower Silver Lake Road.
The meeting, which is open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18 at the Newtown Township Building on Durham Road.
[KRE] also filed a preliminary motion to disqualify supervisor John Mack from hearing the challenge arguing that his blogs and Facebook postings have shown his bias against the filing.
The first order of business on Monday night will be for the supervisors to decide on KRE’s attempt to disqualify Mack from participating in the hearing.
Citing blogs and Facebook comments by Mack, KRE attorney Joseph Blackburn argued that Mack has shown his bias against the project and "has no intention of applying the law" and should be "disqualified" from hearing the challenge.
Attorney Joseph Bagley submitted a preliminary motion to exclude statements in the developer's validity challenge made by members of the planning commission and by Mack. "The burden of proof in the case is KRE's," he argued. Bagley also cited the second-class township code, which says a member of the board "shall not be disqualified from voting on any issue solely because a member has previously expressed an opinion in either an official or unofficial capacity."
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