Summary of January 8, 2020, Newtown Township BOS Public Meeting

The following is a brief summary of the January 8, 2020, Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS Definition) meeting based upon the official minutes of that meeting, which you can find here. In attendance and voting were Supervisors: Chairman Phillip Calabro, Vice Chairman Dennis Fisher, and member Kyle Davis. Also in attendance were: Township Manager Micah Lewis and Township Solicitor David Sander. Assistant Secretary and Treasurer John Mack was absent.

Public Safety

Police Report: Chief Hearn reported the department responded to 1,398 calls for service during December which is a 13% increase over 2018. He said 76 citations were issued which is up by 20% from last year however traffic accidents have decreased by 10%. Read details of the report here.

Reports of Committees, Boards and Commissions

Planning Commission: Toll Brothers - Mr. Fidler shared that there was a discussion on the Toll Brothers site and the proposed sewage treatment plant at this meeting. Among concerns is the Newtown Joint Municipal Authority which someday may have to revert the package treatment plant through the Township system without the Authority’s involvement in the design, approval and maintenance of the plan. He said the Commission agreed it would be wise for the PC and the BOS to have someone from the sewer authority present to discuss related issues when Toll Brothers is scheduled on the agenda.

JMZO Amendment - Mr. Fidler explained the Amendment and its history and said the Commission reviewed the preliminary draft of the proposed E-25 Motor Vehicle Fueling Station and Convenience Store Use. He said there are some items in question including eat in dining, 24-hour operation and the size of the building, which will be revisited at the next meeting and the members will continue to review the amended ordinance and bring additional concerns to be discussed at the next meeting. He also suggested involving the other municipalities in the Jointure as the process must be completed in nine months with a consensus of the Jointure.

Zoning

Resolution for Municipal Curative Amendment: Mr. Sander explained the Municipal Curative Amendment and said the specific issue of concern is the zoning ordinance does not contain or provide for a single use that combines both a convenience store and a gas station and several court decisions currently on appeal determined this must be allowed for the zoning ordinance to be constitutional.

Discussion of motion: Mr. Calabro asked if the time depends on the other two Jointure members. Mr. Sander said the time runs from the declaration and since Newtown was last to declare on December 11, 2019, there is nine months from that date to enact if appropriate. Mr. Calabro asked if either township can hold this process up and Mr. Sander said they could and added if the three do not agree and enact, there will be no cure and it will stay as is. Mr. Calabro inquired which township would this harm the most and Mr. Sander replied since Newtown has the majority of residential development and traffic in the Jointure, it would likely be Newtown Township. He said Newtown has already been subject to the filing of a substantive validity challenge proposing a convenience store/gas station in the Township; therefore, the answer to the question is Newtown. Mr. Calabro stated we need the other two Townships to pass this resolution. Mr. Sander agreed and added all must adopt this resolution and all three must agree on accepting the ordinance to amend the current zoning ordinance. Mr. Fisher asked if the other Townships were subject to the 30 days and Mr. Sander said yes.

The motion passed 3-0.

Votes on Motions

Not all motions are included.

Posted on 27 Jan 2020, 01:34 - Category: Board of Supervisors Minutes