Making government work

Because of the action we took at last night’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting, an untold number of residents of the Levittown section of Middletown Township will be saved from paying a $135 fee and appearing before the Zoning Hearing Board before they can apply for a building permit.

This problem was brought to our attention by Harry Arnold, a member of the ZHB and my running mate in this year’s election.

The problem is the fact that nearly every home in Levittown is designated as “non-conforming” because, by the current codes, the lot sizes are too small for the homes that sit on them. A strict reading of the codes indicates that people whose homes are deemed as non-conforming must apply to the ZHB for a “certificate of non-conformance” before they can apply for a building permit, even if the permit application wouldn’t require a variance of any kind.

For years, this provision was just ignored by the zoning officer. Recently a new zoning officer was appointed and began to enforce this provision. Mr. Arnold told the supervisors last evening that he felt this was both unfair and unnecessary. We agreed.

The Township has been working on codifying the ordinances and Manager Ray Stepnoski and Solicitor Mike Savona agreed that this stipulation could be removed during the codification. Vice Chair Robert McMonagle successfully motioned to direct the zoning officer, in the meantime, not to enforce this requirement and for the Township to reimburse those who have paid the fee.

This is a prime example of why I ran for office in the first place and am running again in November – making government work for the citizens it serves.