Zoning Rewrite

On August 8, 2016, the Board of Supervisors following a Public Hearing adopted The Newtown Township Comprehensive Plan. The Newtown Township Planning Commission worked for a year and a half to establish a vision of growth and preservation for the future of our community. The Comprehensive Plan is the culmination of this effort. The Comprehensive Plan itself carries no legislative power to make the vision come to life; rather, that power lies within the Township Code, the pursuit of grant funding, and additional planning projects. The Comprehensive Plan does provide a path and actionable commitments to ensuring the Comprehensive Plan is a living document.  Re-writing our current Township Zoning Code, Chapter 172 of the Newtown Township General Code, is one of these actionable items identified in the Comprehensive Plan.

 Newtown Township first adopted a Zoning Code in 1938. There have been many updates over the years but it has been decades since the Township has overhauled the Zoning Code to reflect the community’s needs and community vision. The Comprehensive Plan effectively laid out for us the direction our community would like to head and the Zoning Code has the legislative power to move us in that direction; but as it is currently written, the Township will have a difficult time implementing that vision.

 The Township Manager, Stephen Nease, embarked on this mission by establishing a Zoning Re-write Task Force comprised of Township staff, members of the community, and representatives of the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The Township contracted with the Delaware County Planning Department to act as our consultant on the project, in which Sam Haber was assigned to be our Planning Consultant for the Re-write.

The Task Force held its first meeting on September 12, 2018. The Task Force has continued to meet regularly throughout this process and even through the course of the Pandemic via zoom. The Task Force reviewed the outcome objectives of the Comprehensive Plan, and all aspects of the Zoning Code including the zoning districts and maps.   To ensure we stayed in tune with the goals of the community, the Task Force also invited the community to participate in a survey and a Public Zoning Workshop. Now as we approach the end of this endeavor, keep an eye out for documents to review, and public meetings to attend regarding the proposed Zoning Code.

 Members:

Stephen Nease, Township Manager

Andy Reczek, Director of Codes/BCO/Zoning Officer

Cathy Spahr, Administrative Coordinator for Planning, Zoning & Codes, GIS Coordinator

Linda McIsaac, Community Member

John Agar, Jr, Community Member

Paul Evans, Planning Commission

Tina Roberts Lightcap, Board of Supervisors

Chris Rohner, Community member/Commercial-Business Owner

Michael Russo, Board of Supervisors

Sam Haber, Delaware County Planning Dept

Mercedes Carfagno, Delaware County Planning Dept