Improving Communications Between Newtown Township and Residents

Warren Gormley, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (NBCJMA) Executive Director, and Gannett Fleming, Civil Engineer and member of the Authority Board, presented the NBCJMA’s plan for the construction of a sewage treatment facility on Lower Silver Lake Road.

The presentation lacked the detail of a recent presentation by Mr. Gormley before the Newtown Borough Council (https://sco.lt/7rUKbg). Consequently, I asked Mr. Fleming a few questions to fill in the gap with some details so that township residents would be informed.

I specifically asked about conforming to Newtown zoning, If you check the JMZO, a public utility operation under an F-1 use is allowed by Special Exception in the OR district. The key feature is that it can only occupy 10% of the total property. There was some confusion regarding what the 10% refers to. Here's what the JMZO says:

Public Utility Operating Facility. No facility nor projected area thereof as viewed in the plan view shall occupy more than 10% of the property on which it is located."

Neither Mr. Gormley nor Mr. Fleming was aware of this ordinance, which can be found here: https://ecode360.com/31186598

Supervisor Kyle Davis also had some questions regarding financing.

The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors met on 18 September 2023 to 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.

[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 (read “Developer Moves To Disqualify #NewtownPA Supervisor John Mack From Zoning Challenge Hearing”; https://sco.lt/83oLrc).

At the hearing., Solicitor Dave Sander asked Supervisor Mack "if he can hear and decide this case fairly based on the evidence presented to the Board of Supervisors in this proceeding?"

This video documents his response: https://youtu.be/-SS9chFp5kk 

Revised LI/OLI Zoning District Ordinance, Sycamore St/Silo Drive RRFB Plan, Corners at Newtown Text Amendment, August 2023 Police Report, more…

This is my personal summary of my notes regarding the September 13, 2023, meeting of the #NewtownPA Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Agenda and Items of Interest:

• Planning Committee Report (from 15 August 2023 Meeting)
  • Corners at Newtown Text Amendment
• Items of Interest
  • Lower Dolington Road Multi-Use Trail Punch Lists
  • N. Sycamore Street Pedestrian Safety Update
  • LDR Trail Sidewalk Extension
• Manager's Report
• August 2023 Police Report
  
  

More...

[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."

At the September 13, 2023, Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, Peggy Driscoll, Chair of the Planning Commission, presented her synopsis of the Commission's concerns regarding the Corners at Newtown Redevelopment plan.

The plan includes a large apartment building with 120 apartments and amenities surrounding a parking garage. The building would be 45 feet in height and over 200 feet in length.

The Commission had some concerns about the proposed density in such close proximity to the Borough’s apartment complex called Steeple View and the impact on traffic and stormwater management.

Supervisor Mack asked about the possibility of obtaining an engineering analysis of the parking garage to determine if the ground can support the weight.

"These developers [are] coming in and what they're proposing is just ridiculous," said Ms. Driscoll at the end of her presentation.

Mike Dalewitz, Co-Founder of the Borscht Belt Delicatessen, is appealing the action of the Newtown Township Zoning Officer who has issued a Violation Notice regarding the neon window sign at the newly-opened store located at 2124 South Eagle Road (see photo).

Zoning Officer Received an Anonymous Complaint

Neon signs are prohibited by Zoning Ordinance, Section 1104(B)(2), which states that “any sign which is illuminated by inert gas or any form of exposed tubes is prohibited.” The Borscht Belt Violation Notice was sent via certified mail to Newtown Center Associates – owners of the shopping center – dated 6/13/23 after the zoning office received an anonymous complaint via phone call.

Topics include:

• Video of Opening Presentation
• Lower Dolington Rd Trail Update – Addressing punch list items
• KRE “Validity Challenge” to Zoning – What’s Next?
• Corners at Newtown Redevelopment Plan – “Text Amendment”
• How Concerned Are You About Overdevelopment? – Survey Results

More...

This is an edited recording of the discussion I had with residents who attended the 11 September 2023 Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting.

Among the topics discussed were;

(1) Lower Dolington Road Trail problems identified by residents and by the township engineering firm, and

(2) The proposed plan to amend the zoning to allow the development of a 120-unit "Garage Core" apartment complex off of South Sycamore Street, behind the 711.

Welcome to the September 11, 2023, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting presentation by your host John Mack, #NewtownPA Supervisor!

The goal of Meet Mack Monday Zoom meetings is to inform residents of township issues that impact them and to get feedback and comments from residents about such issues. This helps me keep better informed of residents’ concerns when I vote on the issues at Board of Supervisors meetings.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Lower Dolington Rd Trail Update – Addressing punch list items
• Public Hearing Followup – Kushner RE opened its zoning "Validity Challenge" case before the Board of Supervisors by first seeking to disqualify supervisor John Mack from hearing and voting on the challenge. What's next?
• Concerns Regarding Corners at Newtown Redevelopment Plan – Developer seeks a “Text Amendment” to Newtown’s zoning to allow the construction of a 120-unit “parking core” apartment building
• Residents concerned about overdevelopment: Latest Survey Results

Find the detailed presentation notes here: https://bit.ly/11Sep23_MMM_PresoNotes

The Newtown Borough Council and the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors have signed off on a grant application that if successful would pay for the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Newtown Creek.

The municipalities will be seeking a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to fund 100 percent of the cost of the project, which is estimated at $877,894.88.

The new span would be built on the site of a former bridge that once carried trolleys over the creek in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It would connect Newtown Borough in the area of Frost Lane with North Sycamore Street in the township behind Penn Community Bank.

In addition to the new bridge, the grant would fund the creation of a new trail that would provide access to the new span on both sides of the creek.

After being sidelined by the pandemic, Mike Sellers, of the Newtown Creek Coalition, resurrected the idea last fall with appearances before the board of supervisors and the borough council. (Read “Pedestrian Bridge Over #NewtownPA Creek May Be Back On The Table”; https://sco.lt/5mZtEu)

Earlier this year, both municipalities authorized their engineers to begin working together on the project and to begin pursuing grant opportunities.

Some highlights:

• 1,933 Total Incidents (2023 monthly average to-date: 1,887 vs 1,718 in 2022)
• Average of 62 incidents per day in 2023 vs 56 in 2022
• 0 Auto vs Pedestrian incidents
• 212 Traffic Citations, 5 DUI arrests, 7 reportable traffic crashes (64 YTD vs 45 for all of 2022), 4 hit and run incidents
• 11 Fraud incidents (104 YTD vs 212 for all of 2022)
• 1 non-fatal overdose (8 YTD vs 14 for all of 2022)
• 6 Protection from abuse (46 YTD vs 34 for all of 2022)
• 4 Foot Patrols (22 YTD) vs 113 for all of 2022)

Access the full report...

The Newtown, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority is investigating the possibility of acquiring land and building its own sewage treatment plant in the township that could save ratepayers in the long run, the authority said.

During remarks before the Newtown Borough Council on Wednesday, the authority’s executive director Warren Gormley said the authority is looking into the feasibility of acquiring a 17.5-acre tract on Lower Silver Lake Road for the construction of a state-of-the-art treatment facility to serve the authority’s 9,000 customers in Newtown Township and Newtown Borough.

“We have not made an offer as of yet,” said Gormley. “We are talking about it. We’re also putting numbers together for the cost of the treatment plant and the rates and projecting what the cost would be 10, 15, 20, and 30 years out.

Is The Township REALLY "On Board?"

“We’ve talked to the Department of Environmental Resources (DEP) and the DEP is on board with us. We also talked to the township and they are on board as well*,” said Gormley.

[*As far as I can recall, this has NOT come before the Newtown Board of Supervisors at a public meeting. So, unless by "talked to township" Gormley means unofficial, non-public conversations with one or more supervisors or Township Manager or other officials, I do not believe it is accurate to say that the township is "on board" with the Sewer Authority's plan to develop a treatment plant on Lower Silver Lake Road.]

So what is driving the need for a new sewer treatment plant?

[At the August 10, 2022 Newtown BOS meeting, Mr. Gormley discussed the 3rd-party sewage treatment expenses the Authority pays of the Read “#NewtownPA Supervisors Approve Letter Opposing Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA) Sewer Sale”; https://sco.lt/7RfiEa]

“We have no recourse in rate increases, rate adjustments or negotiations. That’s all done by Bucks County and Philadelphia,” said Gormley.

[Yes, Bucks County raises rates to Newtown Sewer Authority by 17%, and in turn Newtown Sewer raises rates to consumers by 20%! Read: “#NewtownPA Sewer Authority Raises Rates by 20%”; https://sco.lt/8zuM5Y]

Steer Own Own Shi*

By building its own state-of-the-art system that would treat the waste in Newtown, the community “can steer our own ship in the future,” he said [or, as others might say, “steer our own shit!”].

According to Gormley, the authority is looking at building a 2.5 million gallon per day Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) treatment plant.

“It’s the newest thing that’s out. We’re looking at an over 2.5 million (gallons per day) facility. It’s going to be pretty good size but a lot of it is going to be undercover. There’s not that much odor to this only because it’s moved constantly with air all the time in the tanks and that’s what breaks it up.”

Gormley said he would keep borough officials apprised as the authority conducts its due diligence.

[Although this article pertains to big city centers, the lesson it offers also applies to Newtown Township, which is considering rezoning the LI/OLI Business Commons district to accommodate mixed uses that include new small commercial uses on the ground floor of 3-story apartment buildings.]

City centers may have to be reimagined to solve the problem of vacant storefronts.

“What do people like? They like to look at other people,” said David Baker, a San Francisco architect, citing a popular creed among architects and planners. “People sitting in there eating a burrito are much more interesting than even a good piece of art.”

A related truism: Walking down the street, you never see the empty cubicles on the 18th floor. But you can’t miss the closed burrito shop.

In San Francisco and nationwide, traditional retail was struggling even before the pandemic with the rise of e-commerce. Many cities had also overbuilt ground-floor commercial space.

Mixed Use Spread Like Peanut Butter!

Cities’ enthusiasm for retail had grown out of the perfectly reasonable idea that mixed-use buildings — commercial below, offices or housing above — have many benefits. They enable people to live and work above the things they need to buy. They can reduce all the driving that’s necessary when stores aren’t near homes or workplaces. And they can foster livelier streets than blank facades or parking garages do.

“I was one of those people running around the country saying ‘mixed use!’” said Ilana Preuss, whose consulting firm helps cities revitalize their downtowns. “The problem was we said ‘mixed use’ everywhere. And we spread it like peanut butter.”

To fill vacant downtown storefronts now, cities will have to consider other such uses. Perhaps fewer coffee shops, and more health clinics, day care centers, university classrooms, live/work spaces and fabrication shops. Ms. Preuss today proposes filling vacant spaces with small-scale manufacturing that has the added benefits of paying more than retail and relying less on foot traffic. She doesn’t mean noisy factories, but people producing tangible things, like bottling hot sauce or roasting coffee beans.

New Ideas for the Ground Floor

Or maybe the empty storefront becomes something else entirely.

“What if there were just more public bathrooms?” said Kim Sandara, an artist living in New York. Or spaces for free cultural programming or city services, or artist studio space.

There are signs that cities are starting to experiment, pairing vacant storefronts with pop-up galleries and businesses, courting college campuses, creating new grants and tax credits.

Fundamentally, Mr. Kickert said, cities need to see the street level as less a place of transaction, and more one of interaction. And perhaps the people interacting aren’t buying anything at all.

Developer to #Newtown: Amend Your Zoning Law to Allow a High Density Apartment Building; Billboards Allowed Only in Newtown?; more... https://preview.mailerlite.com/m0k8o2g9n8

Contents:

• Planning Commission Has Concerns About Redevelopment Plan for Corners at Newtown
• Summary of the August 3, 2023, #NewtownPA Area Joint Zoning Council Meeting
• Twitter Verifies #NewtownPA Supervisor John Mack's Account as Authentic & Credible!
• Letter to the Bucks County Herald: Thanks, Supervisor Mack, for Protecting #NewtownPA Twp

There are TWO Lower Dolington Road Trail (LDRT) Punch Lists:

• an unofficial “Citizen’s Punch List” and
• an official FINAL PUNCHLIST prepared by Remington-Vernick Engineering (RVE), the township engineering firm

On August 29, 2023, the township released a LDR Trail project “FINAL PUNCHLIST” based on the Township Engineer's field inspection conducted on August 23, 2023. Find the official list here: https://bit.ly/Final_LDRT_Punchlist

Contractor Has Until Sept 8, 2023, to Fix 33 Lower Dolington Rd Trail Problems Identified in #NewtownPA Punch List

According to the instructions given the contractor by the Township Engineer: “All (33) items shall be performed at the expense of Associated Paving Contractors, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Work must be completed by Friday, September 8, 2023. Failure to meet this deadline may result in the assessment of Engineering and Inspection fees and/or liquidated damages as outlined in the contract documents. Our firm [RVE] will schedule a close-out inspection after the list has been completed. The Township, and its representing agencies, also reserve the right to review the project site prior to the close-out inspection regarding completion of current items and the documenting of additional items.”

Contents

• First, Some History
• Official Punch List
• Citizen’s Punch List
  • Signs obscured by trees
  • Trees planted under power lines
  • Aesthetically unpleasing metal guiderails set too close to travel lane
  • More
• More Issues Identified By Citizens
  • Loose Guardrail Attenuator
  • Poor Installation of Guardrail Posts
  • Guardrail Posts Too Close Together
  • Standing Water on ADA Ramp
  • Loose Stones Could Be Hazard to Motorists
• Other Concerns
  • UnSafe/ADA Access to the Trail from the Friends Village
  • Pavement Cutout Could Be Hazard to Motorists

KO Restaurant, which has been serving classic and modern Korean dishes for the past decade in Newtown, is closing its doors.

In a Facebook posting on Wednesday, the owners announced that KO will serve its last meals on Sunday, Sept. 3 after deciding not to renew its lease at the Village at Newtown Shopping Center.

“We’ve been honored to serve Newtown the last 10 years. It’s been a wild ride and we’re sad to see it end. Our lease is ending and unfortunately we will not be renewing,” they wrote.

This month, preliminary and final development plans submitted to the Bucks County Planning Commission were discussed at the township planning commission meeting on Aug. 8 and brought to the supervisors on Aug. 16.

Sketch plans were first presented to the township planning commission a year ago.

What does the plan for a West Rockhill Wawa include?

Julie Von Spreckelsen with Eastburn and Gray, who represents Provco, presented the proposal for a 6,049-square-foot convenience store, a canopy area with 16 gas pumps and 73 parking spaces, including seven oversized spots for larger vehicles such as landscaping trucks.

Spreckelsen also provided updates on progress made over the past year, such as meeting with neighboring property owners to hear their feedback.

“We incorporated their suggested changes all in an effort to reduce impact as much as possible,” she said, which included increasing the berm on the rear property line, adding more landscaping and fencing, and moving the trash enclosure from the back of the property to the front.*

On 16 August 2023 I sent an email to #NewtownPA township officials -- including the Township Manager, Engineer, Solicitor, and Supervisors -- about a standing water problem at one of the newly-constructed Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps on Lower Dolington Road (LDR).

The email states: "The newly-constructed Lower Dolington Road (LDR) Trail included construction of ADA ramps to connect to crosswalks across LDR allowing access to the trail. At the south east corner of Stanford Dr and LDR, there is standing water that in the winter will [when this will be ice, not liquid water] present a hazard to anyone crossing at that location. The elderly and people with disabilities will be the most susceptible to slipping and falling. 

"It would be a shame if the township was sued."

The Neshaminy Creek has been named in a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey of state streams that contain man-made "forever chemicals," which have been linked to infertility, thyroid problems, and several types of cancer.

The study found that the highest concentrations of PFAS in sampled streams were in the Philadelphia region: the highest was found in Valley Creek in Chester County, and the researchers also noted the Neshaminy Creek in Bucks County (Newtown).

The 40.7-mile-long stream runs entirely through Bucks County, rising south of Chalfont, where its north and west branches join. The Neshaminy Creek flows southeast toward Bristol Township and Bensalem Township to its confluence with the Delaware River.

The study analyzed surface water samples from 161 Pennsylvania streams for 33 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and water chemistry. At least one PFAS was detected in 76 percent of the sampled streams, the analysis found.

PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because of their durability in high heat and water, which means they remain in the environment for years without breaking down. They’re found in thousands of consumer products — cookware, cosmetics, food packaging, outdoor apparel, and carpets among them — as well as in firefighting foams.

Click here to read the full study

One word kept coming up during a review of a planned upscale apartment complex at Sycamore Street and Richboro Road. And that word was “density.”

BET Investments, a real estate management and development company owned by Bruce Toll, attended the August planning commission meeting seeking input on its plans to redevelop the Corners at Newtown Place with a 120-unit luxury apartment building with an interior parking garage.

The plan calls for the demolition of a series of stand-alone commercial and retail buildings on Cambridge Lane and the construction of a three-story apartment building that would wrap around a multi-level interior parking garage and have direct access to a common hall and a private, outdoor pool and recreation area.

"We have a project that would require multiple variances from the zoning hearing board. Instead of seeking those variances, we crafted an amendment that we believe addresses the items of zoning relief that would be required for the project and would allow us to proceed in some fashion," land use attorney Matt McHugh told the planners.

According to the draft ordinance submitted by BET, a new use - Parking Core Apartment Building - would be added to the zoning ordinance.

More...

On August 15, 2023, representatives of BET Investments, Inc. presented their plan to redevelop the Corners at Newtown Place shopping center located at the intersection of Buck Road (Route 532) and Newtown-Richboro Road (Route 332).

Specifically, the plan is to build a 3 story, 120 unit multi-family apartment building with related amenities on the approximately 3.909 acre parcel (Tax Parcel No. 29-011-243) .

The Applicant is proposing a new B-11 use TEXT AMENDMENT to the JMZO, which states in part:

Parking Core Apartment Building. A building where individual apartments surround a central parking garage to feature a walkable oriented streetscape in keeping with a traditional village. Each apartment unit has direct access to the outside or to a common hall and each unit is designed for and occupied by a single family.

Twitter’s blue tick, popularly known as the verification badge, is a symbol that shows an account’s authenticity and credibility. However, besides that, there are many useful benefits of having a blue tick on Twitter, including:

• Edit Tweet: I have a 30-minute window to make changes to my published Tweets
• Format Text: I can bold and italicize text in my tweets
• Undo Tweet: Allows me to retract a Tweet after I send it, but before anyone on Twitter can see it.
• Longer Video Upload: I can now upload videos up to ~60 minutes long and up to 2GB file size (1080p). Wow!
• Longer Tweets: I can now Tweet up to 10,000 characters.
• Blue Badge: Of course, I get to have the blue verification badge shown on my account: https://twitter.com/johnmacknewtown