How concerned are residents about overdevelopment in Newtown Township? To answer that question, I started a short survey, which has received 170 responses (including 130 responses from Newtown Township residents) plus over 120 comments, as of July 18, 2023.

Over 80% of survey respondents are “Very Concerned” about overdevelopment in Newtown Township. See chart:

Selected Comments

• The supervisors are already allowing too much development.
• Our Planning Commission strives to work with property owners to insure careful development and redevelopment of open properties with an eye toward preservation of our infrastructure, impact on our municipal services and overall appearance of the Township
• Smart development is what Newtown needs and we need Supervisors (thanks John) willing to stand up to developers that want to change the zoning for their financial gain.
• I think most people in our area are concerned about ongoing development, and particularly higher density with ever-increasing traffic. But it’s not sufficient to just say “Stop the development!”  Land/property owners have rights, too. Rather than just railing against developers, my question is why there seem to be so many holes in the township’s zoning laws
• Newtown has lost it charm. It’s just like everyplace else now. Over commercialize. It’s a shame what newtown has become. It’s just going to get worse.
• I get it. People always resist change. But it is inevitable and certain. Nearly all of us live in homes that are on land that was once either green or farmed at one time.
• I love the small town feel of Newtown, but I am fearful we are losing our charm. The developers are sacrificing our town for their greed

View ALL COMMENTS...

What do you think? How concerned are you about overdevelopment in Newtown Township? (1=Not Concerned, 10=Very Concerned)

TAKE MY SURVEY

Little did I understand that Wawa's "Substantive Validity Challenge" to Newtown's zoning (read "Wawa Resurrects Its “Substantive Validity Challenge” to #NewtownPA’s Zoning") would be the beginning of what I call “Newtown Zoning Armageddon™” – an epic series of battles between developers and the township.

You might say it’s a “slippery slope” or a “domino effect,” but I prefer the term “Armageddon” because, for me, it’s a “call-to-arms” for residents who moved to Newtown to escape overdevelopment and crime. It’s not about whether Wawa is a good thing or not. It’s about Wawa weaponizing our zoning law, a tactic now being copied by other developers (read "Are You Ready for Newtown Zoning Armageddon™?").

These battles, I fear, will eventually lead to developers rewriting zoning ordinances (laws) meant to protect the promise of Newtown as “A Great Place to Live, Work, and Worship” as well as enjoy open, undeveloped space.

I'd like to know your opinion. How concerned are you about overdevelopment in Newtown Township?

Please take a few minutes to respond to my survey...

I'm sure there will be a long line of requests for these funds and Newtown Supervisors will have to weigh all the options. Most importantly, in my opinion, are the opinions of township residents.

CONTENTS

• About the American Rescue Plan
• According to Residents, What SHOULD the Money Be Used For?
• Residents' Comments
• My Comments on Proposed ARPA Capital Spending
• How Have the Funds Been Spent So Far?

During a recent Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, a former Newtown Supervisor asked “Should Newtown Township contract with one trash company for savings, efficiency, less noise and pollution?”

 I decided to host a simple survey to answer a simple question: “Should Newtown Township contract with one trash company?” Respondents could answer “Yes, Definitely”, Definitely, Not”, “Maybe, Depends.” I also encouraged respondents to comment on why they answered they way they did.

As of 8 June 2023, a total of 65 people (64 Township Residents, 1 Borough Resident) responded to the survey. The numeric results are summarized in the chart above. But the best results are the over 40 comments I received, which you can find here.

During a recent Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, a former Newtown Supervisor asked “Should Newtown Township contract with one trash company for savings, efficiency, less noise and pollution?”

The discussion at the Meet Mack Monday meeting quickly moved on to how some homeowners associations have taken matters into their own hands to reduce costs and reduce noise and other pollution by hiring a single source for trash collection.

Mack's Newtown Voice · Talking Trash at 22 May 2023 Meet Mack Monday (audio podcast)

Left unanswered, however, was the question about whether it would be a good idea for the township to sign a contract with a single trash company to collect all the trash.

This survey asks your opinion...

The Number of Newtown Township’s Restaurant Liquor Licenses Is Over the Allowed Quota

According to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), Newtown Township has 14 “Active” restaurant liquor licenses plus one held in “Safekeeping” for Blue Point Grill, which is scheduled to open in July 2023. This is more than two times the quota of 7 such licenses (1 license per 3,000 municipal residents) allowed by law (i.e., “Liquor Code”).

However, municipal authorities – e.g., Board of Supervisors – can approve the transfer of licenses into the municipality in excess of the municipal quota. The approval must happen through written resolution passed at a public meeting. If a municipality refuses to allow a license transfer, the PLCB cannot transfer the license into that municipality (read, for example, “Blue Point Grill's Liquor License Transfer Not Approved”; https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/bpgliquorfail.html).

More restaurants, such as Capital Grille, are seeking approval to open in the Brixmor shopping center and will be asking the BOS approve transfer liquor licenses from other townships. This survey asks your opinion regarding such transfers.

What do you think? TAKE THE SURVEY.

What do you think? TAKE THE SURVEY: https://forms.gle/3DpoBhCUTZqH2oDL8

Comments:

The Newtown Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) is considering recommending that the township implement a single-use plastics resolution. Similar actions have been taken or are being considered by Solebury, West Chester, Philadelphia, Doylestown Township and Borough and Lower Makefield Township.

To better understand how local business use single-use plastic items - bags and carry-out containers - the EAC requests that you complete its Single-Use Plastics Business Survey. Your response to this survey will help EAC to provide a recommendation to the township that is most appropriate for local businesses.

If you would like to learn more about single-use plastics, please download the Single-Use Plastics Fact Sheet.

Take the Single-Use Plastics Business Survey Now

Disclaimer: This is not an official Newtown Township survey. It is solely for the use by the EAC, which has approved the content. De-identified results may be presented to the Newtown Board of Supervisors for information purposes only.

To date (Nov 14, 2021) there are 78 responses to my 2022 Budget Cut Survey. 

The first section of the survey asks respondents which of the following personnel cuts they would make (see figure above):

• Eliminate hiring a new Deputy Fire Chief
• Eliminate hiring a consultant to provide part-time zoning & code enforcement services 
• Eliminate hiring of 1 additional police officer
• No promotion of supervisors within the Police Department 

The second section asks respondents which of the following capital spending cuts they would make:

• Reduce number of new police vehicles purchased
• Eliminate Financed purchase of police body
• Eliminate two new truck purchases for Public Works Department
• Eliminate purchase of one Parks and Recreation pickup
• Eliminate Police Department Facilities
• Eliminate purchase of new Admin/Finance/Codes software

The survey is still open: TAKE THE SURVEY NOW!

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Newtown Township Survey. It’s purpose is solely to inform John Mack, a Newtown Supervisor, of your opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of John Mack and do not represent the opinions of any other person or entity.

Local governments and organizations were forced to transition in-person meetings to online, seemingly overnight, due COVID-19 restrictions and stay-at-home orders. Many people learned new tools and technologies in order to continue to work and support their constituents.

As COVID-19 restrictions are being eased or lifted entirely and as more people are fully vaccinated, townships are planning to return to live in-person meetings. Some townships are already hosting hybrid in-person/online public meetings (see "Related Content" below).

WHAT DO YOU THINK? TAKE MY SURVEY!

Survey asks: Do you favor the implementation of hybrid in-person/online township public meetings where officials meet in person as before COVID-19 but the public has the option to participate remotely via Zoom (or other technology) or in person? 

Your open-end comments are also welcome.

No identifying information is collected via this survey unless you opt-in to provide such information for purposes of follow-up by subscribing to John Mack's email newsletter. After completing the survey, you will be able to see a de-identified summary of the results to date.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Newtown Township approved survey. Its purpose is solely to inform John Mack – a Newtown Supervisor – of the public’s opinion regarding this issue.

Preliminary information related to the recently passed Federal Relief Package was released on Friday, March 12, 2021. It was announced that the 936 million dollars would be shared among local governments in Pennsylvania with populations of less than 50,000. Newtown Township’s allocation of those funds is anticipated to be $1,936,231.

The Township should have ½ of the Township’s funds by June 9, 2021. The State will have it by May 10, 2021 and it has 30 days to distribute to municipalities. The second half will come before March 11, 2022.

What CAN The Money Be Used For? See a list here...

What SHOULD The Money Be Used For? TAKE MY SURVEY!

DISCLAIMER: This is not a Newtown Township approved survey. It is solely a survey posted by John Mack acting as a private citizen. You may remain anonymous - your personal information is never revealed without your permission.

The following is an email message sent to the Newtown Township Supervisors and several other elected officials from Fred Kachuk, a concerned Newtown Twp resident.

Hello neighbors,

Warmer weather and sunshine are finally here! Please consider taking the PENNDOT Transportation Survey before Wednesday, April 14.

This is an opportunity to comment about those daily annoyances that you would like to have fixed. I’ve submitted several comments online, and below are two which may also interest you.

TAKE THE SURVEY

[Above: A resident comment submitted via John Mack's 

 2021 Budget Cut Survey.]

Many Newtown Township residents were understandably upset about the proposed Newtown Township “Preliminary 2021 Budget,” which includes a 133% increase in municipal property tax. For the average Newtown Twp homeowner that translates to an ADDITIONAL $200 to $300 per year paid in taxes to the township.

That version of the budget included many new and increased expenditures for personnel, services, and capital improvements.

John Mack’s Budget Cut Survey* asked respondents to select items in the preliminary budget they would be willing to cut in order to reduce or eliminate the proposed tax increase. The list of items to cut includes many – but NOT all – of the expenditures in the originally proposed preliminary budget. A total of 128 responses were collected.

The final budget was approved at the 22 December 2020 BOS meeting by a 3-2 vote. Voting for this budget were Dennis Fisher, John Mack, and David Oxley. Voting against were Phil Calabro and Kyle Davis.

The following expenditures cuts were made.

• Eliminate hiring of new Director of Zoning & Code Enforcement. 65% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $40,000
• Reduce the Road Program by $50,000. Although a high percentage (47%) of survey respondents were happy with cutting $280,000 from the road program. The majority of supervisors felt it was important to continue to pave at least 3-4 miles of roads every year.
• Eliminate New police building study. This was "no-brainer." 84% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $20,000
• Reduce new police vehicles from 3 to 2. 73% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $56,667

TOTAL ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $166,667

The final APPROVED budget includes a 3.99 mill increase in Newtown property taxes, which is a decrease of 2 mills from the preliminary budget. That works out to be about $160 per year increase for the average homeowner. The total Newtown property tax is 8.49 mills or about $340 per year. Calculate your tax here.

DISCLAIMER: This was not an official Newtown Township Survey. It’s purpose was solely to inform John Mack, a Newtown Supervisor, of residents' opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of John Mack and do not represent the opinions of any other person or entity.

The Newtown Area Jointure (the joint municipal zoning consortium comprising Newtown Township, Upper Makefield Township, and Wrightstown Township) is in the process of updating the Newtown Area Comprehensive Plan, which was last updated in 2009.

See 2009 Newtown Area Joint Comprehensive Plan

The is the Jointure's primary land use policy document that sets goals and objectives, and a vision for future development and growth. The Comprehensive Plan (CompPlan) sets the foundation for land development standards, including subdivision and zoning laws. 

The plan is periodically reviewed in order to make sure it reflects the most current needs and views of the community. To review and update the CompPlan, the Joint Zoning Council (JZC) hired the Bucks County Planning Commission (BCPC).

The Jointure would like to hear the views of as many residents as possible and is committed to ensuring the community plays an active role in developing the policies that will help shape the development in the Jointure for the next ten years and beyond. To that end, the BCPC hosted a Citizen Survey.

Survey Summary for Newtwon Residents

At the December 3, 2020, JZC meeting, BCPC Planner Jeremy Stoff reviewed results of the Citizen Survey. The following is a summary of the results focused on Newtown Township responses. The full results - including responses from all three municipalities - will be included in the final updated plan.

See the summary here...

The recently completed Newtown Citizens Survey reveals that many residents are concerned about the condition of roads, streetlights, etc.

Question 8 of the survey asked respondents to rate several services as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Responses weighted using scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being “poor” and 4 being “excellent.”

Snow removal, street cleaning, street lighting, and street maintenance received were among the services receiving the worst ratings.

One of the goals of the Newtown Township 5-year financial plan is to attract new business to Newtown and help all businesses thrive. When asked to identify the two TOP priorities that the township should focus on for attracting new business, Public Infrastructure was the top choice with 45.6 % of respondents.

More...

A recently completed Citizens Survey reveals which parks are most popular with residents and whether recreation programs need improving.

Quality of Parks, Recreation programs, and Recreation centers/facilities were at the top of the list following Fire and Police Services! A majority of survey respondents (58.1%) say they have used township recreational programming, which was rated Good by 42% of respondents and Excellent by 48% of respondents.

More...

The Newtown Area Jointure (the joint municipal zoning consortium comprising Newtown Township, Upper Makefield Township, and Wrightstown Township) would like your help in determining future planning needs for your community.

The Jointure is beginning the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, which was last updated in 2009.

The Comprehensive Plan is the Jointure's primary land use policy document that sets goals and objectives, and a vision for future development and growth. 

The Jointure would like to hear the views of as many residents as possible, and is committed to ensuring the community plays an active role in developing the policies that will help shape the development in the Jointure for the next ten years and beyond.

Questions include:

• Why did you choose to live in your township?
• What are the best characteristics of your community?
• What do you consider to be the most important problems facing your community?
• Overall how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the residential development within your community?
• Overall how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the commercial development within your community?

Take the Survey.

"Extraordinary Times Call for Extraordinary Measures." These are indeed extraordinary times with many businesses forced to close and millions of people out of work due the measures necessary to contain the Coronavirus pandemic. And municipalities like Newtown Township that depend upon business and job related taxes (e.g., Earned Income Tax or EIT) face financial difficulties if the shutdown continues much longer and people do not get their jobs back.

To stay financial solvent, it behooves the Township to do all it can to help local businesses. As a Newtown Township Supervisor I expect that I will be called upon to make critical decisions in the coming weeks and months in response to the dire financial impact on Newtown Township of the Coronavirus pandemic and the emergency mitigation measures currently in place. Consequently, it is important that have the necessary information and feedback from local businesses to make the right decisions. That is why I hosted the COVID-19 Business Impact Survey.

Download a summary of results of the survey here.

How have YOU been impacted by COVID-19?

As a Newtown Township Supervisor I expect that I will be called upon to make critical decisions in the coming weeks in response to a possible dire financial impact on Newtown Township due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the emergency mitigation measures currently in place. Consequently, it is important that I get feedback from local employees and businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6HTHQML

Savvy Citizen pushes out notifications about (1) emergency/public safety/utility outage notices, (2) roadwork and traffic alerts, (3) public meetings and special event notices, and (4) municipal news (ordinances, resolutions, committee vacancies, etc.).

87% of all respondents say they would opt-in to a mobile notification service such as Savvy Citizen. Only 7% said "No" and 6% were not sure.

More, including comments from respondents, here: http://bit.ly/SavvyResults 

Over 200 people have responded to my online survey: Issues of Importance to Newtown Township Residents, which asks respondents to rate the importance of several issues impacting the quality of life in Newtown Township.

I began this survey in August, 2016, long before I was elected Supervisor in November, 2017. At that time I applied for a vacant position in the hopes that I would be appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Unfortunately they picked someone else who served two years until he lost the election to me in 2017.

Now that I am running again for Supervisor, I want to give residents another chance to take this survey and let me know what is important to them to keep Newtown a great place to live, work, and play. 

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP APPROVED SURVEY. IT IS SOLELY A SURVEY POSTED BY JOHN MACK ACTING AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN. YOU MAY REMAIN ANONYMOUS - YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS NEVER REVEALED WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.

Is a mobile-based service needed to notify Newtown residents about emergencies, public meetings, special events, etc.?

Like many local municipalities, Newtown Township has no official Twitter Account or Facebook page to help keep residents informed about public meetings, special events, public service notices, public works projects, etc.

The Township publishes notices in the classified ad sections of local newspapers and posts limited information to its website.

Wouldn't it be better if residents could subscribe to one service that is capable of providing ALL this information or just the information they want to receive? And wouldn't it be great if residents could get this information via a cell phone app, text message, or email?

Learn about a notification system that the Township may consider implementing and TAKE THE SURVEY to express your opinion.