This document provides a summary of images and events from 2021 that were curated by John Mack to inform residents of Newtown Area, Pennsylvania. It includes images and brief descriptions on topics like a survey of important issues to residents, improving usability of the township website, allowing hybrid meetings, proposed development on Newtown Bypass, federal raid of KVK Tech facilities, and closed trails at Clark Nature Center due to dead ash trees. The document aims to tell the news and issues of interest to Newtown area residents through a selection of images from 2021.

1. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
2021 Year in Images
A selection of images created or curated by John Mack that helped
tell the News of Interest to Newtown Area Residents in 2021

2. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Important (or Not) Issues
For more than 4 years now, I
have been hosting my “Issues of
Importance to Newtown Township
Residents” survey.
In 2021, 145 people responded as
shown here.
Interestingly, fully one-third of
respondents do not think
attracting new business to
Newtown is important.
Take the Survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HTGLN85

3. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Considering that the website is the main way that the township communicates with
residents, it is crucial that its usability be improved. As Peter Drucker, who was
arguably the world's greatest management consultant, famously said, “If you can’t
measure it, you can’t improve it.” See a Google Analytics report for township website
for the period of Apr 1, 2021 through Sep 20, 2021: https://bit.ly/NTwebAnalytics

4. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Say “Yes” to Hybrid Meetings
Over 160 Newtown Residents Signed
My Petition.
There is no need to put the public at
risk. Many residents overwhelmingly
support "hybrid" public meetings that
make it easier for them to attend
important public meetings such as BOS
meetings by giving them the option to
not only attend in person but also to
attend virtually via Zoom or some other
remote technology.
If you agree, I urge you to sign my
Petition to the Board of Supervisors.
Sign the Petition:
http://www.change.org/HybridMeetingPetition
[The image shows how the Newtown Zoning Hearing Board
improvised a "hybrid" meeting to allow one of its members
to attend virtually. Not an optimal solution by any means!]

5. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
D’Aprile Calls Residents “Lazy”
It was a sad night at the
8 September 2021, Newtown
Board of Supervisors meeting.
In a comment before the BOS,
Newtown Grant resident John
D’Aprile was of the opinion that
the township should not spend
money on hybrid meetings so that
“lazy” residents can attend. “Why
should we cater to someone who
is lazy and does not want to come
to meetings?,” quipped Mr.
D’Aprile. Quote/Unquote!
Read more: https://bit.ly/LazyResidents
View the video: https://youtu.be/BRygQpCfv0k

6. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images

7. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Hanging the 2022 Budget
The Preliminary Budget saw the light
of day, was advertised – aka, “hung”
– on or about 15 November 2021.
This was the first opportunity for
residents to see the budget in all its
glorious detail!
The Board of Supervisors approved
the final budget on 8 December 2021
without any significant changes!
Was the Process Flawed?
https://sco.lt/64eX8S
View the video of the discussion leading up to the
vote to hang the budget:
https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/2022prelimvid
eo.html

8. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Residents Propose Cuts to Budget
My “Budget Cut Survey” asks
respondents to select the cuts
they would support in order to
maintain fire protection while
ensuring an adequate reserve
fund for unanticipated
expenses without dipping
further into the General Fund.
Shown here are the results as
of 19 November 2021 regard-
ing capital expenditures.
More results...

9. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Pedestrian Safety
At the 22 November 2021 Meet
Mack Monday Zoom meeting,
residents discussed traffic and
pedestrian safety issues on North
Sycamore Street near Silo Drive in
Newtown. There was a lively
discussion that included several
ideas for mitigating the danger to
both pedestrians and drivers,
including suggestions by Police
Chief Hearn.
Read a summary of the
discussion: bit.ly/Nov2021-MMM-highlights
“Silo Drive & North Sycamore: A Dangerous
Intersection in Newtown Township!”
https://sco.lt/5TA4WW

10. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Changing Population
It is clear that Newtown area
population growth is declining,
especially between 2010 and 2020.
The racial/ethnicity profile of all
three Jointure townships show a
shift to a more diverse population
from 2000 to 2020. Newtown, for
example, was 94% white in 2000
and 82% in 2020. The biggest
change was in the “Asian Alone”
category – an increase from 734
residents in 2000 to 2,201 in 2020.
This category includes “Asian
Indian,” which I am sure constitutes
the majority of “Asian Only”
residents in Newtown.
More...

11. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
“Euclidean Zoning”
This Type of “Mixed-Use” Zoning
is All the Rage Now.
Seth Shapiro, Director of Planning
and Urban Design at Barton
Partners, was a guest speaker at
the April 1, 2021, Newtown
Economic Committee Zoom
meeting. He focused on the
problems of "Euclidean Zoning,"
which is a system of zoning
whereby a town or community is
divided into areas in which
specific uses of land are
permitted.
Listen here: https://bit.ly/euclidianzone
[“Euclidean” in this instance comes from Village of Euclid, Ohio et
al. v. Ambler Realty Co., a 1926 case in which the Supreme Court
upheld the right of a locality to enforce such a system.]

12. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Keeping the rural look of the Newtown Bypass has been a tradition in
Newtown. It is a common belief among long-time Newtown area residents
that the Newtown Bypass is supposed to remain an "undeveloped" greenway.
But Wawa on the Bypass may set a precedent for more development.
Read “Another Proposed Project on Newtown Bypass”: https://sco.lt/6z4c1A

13. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Bypass Slippery Slope Development
At the March 15, 2021, Newtown
Board of Supervisors Work Session
representatives of Lotus Park Senior
Living LLC, presented a "sketch
plan" for a Senior Living facility to
be located adjacent to the site of
the already approved Wawa.
When the owners saw an
opportunity presented by the Wawa
precedent, they proceeded to find a
use for a plot of land that many
experts consider unfit for
development. Crossing Community
Church may be next to sell to a
developer.
More...

14. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
The Infamous Arcadia U-Turn!
PennDOT Opposed All Other
Options!
On 9 September 2021, Francis
Hanney, Senior Manager at
PennDOT’s Traffic Services
Division, hosted an online meeting
with residents to discuss road
improvements to facilitate access
and egress to the approved
Arcadia Green development at the
intersection of Newtown Bypass
and Buck Road. Mr. Hanney
explained why the U-turn is the
best option.
Read more: https://sco.lt/8qBoo4
[Image shows proposed U-turn at Mill Pond Rd as the only
way for future Arcadia Green residents to travel north on
Buck Road to access the Bypass and Newtown Borough &
Newtown Township centers.]

15. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Specific complaints from residents regarding this plan included: (1) the planned access to
Durham Road via Municipal Drive was unsafe, (2) a 2008 Durham Road Traffic Study
concluded that the preferred access to Durham Road from any development in the area
is North Drive, and (3) the Township should not be giving up public land to allow access
to Municipal Drive. Eventually, the residents won out and a new plan was put forward
with access via North Drive as recommended by PennDOT. More...
Controversial Toll Plan Denied!
I dubbed this the
“penis road”

16. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
At it's January 13, 2021, public
meeting, the Newtown Board of
Supervisors voted 3-2 against
agreeing to a settlement with
Newtown Bucks Association
regarding Chick-fil-A and a "retail
pad" in the Newtown Shopping
Center. The supervisors, however,
would have liked to approve a plan
to mitigate traffic lining up for
Chick-fil-A. The applicant, IMHO,
could have avoided this by
submitting 2 separate applications.
Read “Newtown BOS Rejects Chick-fil-
A/Old Navy Settlement Agreement”:
https://sco.lt/83Vi3k
How Not To Apply For Variances

17. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Feds Raid KVK Tech
Federal Agents With Help From
the Newtown Township Police
Department Raid KVK Tech
Locations at the Crack of Dawn!
On Thursday, 29 July 2021 Federal
Agents from the US Food & Drug
Administration (FDA), Homeland
Security Investigations (HSI), The
Department of Labor, US Health &
Human Services & other Federal
branches raided each of the KVK
Tech facilities located within
Newtown Township.
More: https://sco.lt/8FzMMS
[Photo shows a federal agent in the KVK Tech Driveway on Terry
Drive! Charged with conspiracy to defraud the FDA by allegedly
distributing unapproved drugs. Did you know KVK Tech is #7
Among the TOP TEN Biggest Rx Opioid Manufacturers!]

18. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Clark Nature Center Trails Unusable!
The trails have been closed to the
public for 4 years due to trees
killed by an insect known as the
Emerald Ash Borer.
The trails were closed
“indefinitely” to the public in the
spring of 2017 due to the hazard
of falling dead ash trees along the
trails. But after 4 years of inaction,
some people believe it is time to
have a plan to do what is
necessary to open these trails
again to the public.
More: https://sco.lt/8oCTAm
[Image shows multiple dead ash trails near the entrance to
the Blue Trail in the Clark Nature Center. In December 2021,
the township paid a tree service contractor $4,560 to remove
an unspecified number of dead trees in the Center – probably
closer to the park entrance than to the trails.]

19. 2021. John Mack. All rights reserved.
2021 Year in Images
Thanks for Viewing. STAY SAFE!
Visit my website for dozens of informational pages, links to published articles, blog posts,
videos, podcasts, and survey results: https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/