Posts
NEWTOWN RESIDENTS....LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!
What: Town Hall Meeting sponsored by a residents group called Newtown 21st Century Voice
When: Sunday February 28, 2010 at 2:00
Where: George School Meeting House (2nd entrance off Route 413)
Who: All Newtown residents and local officials from Newtown and neighboring towns
Why: To get residents’ opinions on issues affecting Newtown. The agenda will include discussion of:
• Re-establishing the SEPTA R8 Rail Fox-Chase-Newtown rail line: Presented by Pennsylvania Transit Expansion (PA-TEC) - come and learn on how the R8 will benefit our area and why this project is critical for our communities. For more information go to http://www.r8newtown.com
• Whether Newtown should consider having a community center: Presented by Newtown 21st Century Voice – our survey of residents in 2009 revealed 2/3 of the 300 respondents favor a community center. If we have one, what services should it offer, where should be located and how should it be financed? Survey results can be seen at http://www.newtownsvoice.org
• Other issues raised by residents (please forward your suggestions for additional issues BEFORE the meeting to natkaye@starlinx.com)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, September 21, 2009
Newtown Planning Survey results are available
At long last, the Newtown Planning Survey results are ready to be shared with survey participants, the BOS and Borough Council, the local and regional Planning Commissions, and the local media. Copies may be distributed to our local legislators and Congressman as well.
We encourage you to review and discuss the full document, which is available in Portable Document Format (pdf) from the sidebar of this site. (Click on the image of the banner - this will take you to a public site that hosts web-based PDF files - maximize your screen (choose "Fullscreen) - review 63 pages.)
Please address questions or comments as a post on this blog
OR
Send an e-mail message to one of these addresses: Newtown21stCenturyVoice@gmail.com and
<NewtownInsider@gmail.com>
The Survey subscription ended on July 24, 2009: no new data was accepted beyond that date. Since then, we allowed ourselves the month of August as vacation; then some time to sort-out the results. The group appreciates your patience and encourages residents to maintain their interest in issues affecting land use and development.
Be sure to listen and watch members of Newtown 21st Century Voice as they present the survey results to the Board of Supervisors (9/23), and the Borough Council (9/24).
Note: While Karen Katz had been a contact person for the Newtown Planning Survey in the past, out-of-town family responsibilities have forced her to withdraw from active involvement at this time. Please contact other members of Newtown 21st Century Voice who have made it possible to bring the these responses and comments to the elected and appointed officials.
We encourage you to review and discuss the full document, which is available in Portable Document Format (pdf) from the sidebar of this site. (Click on the image of the banner - this will take you to a public site that hosts web-based PDF files - maximize your screen (choose "Fullscreen) - review 63 pages.)
Please address questions or comments as a post on this blog
OR
Send an e-mail message to one of these addresses: Newtown21stCenturyVoice@gmail.com and
<NewtownInsider@gmail.com>
The Survey subscription ended on July 24, 2009: no new data was accepted beyond that date. Since then, we allowed ourselves the month of August as vacation; then some time to sort-out the results. The group appreciates your patience and encourages residents to maintain their interest in issues affecting land use and development.
Be sure to listen and watch members of Newtown 21st Century Voice as they present the survey results to the Board of Supervisors (9/23), and the Borough Council (9/24).
Note: While Karen Katz had been a contact person for the Newtown Planning Survey in the past, out-of-town family responsibilities have forced her to withdraw from active involvement at this time. Please contact other members of Newtown 21st Century Voice who have made it possible to bring the these responses and comments to the elected and appointed officials.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Response to "comments to skeptics"
Hello Adrienne -
Thank you for your comments - I am glad you took the time to write and I appreciate your experience as one who has worked directly with Allan Smith. I'm not sure if you are directing your message to me personally, to members of the "skeptical public," or to members of
- I don't believe that I have suggested that Mr. Smith is out to "woo" us for any nefarious purpose. He is trying to persuade the community to buy-into his partnership with George Stockburger to bring a multi-use project to
- While I take him at his word that he is open to the input of the community regarding the final shape of this project, thus far, he has shut-off the possibility of reducing the # of apts and the overall intensity of the project (questions by Jennifer Dix). Perhaps he will explain this position in this blog or via other venues...
- I also take Mssrs. Smith, Hillier, and Stockburger at their word regarding their willingness to incorporate the ideas of residents - either through the representative democracy route via Borough Council, or via the feedback from the Newtown Planning Survey (results will be presented in Sept.).
To be fully transparent, , my "worry" is that the municipal boundaries between the Borough and Township will lead to poor planning of at this "once in a century" opportunity, as Mark Craig said. I wish there were a way that Mr. Stockburger and Mr. Smith would coordinate their efforts to revive the Stockburger Chrysler (Township) property at the same time they are working on this 7-8 acre Borough tract. Perhaps there is a way to "share" the density across these jointly-owned properties. Certainly, it would be help to create a coordinated "look and feel" for
Furthermore, it is my hope that one of these projects will include an allocation of space for a
I share your appreciation for Mr. Smith and enjoyed swapping stories about the former
(P.S. - May I post your comments on the
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Newtown resident & business owner offers comments to "skeptics"
Allan Smith has done "right" by Newtown for many, many years. To suggest that he is out to woo us is to indicate that his motives are purely selfish. As you know, Allan organized a public meeting for comment by snail-mailing invitations to each and every borough resident. What's more, he incorporated some of the audience suggestions into tonight's presentation to Council. This, to me, indicates someone who is reaching out and listening to our community.
Mr. Smith is a developer and, as such, wants to see financial success from his plans, but, as someone who volunteered with Allan for five years on the JDNC Design Committee, I can attest to the fact that he is earnest and excited about seeing Newtown stay alive. A thriving economic and residential base is what we all want for Newtown, isn't it? Or do we want a slightly busy downtown that has emptied out as a result of business going elsewhere?
I, for one, am frustrated of hearing from residents who don't want activity in their town. Studies indicate that Pennsylvania's population is aging quickly as young people graduate from our colleges and head out of state to work—perhaps they're finding jobs in Princeton. Why not keep business here so young residents can walk to work, grab lunch at State Street Kitchen, bank at First National, take a little walk along the creek and, finally, meet a friend at the Grotto for dinner?
The negative comments regarding Mr.Smith's plan seem somewhat paranoid. Call me paranoid when I say that, without a big, big plan, there is no future for Newtown.
DiGiovine Design (Adrienne)
545 East Centre Avenue
Newtown, PA 18940
www.digiovinedesign.com
Mr. Smith is a developer and, as such, wants to see financial success from his plans, but, as someone who volunteered with Allan for five years on the JDNC Design Committee, I can attest to the fact that he is earnest and excited about seeing Newtown stay alive. A thriving economic and residential base is what we all want for Newtown, isn't it? Or do we want a slightly busy downtown that has emptied out as a result of business going elsewhere?
I, for one, am frustrated of hearing from residents who don't want activity in their town. Studies indicate that Pennsylvania's population is aging quickly as young people graduate from our colleges and head out of state to work—perhaps they're finding jobs in Princeton. Why not keep business here so young residents can walk to work, grab lunch at State Street Kitchen, bank at First National, take a little walk along the creek and, finally, meet a friend at the Grotto for dinner?
The negative comments regarding Mr.Smith's plan seem somewhat paranoid. Call me paranoid when I say that, without a big, big plan, there is no future for Newtown.
DiGiovine Design (Adrienne)
545 East Centre Avenue
Newtown, PA 18940
www.digiovinedesign.com
Meeting notes - Borough Council - Aug. 11 - Stockburger/Smith
In the interest of time and to promote dialogue, I am simply posting my notes from the Aug. 11th meeting during which the Stockburger/Smith Concept Plan was presented to the public and Borough Council. Please feel free to suggest edits and make comments directly on the blog or send me an e-mail message:
In a later post, I'll share some discussion and ideas that were generated "offline," specifically related to the possibility spreading the density and creating an indoor community space.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan Smith Borough Council 08-11-09
▪ design put together via 100’s of hours of volunteer time
▪ traffic patterns visible from office in Stocking Works
▪ get people downtown; get them to walk downtown
▪ Borough Council told Smith that if the community doesn’t want it, the project won’t be done
▪ If interest rates rise 2 pts, may become difficult to start project - need to move quickly
▪ Potential difficulty attracting tenants in this economy
Robert Hillier
▪ Thinks about Newtown as rich in architectural preservation - small buildings - bank buildings are largest and shouldn’t have been built that large
▪ Town of small buildings - wants to retain sense of smallness while bringing economic vitality
▪ 7-8 acres is a lot of property in a small town
▪ 100-200 year plan is needed; alternative is chaos
Design process/philosophy
▪ of its time, place, purpose
o belong to the town; functional design; serve current purpose
o be “good” architecturally - unique, special; enhance the neighborhood (the Creek and South State St.); fill a community need (ratable, parking, bring people downtown)
o current trend- living downtown, apartments, etc. - what to do with 7 acres of asphalt
▪ Design - weather, markets (budget, costs, marketing), political forces (community input)
▪ Start with soft clay - learn more - shape clay - takes form - eventually ready to go into oven and be baked
Stockburger Plan - good input…..now will show comparison of vision - Showroom meeting vs. tonight::
▪ garage - 500-600 cars; also surface parking
▪ boulevard - shoppes with residential on-top
▪ keep Service Center - Quakers to continue to use parking spot
▪ Somewhat smaller garage with wings; closed-off plaza at the end - left an opening to look through archway to St. Andrew’s tower - bring Sycamore St. across to State St.
▪ Garage wrapped with apts, shoppes, restaurants
▪ Pedestrian path; creek walk, stairway to creek - path to get to playing fields on bridge; nature preserve
▪ Boulevard where Chevy sign is today;
▪ Palmer Sq. in Princeton - designed in 1937 - 7 story building concealed by architecture - parking garage is not visible from street
▪ Penn St - grade drops 20’ - proximity to State Street - won’t see it from State St. or Sycamore St. - apts. and cafes will obscure the garage
▪ Garage on Spring St. in Princeton - retail on Street-scape helps it to blend
▪ Witherspoon St. - plaza - chairs - bolt them down or not; let’s buy 84 chairs and see what happens… After 2 years, not one is missing - space is so public and popular - no one wants to hurt this space
Creek Walk
▪ Creek is spectacular - a lot of good work by Creek Coalition - enhance bridges , formalize banks - performance seating
?TOPO? - Drop from State Street to Creek, where garage would be located. StockingWorks - touches of modernism; scale of building similar to StockingWorks #1
State Store - brings a lot of activity to Newtown; want to enlarge it; Borough owns the parking lot, which was originally given to Borough by Allan Smith
85 cars on surface parking behind new State Store; into garage from there; go out another way to get to Bypass
Traffic pattern described --- right turn through garage and out on State St., also a right turn. (Bernie Heyman asked about left turns and other aspect off traffic plan - has spoken about Bypass choking Borough)
Garage - Office use during the day; metered parking for evening use - restaurants, etc.
Joanne raises ?
▪ traffic from Sycamore off bypass
▪ 150-200,000 sq. ft - 90 apts.
▪ tallest building is garage - 54’ high
▪ insufficient parking for daytime shoppers - 3-3.5 cars per 1000 sq. ft of office space
▪ faulty logic with parking - it is all day long - not an ebb and flow….
Carolyn ? - any historic structures on the property - small historic ice house on the property - not touching that/ Requested bicycle racks
Joe Lovey - when will you start? Brilliant; hats off; Township screws things up, but not Borough; testified against Goodnoe Corner parking - now people parking at his location
(State Store in one zoning district; Stockburger Chevrolet in another district.. 1000 people voting in Newtown Borough)
Mark Craig - needs assurance that zoning will move - understand what they are asking of the Borough Council
▪ Time working against them; paying interest on borrowed money while doing studies
▪ that $ comes from cheapening the project, e.g. materials -
▪ not attempt to rush and sneak - need as much capital as possible
▪ Stockburger sitting on this property - costing money
▪ Scale the project back - no parking garage - cost of parking space in Newtown Commons = $3500; these spaces cost$15-18k
▪ Boro will undertake a change or review of neighborhood district zoning to allow a project of this size and scope -still go through Planning, HARB, etc.
MarkCraig & Smith - adopt the traditional neighborhood district concept - will Boro consider adopting one of the ways to adopt. - Craig - have a Planning Commission to work with Council - TND
Sellers - Two-part process: “the what?” a plan for Stockburger’s - concept plan still open to change except that reduction in size/scope results in plan going away “the how” TND - specific proposal
Discussion should be on conceptual plan - not “the how” - not the TND
Tom Camitta - Planner from W. Chester - traditional neighborhood dev’t - 7A
1. Stocking Works #1 and #2 - seamless concept
2. How might TND zoning apply?
▪ TND for mixed use housing types only; could add more non-residential uses
▪ TND #1 and #2 for Doylestown
▪ re-zone for Town Center - zoning map changes
Does the concept plan have traction and currency? If so, then it makes sense to go on… This is what developers want - they want TC designation Would have TND.2 - mixed use, e.g. offices, retail, parking
Julia - encouraged even by comments from public meeting and changes made; working with developers to make it happen. Didn’t like townhouses next to Friends Meeting.
▪ Still sees issues with traffic - too many left turns; impact on Bypass. Stormwater management not addressed until the very end with Frost Watson development. Traffic patterns must be addressed very early in the project
▪ TND doesn’t require huge changes for Newtown - worthwhile looking at TND - this project or another - all will need to be examined from this perspective
Rand Jaslow
like the project as currently presented
Gerard O’Malley
325th anniversary as a community - will change the physical properties of the town - what do we love about our town? What can we shape it to be? Can we do this without changing the fundamental nature of the town? Stormwater management will be the fundamental problem - TND would be the best way
Sellers
Concept is innovative; tremendous number of complex issues; work closely with developer. This is the key development for the next 100-150 years, vs. having this go away and waiting to see who or what comes next.
Favor concept - TND or other method for “how”
Walker
Also supports the project
Craig
Once in a many generation opportunity - seen lots of conceptual plans, but usually lack the funds. Don’t know where the $ would come from if we try to do it on our own… Interested in working with them to move to the next step
O’Brien - strongly in-favor of everything he has seen
“The HOW” another meeting…
Solicitor involved - costs $ - what are the costs that we are looking at incurring for the Borough
Julia motion: move that Planning Commission be charged with looking at zoning ord. with regard to V-2 and __? with mixed use.
Allan asked - timeframe?? State Store is actively looking; Stockburger is antsy; 60 days to find out if this can go forward? Piece of ground could be zoned to permit a project like this; then go through review process. Even though allowed, then we would work on the appearance, land use, etc. Need right to build it - need zoning -
▪ Planning Commission should be made aware of urgency of review - perhaps more frequent meetings
George Stockburger
▪ wife and George collecting SS - 10 years to enjoy good health and so forth
▪ family inheritance
▪ been in town over 50 years - have a great interest in prosperity of town - won’t harm appearance and character
▪ sucks wind $20k every month - maintenance, etc. Only so much time to continue to do that.
Bernard Heyman
many years in planning process - 6 years of residence here - keep running into problem of traffic
▪ Changing density will involve traffic problems - permitting increased density - 2 cars can’t pass
▪ Coming east and then entering on new State Store; what about cars wanting to turn left;
▪ Increasing density on S. State St. - will you widen streets? Impact on town and maintenance is huge, while design is gorgeous
Jen Dix - Intensity of project
Design beautiful - but what about the possibility of changes?
▪ Changes must be made re: traffic - (Sellers speaking now) Devil in details
▪ Size not negotiable; density not negotiable - why can’t it be smaller? 2-story garage; smaller office
▪ #’s don’t add up - garage only holds 500-600 - already short with # of employees and then add shoppers, etc.
Dix raises point that Newtown has high density of office employees already - why attract more???
Del Valley Reg. Planning Commission - 3600 Boro employees - .6 miles - already employee dense - 2x ICT building;
3x size of Stocking Works
Yardley Boro…Lower Make…Northampton - all have more land and fewer employees
In a later post, I'll share some discussion and ideas that were generated "offline," specifically related to the possibility spreading the density and creating an indoor community space.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan Smith Borough Council 08-11-09
▪ design put together via 100’s of hours of volunteer time
▪ traffic patterns visible from office in Stocking Works
▪ get people downtown; get them to walk downtown
▪ Borough Council told Smith that if the community doesn’t want it, the project won’t be done
▪ If interest rates rise 2 pts, may become difficult to start project - need to move quickly
▪ Potential difficulty attracting tenants in this economy
Robert Hillier
▪ Thinks about Newtown as rich in architectural preservation - small buildings - bank buildings are largest and shouldn’t have been built that large
▪ Town of small buildings - wants to retain sense of smallness while bringing economic vitality
▪ 7-8 acres is a lot of property in a small town
▪ 100-200 year plan is needed; alternative is chaos
Design process/philosophy
▪ of its time, place, purpose
o belong to the town; functional design; serve current purpose
o be “good” architecturally - unique, special; enhance the neighborhood (the Creek and South State St.); fill a community need (ratable, parking, bring people downtown)
o current trend- living downtown, apartments, etc. - what to do with 7 acres of asphalt
▪ Design - weather, markets (budget, costs, marketing), political forces (community input)
▪ Start with soft clay - learn more - shape clay - takes form - eventually ready to go into oven and be baked
Stockburger Plan - good input…..now will show comparison of vision - Showroom meeting vs. tonight::
▪ garage - 500-600 cars; also surface parking
▪ boulevard - shoppes with residential on-top
▪ keep Service Center - Quakers to continue to use parking spot
▪ Somewhat smaller garage with wings; closed-off plaza at the end - left an opening to look through archway to St. Andrew’s tower - bring Sycamore St. across to State St.
▪ Garage wrapped with apts, shoppes, restaurants
▪ Pedestrian path; creek walk, stairway to creek - path to get to playing fields on bridge; nature preserve
▪ Boulevard where Chevy sign is today;
▪ Palmer Sq. in Princeton - designed in 1937 - 7 story building concealed by architecture - parking garage is not visible from street
▪ Penn St - grade drops 20’ - proximity to State Street - won’t see it from State St. or Sycamore St. - apts. and cafes will obscure the garage
▪ Garage on Spring St. in Princeton - retail on Street-scape helps it to blend
▪ Witherspoon St. - plaza - chairs - bolt them down or not; let’s buy 84 chairs and see what happens… After 2 years, not one is missing - space is so public and popular - no one wants to hurt this space
Creek Walk
▪ Creek is spectacular - a lot of good work by Creek Coalition - enhance bridges , formalize banks - performance seating
?TOPO? - Drop from State Street to Creek, where garage would be located. StockingWorks - touches of modernism; scale of building similar to StockingWorks #1
State Store - brings a lot of activity to Newtown; want to enlarge it; Borough owns the parking lot, which was originally given to Borough by Allan Smith
85 cars on surface parking behind new State Store; into garage from there; go out another way to get to Bypass
Traffic pattern described --- right turn through garage and out on State St., also a right turn. (Bernie Heyman asked about left turns and other aspect off traffic plan - has spoken about Bypass choking Borough)
Garage - Office use during the day; metered parking for evening use - restaurants, etc.
Joanne raises ?
▪ traffic from Sycamore off bypass
▪ 150-200,000 sq. ft - 90 apts.
▪ tallest building is garage - 54’ high
▪ insufficient parking for daytime shoppers - 3-3.5 cars per 1000 sq. ft of office space
▪ faulty logic with parking - it is all day long - not an ebb and flow….
Carolyn ? - any historic structures on the property - small historic ice house on the property - not touching that/ Requested bicycle racks
Joe Lovey - when will you start? Brilliant; hats off; Township screws things up, but not Borough; testified against Goodnoe Corner parking - now people parking at his location
(State Store in one zoning district; Stockburger Chevrolet in another district.. 1000 people voting in Newtown Borough)
Mark Craig - needs assurance that zoning will move - understand what they are asking of the Borough Council
▪ Time working against them; paying interest on borrowed money while doing studies
▪ that $ comes from cheapening the project, e.g. materials -
▪ not attempt to rush and sneak - need as much capital as possible
▪ Stockburger sitting on this property - costing money
▪ Scale the project back - no parking garage - cost of parking space in Newtown Commons = $3500; these spaces cost$15-18k
▪ Boro will undertake a change or review of neighborhood district zoning to allow a project of this size and scope -still go through Planning, HARB, etc.
MarkCraig & Smith - adopt the traditional neighborhood district concept - will Boro consider adopting one of the ways to adopt. - Craig - have a Planning Commission to work with Council - TND
Sellers - Two-part process: “the what?” a plan for Stockburger’s - concept plan still open to change except that reduction in size/scope results in plan going away “the how” TND - specific proposal
Discussion should be on conceptual plan - not “the how” - not the TND
Tom Camitta - Planner from W. Chester - traditional neighborhood dev’t - 7A
1. Stocking Works #1 and #2 - seamless concept
2. How might TND zoning apply?
▪ TND for mixed use housing types only; could add more non-residential uses
▪ TND #1 and #2 for Doylestown
▪ re-zone for Town Center - zoning map changes
Does the concept plan have traction and currency? If so, then it makes sense to go on… This is what developers want - they want TC designation Would have TND.2 - mixed use, e.g. offices, retail, parking
Julia - encouraged even by comments from public meeting and changes made; working with developers to make it happen. Didn’t like townhouses next to Friends Meeting.
▪ Still sees issues with traffic - too many left turns; impact on Bypass. Stormwater management not addressed until the very end with Frost Watson development. Traffic patterns must be addressed very early in the project
▪ TND doesn’t require huge changes for Newtown - worthwhile looking at TND - this project or another - all will need to be examined from this perspective
Rand Jaslow
like the project as currently presented
Gerard O’Malley
325th anniversary as a community - will change the physical properties of the town - what do we love about our town? What can we shape it to be? Can we do this without changing the fundamental nature of the town? Stormwater management will be the fundamental problem - TND would be the best way
Sellers
Concept is innovative; tremendous number of complex issues; work closely with developer. This is the key development for the next 100-150 years, vs. having this go away and waiting to see who or what comes next.
Favor concept - TND or other method for “how”
Walker
Also supports the project
Craig
Once in a many generation opportunity - seen lots of conceptual plans, but usually lack the funds. Don’t know where the $ would come from if we try to do it on our own… Interested in working with them to move to the next step
O’Brien - strongly in-favor of everything he has seen
“The HOW” another meeting…
Solicitor involved - costs $ - what are the costs that we are looking at incurring for the Borough
Julia motion: move that Planning Commission be charged with looking at zoning ord. with regard to V-2 and __? with mixed use.
Allan asked - timeframe?? State Store is actively looking; Stockburger is antsy; 60 days to find out if this can go forward? Piece of ground could be zoned to permit a project like this; then go through review process. Even though allowed, then we would work on the appearance, land use, etc. Need right to build it - need zoning -
▪ Planning Commission should be made aware of urgency of review - perhaps more frequent meetings
George Stockburger
▪ wife and George collecting SS - 10 years to enjoy good health and so forth
▪ family inheritance
▪ been in town over 50 years - have a great interest in prosperity of town - won’t harm appearance and character
▪ sucks wind $20k every month - maintenance, etc. Only so much time to continue to do that.
Bernard Heyman
many years in planning process - 6 years of residence here - keep running into problem of traffic
▪ Changing density will involve traffic problems - permitting increased density - 2 cars can’t pass
▪ Coming east and then entering on new State Store; what about cars wanting to turn left;
▪ Increasing density on S. State St. - will you widen streets? Impact on town and maintenance is huge, while design is gorgeous
Jen Dix - Intensity of project
Design beautiful - but what about the possibility of changes?
▪ Changes must be made re: traffic - (Sellers speaking now) Devil in details
▪ Size not negotiable; density not negotiable - why can’t it be smaller? 2-story garage; smaller office
▪ #’s don’t add up - garage only holds 500-600 - already short with # of employees and then add shoppers, etc.
Dix raises point that Newtown has high density of office employees already - why attract more???
Del Valley Reg. Planning Commission - 3600 Boro employees - .6 miles - already employee dense - 2x ICT building;
3x size of Stocking Works
Yardley Boro…Lower Make…Northampton - all have more land and fewer employees
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Round #1 - Stockburger/Smith Plan is "coming-out" at Borough Council
This evening the Stockburger/Smith plan will be presented to the Newtown Borough Council for preliminary approval. I remember a similar evening in October, when the the Promenade/Acme plan was presented to the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors.
- For one citizen's opinion based on what is known at this point, see the Letter to the Editor published by The Advance of Bucks County on August 6th - it is available from this blog's Background section or through Jen Dix (publisher of the "Newtown Insider")
- This evening's meeting is an important first step for the developers, for the Borough, and for all Newtown residents (Borough & Township). The developers are seeking preliminary approval so they can proceed with confidence that their land development costs will be covered. This is, in essence, a request that the Borough give "the nod" to this project; the details will be worked-out later.
- Learn more about the project by asking questions of developers and elected/appointed officials. Ask questions to be sure that everyone does their "homework" and understands what we are getting into...
- If you don't like what you hear, start getting petitions going in neighborhoods - get people to think and talk about quality of life, traffic, parking, public safety, environmental impact, etc...
- Write letters - it is nice that you like the letters of others, but we need your written and electronic comments and your own letters. If you want to have your voice heard, you'll need to help us "create a buzz..."
- Call and write to County and State officials, e.g. Lynn Bush (BC Planning), Steve Santarsario (State Rep), Borough Planning Committee, Borough Traffic Committee, Township BOS, etc. **Tell them you are afraid this project is being rushed through the preliminary approval process without sufficient time for residents to return from "summer mode" to understand and study the issue. **(NewtownPlanning Survey results will be released in early September - first to those who participated in the Survey; next to elected/appointed officials; then to newspapers and public - this feedback is critical to future development.)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
After the Ice-Cream: Some Questions about Stockburger-Smith plan
Jennifer Dix comments on and questions the plan for the Stockburger property and the strip center where the State Store is located (presented to the public on 7/9):
Regarding the plans for the old Stockburger site in Newtown Borough which calls for 200k sqft of office space (600 ees), 540-space parking garage, retail shops, 30 apartments and 11 townhomes:
WOW...that is a lot of development on that amount of land!! I have yet to hear how it complies with the zoning. My guess is there are significant variances needed. Take parking as an example. 200,000 square feet of office space in Newtown Township would require at least 1,000 spaces. I don't think the Borough zoning is drastically different (someone please educate me if it is). Even though they say only 600 employees will work there, that could change in the future and the site could become more employee dense. 1,000 employees is certainly feasible which is why the Township zoning calls for that many parking spaces. The parking garage only has 540 spaces. Where are the extra 60 employees going to park and how about all those who come to visit the offices and/or shop there? And what if there are 1,000 employees there someday?
I wonder how the Borough feels about this since they oppose the plans for the old Acme site on Sycamore Street, which would have just a fraction of the traffic all this development would bring! I would love to hear what more of the Borough residents and Borough Council have to say about this. Are they just getting wooed by Mr. Smith or are they taking a good hard look at what he is proposing and its impact? Is this really a good thing for Newtown or are we turning into downtown Princeton???
Do you have additional comments? Another point of view? Please send your thoughts to: Newtown21stCenturyVoice@gmail.com or post a comment directly to the blog!
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