Supervisors Appoint New Municipal Authority Member, Move Along Three Planning/Zoning Plans

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Newtown Board of Supervisors unanimously appointed Joseph Sweeney as the newest member to the township's Municipal Authority at a supervisors meeting on Monday evening.

According to Supervisors Chairman Joseph Catania, Municipal Authority Chairman Bob Jackson notified the board that there was an opening for a new member on the Municipal Authority. In addition, Joe Lisa, a member of the Municipal Authority, has not been to a meeting since October or early November, said Catania.

Supervisor Linda Houldin said Lisa had previously sent in his resignation letter.

"He resigned–I wasn't aware of that," said Catania. "So we have two openings."

Per the recommendation of Township Manager Mike Trio, Joseph Sweeney, a resident on Malin Road and the senior vice president of a commercial real estate company NorthMarq, was nominated for one of the vacant positions on the Municipal Authority.

"He has an extensive financial background," said Trio. "He has a lot of experience with financing, capital markets, and new market tax credits so I do believe he's got very significant credentials that would help our sewer authority with the financial resources that he could relay to the board."

Supervisor George Wood made a motion to appoint Sweeney to the Municipal Authority, which was seconded by Supervisor Ed Partridge. The motion passed unanimously.

Any resident interested in serving on the Municipal Authority should submit an application and resume to the township manager.

Realignment of Parking Spaces in Newtown Business Center

Site plan amendments were made for Lot C-A in the Newtown Business Center by Joyfor Joint Venture developers to realign the parking spaces. According to township engineer David Pennoni, when the original approval was made for that side, the additional parking lot was also approved as well for the site. 

"The applicant wants to build 23 out of those 50 parking spots that were first approved," said Pennoni. "But it doesn't really match the parking where it was designated."

Pennoni said only minor modifications were made to the plan and no changes were made to those items that were previously approved. "It falls within the number of spaces previously approved and the stormwater management that was approved."

The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed that this was only a minor modification to the application.

Proposed Third Lane By Entrance of Veterans Memorial Rescinded

Marville Associates' Veterans Memorial plan was previously approved with two conditions, but the developer was looking to eliminate one of those conditions on Monday evening. One condition was the stormwater management plan which included a fee for the maintenance and operations; the second condition was the highway occupancy permit, which the developer hoped to rescind from the plan.

"The project that received final development approval included widening the ingress alongside where the memorial is going to go by taking and installing an additional lane into the site," explained Pennoni.

According to Pennoni, this addition was not required by the township ordinance or requested by the township. However, there may be a time in the future where a third lane could be needed.

"The applicants stated that they would rather do that now by the memorial but they had a change of heart with that–rather than build the lane now, they rather not put the lane in," said Pennoni. "So this is strictly to remove the requirement, which wasn't an attached requirement, that a third lane be constructed at the memorial."

If the Board of Supervisors considered this was a major revision, the plan would then go back to the hands of the Planning Commission. The Board unanimously agreed the revision was a minor modification to the entire plan.

Ashford Nearing to End of Final Approvements On Site Plan

The Rouse Group/Ashford Land Company's 449-unit, sub-division cluster development of single-family homes located at the former John duPont estate and Biddle Farm off of Route 252/Newtown Street Road is getting down to the final nitty gritty details of the site's plan. The plan has been in the works for seven years now.

The proposed plan will construct the homes in four phases and a few features included in the plan are a 50-acre nature preserve as well as a walking/jogging path along Route 252 and paddle courts, which is to be located on the corner of Goshen Road.

Tina Makoulian, who represented The Rouse Group, sought approval from the supervisors on their requests for adding lights to the paddle courts which would stay on from dusk to 10 p.m., but can be changed with the homeowner's association of the sub-division later, as well as putting up one-way road signs–instead of a gate–on Whitestone Road, and eliminating the installation of a sidewalk on Dutton Farm Road due to the walking path on the other side of the road. The supervisors were all in agreement to these additions.

Angelo Mancini of Echo Valley Lane also asked for an update about the sewer pump station that was originally designated to sit on the border of the Echo Valley neighborhood and the Ashford site.

According to the site's engineer, David Wright, the suggestion was to have the pump station at least 400 feet away from the Echo Valley border. The current designated placement is now 1,170 feet away from the borderline.

In addition to the site requests made, Makoulian made a special request to the Board in determining an appropriate time for the township's arborist, Paul Coy, to return recommendation letters back to the applicant. Makoulian suggested that the plan approval be broadened to say upon "township approval."

"We do have an issue is not getting the recommendations back to us in a timely matter. It took him [Paul Coy] a year for the last letter," said Makoulian. "We’re just concerned about tying it to one individual. I hope not to insult anyone but we do have a concern with the length of time."

Supervisors Vice Chairman Dr. Ross Lambert said he had a concern with the language of "township approval," saying the term was too broad.

"I think the word 'township approval' is much too loose," said Lambert. "I think Mr. Coy [Paul] should have the opportunity to approve them. Let's pick a timely manner of 30 days, 60 days, and if he doesn't get back to you in the time designated, give it to Mr. Trio [Mike] to approve it or the supervisors."

After a brief discussion between the supervisors on what the timeframe would be for Coy, the supervisors unanimously agreed to 30 calendar days as the length of time Coy will be given to review the landscape plan and make any recommendations to the developer.