During her report, Council President Marjorie Torongo said she has been in touch with the Township's manager, Robert Pellegrino, and the Chair of the Township Supervisors, Richard Weaver regarding the Acme site, the Brandywine Bridge and the move to the Bypass location by Stockburger.
Torongo announced that Borough Council supports the construction of the bridge at the Newtown Corporate Center which will enable traffic to exit onto the Newtown Bypass instead of just one entrance off Penn's Trail and Upper Silver Lake Road.
Council also supports the proposed move of Stockburger Chevrolet and Stockburger Chrysler from the South State Street and Sycamore Street locations to a site they own on the Newtown Bypass.
There will be two public hearings on the Stockburger move June 1 and 17 both at 7 p.m. in the Chancellor Center on North Chancellor Street. The future of the Acme site has not yet been determined.
Council voted to dedicate a page in the Minute Book to Stanley W. Fesmire who died May 1. Stan, a former resident of the borough, was the Newtown Fire Association's Captain of Fire Police from 1954 to 1992. Active in many ways in the community his volunteerism was mostly with the Fire Company, the Newtown Ambulance Squad and Fire Police all of which he served in a variety of capacities.
Kevin Guest of N. Lincoln Avenue returned to Council to hear if his plea to use aluminum clad windows at the side of a new addition to his home has been approved. The windows were approved by the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) and then denied by Council last month. Guest had approached Council at the May 4 work session.
After much discussion and comments from HARB members Gail Blandy and Mike Hutchinson Council stuck with their original decision to not allow the aluminum clad windows except at the rear of the addition. One of the questions revolved around the site of the windows. If they are in the front and visible from the street they would not be allowed. Since these were at the side it was deemed they were still visible from the street.
Council Vice President Rand Jaslow said the not facing the street could be the real issue not the distance from street to windows. Councilman Mark Craig said he thought the aluminum windows versus aluminum clad look about the same and sides on a lot are noticeable so he was less inclined to go with aluminum clad.
Councilman Richard Tomlinson asked, "Are we trying to preserve old houses or make it look like we are?" Craig said he felt for owners who had their homes before the historic district was enacted. "The burden (for following all the rulings) is on these old homeowners, the new owners know when they purchase a house what will be required (such as replacing wood with wood)."
Torongo reminded Council that the original character of the house was not being disturbed and that Council must look at each case on its own. Councilman Donald Smith urged that consistency is needed in decisions and his concern is with the applications. Councilman Robert King said, "We always get in these situations. Borough Solicitor T.J. Walsh told Council that it's all in "how you interpret your own ordinances."
Council approved a preliminary-final subdivision of the property at 205 S. Chancellor Street owned by James Dumont (formerly the home and office of Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Strathie). The existing house will be returned to a single family home status and a new house will be constructed on the Penn Street side. the two houses will share access to Penn Street.
Much discussion was about the trees on the property and in particular a Maple tree over 30 inches in diameter which lies at the Penn Street side and is a buffer between the property and CVS Pharmacy. The plans were presented by Attorney Thomas Hecker, Gary Smith and Dumont. Councilman Craig was much disturbed by the removal of the maple tree. The Shade Tree Commission had approved the removal of 16 inch or more trees on the property.
Councilman King presented the name of Lorraine Pentz to serve on the Joint Historic Commission to fill in the vacancy of Penny Legrande who has moved from the area. Pentz was approved.
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