Mack's Newtown Voice

In this 12-minute audio snippet, Scott Coburn, General Counsel and Director of Education at PSATS (Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors), reviews American Rescue Plan category 1 permitted uses at a May 14, 2021, PSATS webinar. Mr. Coburn talks about uses in response to COVID-19 or consequences of economic harm due to COVID-19. This includes assistance to unemployed workers, impro...

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." At the end of the presentation PC Chair Allen Fidler led a discussion on the possibility of rezoning these districts - especially the Newtown Business Commons Industrial zone - to allow specific new uses. Several suggestions for...

At the May 3, 2021, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, Newtown Supervisor John Mack tries to explain the delay in the Lower Dolington Road Trail project, which had its start back in 2018. It seems there have been problems with the stormwater management permits that required a change in plans - namely the elimination of rain gardens and using an underground drainage system instead. Mack wondered why th...

At the May 3, 2021, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, Newtown Supervisor John Mack gave an update on the Wawa "special exception" zoning application. Mack discussed the zoning variances requested by Wawa with residents. The Zoning Hearing Board will consider the application at its May 6, 2021, meeting. The Township Solicitor will be there to oppose the variances as he was instructed to do by the supe...

At the April 28, 2021, Newtown Township supervisors meeting, Township Engineer Leanna Colubriale provided another update on the Lower Dolington Road Trail that has been in the works since 2018! I questioned why it is taking so long to get this project started. It seems there have been problems with the stormwater management permits that required a change in plans - namely the elimination of rain g...

There was an “unofficial” Zoom meeting of the Technology & Communications Committee on Monday, April 26, 2021 (a quorum was not present). However, members of the Planning Commission (PC), Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) and the Human Relations Commission (NTHRC) attended to have an informal discussion of their communication needs. The discussion focused mainly on how to improve the usability...

At its April 21, 2021, Zoom meeting, the Newtown Planning Commission discussed Provco’s Zoning Hearing Board “Special Exception” application that includes variances to allow a proposed Motor Vehicle Fueling & Convenience Store (i.e., Super Wawa) on the southwest corner of Newtown Bypass & Lower Silver Lake Road in the Newtown Office Research district. Note that this so-called “E-30” use recently w...

An excerpt from an April 1, 2021, presentation by Evan Stone, Executive Director of the Bucks County Planning Commission, at a Zoom meeting hosted by the Bucks County Consortium. Download the full PDF version of the Powerpoint: http://bit.ly/FOFSpreso

The safety of 5G cellular technology was discussed at the March 22, 2021, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting. A resident asked prior to the meeting: "Is 5G a topic that has been or will be discussed by Newtown Zoning or other? Are 5G emitters/masts allowed to be close to schools?" The discussion focused on the 5G antennas on top of the Newtown Artesian Water tower located less than 500 feet from Goodno...

On March 11, 2021, I hosted a Zoom to commemorate the passage of Newtown Township's LOVE is LOVE Resolution. The primary goal of this meeting was to discuss ideas on raising awareness of discrimination against and bullying of the LGBTQ+ minority youth in our community. Participants also discussed building ally ship to combat all forms of discrimination. Several activists, elected officials and stu...

Many angry residents attended the February 24, 2021, Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) Meeting to oppose a settlement with the Arcadia developer to build 60 homes at Buck Road and the Bypass. None perhaps were more angry than Eric Scott Gold, a resident of Eagle Ridge whose lawyer advised the HOA to settle its case against Arcadia (see his statement below). In this short audio clip, Mr. Gold lash...

At the February 23, 2021, Newtown Township Finance Committee (NTFC) Zoom meeting, there was a lively discussion regarding ideas for revising the Newtown Budget process. A proposal was put forward by the NTFC in December, 2020, but it was not yet seen by the supervisors when this meeting was held. Supervisor John Mack started the discussion, which was joined - in order - by NTFC member George Sklad...

Karen Downer, President of the Bucks County NAACP, was a guest speaker at the February 17, 2021, Newtown Human Relations Commission (NTHRC) Zoom meeting. Ms. Downer spoke about her organization's approach to working with local police departments in Bucks County.

Newtown Gate residents have organized a campaign opposing the application of DoggyDayz, LLC, to set up an indoor “K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel” at 8 Pheasant Run (at the intersection with Terry Drive) in the LI (Light Industrial) district of Newtown Township. In this audio clip from the February 16, 2021, meeting of the Newtown Planning Commission, Mr. Fred Kurtz - president of the Newtown Gate Hom...

This is a clip from a discussion at the February 16, 2021, Newtown Board of Supervisors Work Session. Supervisors discussed a Economic Development Committee memo that proposed zoning changes for the LI (Light Industrial) and O-LI (Office-Light Industrial) districts in Newtown. The ultimate goal is to attract new, high-paying businesses to the area.

At the February 3, 2021, Bucks County Commissioners meeting, Evan J. Stone, Executive Director of the Bucks County Planning Commission (BCPC), presented a summary of an Alternative Energy Ordinance that BCPC put forward as a model for Bucks County municipalities to use when adopting their own ordinances. Currently, only about 55% of Bucks County municipalities have some kind of alternative energy...

Newtown Township resident Frank McCarron made a case for increased diversity among Newtown Township's police officers. Currently, all 29 or so officers are white. Mr. McCarron suggested that all 3 officers that are planned to be hired in 2021 be officers of color. This audio clip from the January 13, 2021, NT Board of Supervisors meeting includes his comments and Chief John Hearn's response when a...

At the January 13, 2021, Board of Supervisors Meeting, former Supervisor, current Bucks County Deputy Chief Information Officer, and resident of Newtown Crossing said that Eagle Ridge HOA had a better chance of winning an appeal against Arcadia III than does Newtown. He and other residents - including Eric Scott Gold - wanted to know if Newtown was willing to help residents fight the case in some...

At it's January, 13, 2021, public meeting, the Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted 3-2 against agreeing to a settlement with Newtown Bucks Association (NBA) regarding Chick-fil-A and a "retail pad" in the Newtown Shopping Center. NBA intended to make certain traffic/circulation improvements as related to the existing Chick-fil-A restaurant in the Shopping Center, together with a proposed pad...

After voting to adopt the 2021 budget at the December 22, 2020, Board of Supervisors meeting, several residents wanted to hear why I voted to approve this budget that included added expenses and a tax increase. I decided to host a Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting on January 11, 2021, to answer that question. This is an audio segment from that meeting where I summarized my personal efforts to cut expe...

At least 40 residents attended the two-and-one-half hour December 9, 2020, Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS) Zoom meeting and many expressed their opposition to the preliminary 2021 budget. For some, this was the first time they have participated in local government affairs and several “raised” their hands ands made comments! These a just a few of the comments heard. You can listen to th...

The Newtown Area Jointure, which comprises Newtown, Wrightstown, and Upper Makefield Townships, is currently updating the 2009 Newtown Area Comprehensive Plan. One chapter of that plan focuses on transportation. This 17-minute audio podcast includes a portion of a presentation made before the November 5, 2020 meeting of the Joint Zoning Council by Jeremy W. Stoff, a Bucks County Planning Commissio...

Several Newtown Township residents let their feelings about the proposed 2021 budget be known at the October 26, 2020, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting. You can find more information about Meet Mack Monday meetings - including summaries of past meetings and when the next meeting is scheduled - here: https://johnmacknewtown.info/meetmack.html

At the October 21, 2020, Zoom meeting of the Newtown Township Human Relations Commission, member Angelic Acevedo defined the difference between the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic.” It was part of the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and included a presentation entitled “Being Latino in the U.S.” by guest speaker Dr. Leticia Ferri, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Global People & Business Resource Grou...

Newtown Township Manager Micah Lewis presented his “recommended” 2021 budget to supervisors and the public on October 19, 2020. Mr. Lewis read from an 8-page “synopsis” and supervisors were able to ask questions. Board members, however, had only a few comments or questions to ask regarding the presentation. You can download the PDF version of the synopsis here: https://bit.ly/3oalgUf