Newtown Supervisors To Oppose Law Firm's Proposed Sign

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — The township will oppose a zoning board application by a Bucks County law firm for signage at its new home in the Cricklewood Green Office Campus.

On Wednesday night, the supervisors voted to send a letter to the zoning board in defense of the township’s sign ordinance and against a request by Stark & Stark for a building sign larger than what the ordinance allows.

The planning commission had recommended taking no position on the application, which will go before the zoning board in February.

The law firm recently acquired the 30,000 square foot building, which sits perpendicular to Lindenhurst Road at 2 Caufield Place. It will be asking the zoning board to permit a sign measuring 18 square feet long, where 10 square feet is permitted, and 16 feet high, where nine feet is permitted.

Planning commission chair Peggy Driscoll told the supervisors the commission members didn’t feel the sign, which would be inset into the building, would be obtrusive since it wouldn’t be visible from Lindenhurst Road, and that the law firm would be filling a long-empty building at the business center.

“Ultimately, it’s the zoning board’s decision, but this is the planning commission’s recommendation,” said Driscoll. “Some of our signage is very restrictive,” she said. “The entrance sign at Cricklewood, you can’t even read from the road. We felt this building is in the back and it’s a very tasteful sign.”

Supervisor Phil Calabro, however, took issue with the recommendation, asking his fellow supervisors to uphold the sign ordinance and oppose the application.

“Who are they to get special treatment just because they are occupying the whole building?” he asked. “I’m just looking at the possible domino effect. If we give this to them, what about the next person? We will end up with billboards on these buildings because we caved in for one particular business?”

A resident living near the business center added his opposition to the discussion, asking the supervisors oppose the application.

“The ordinance is fairly generous on the size of signs. They’re asking for a significant increase in the square footage and height of the sign,” he said. “This is not only a huge extension of the business, but it also represents advertising. This is an advertising sign for the benefit of Stark & Stark.”

Supervisors Won't Oppose Zoning Relief For ER For Pets

While the supervisors voted to oppose the Stark & Stark sign, they unanimously agreed to remain neutral on a request for a use variance to renovate a long vacant building in the Newtown Business Commons into an emergency hospital and surgical center for pets.

A group of local veterinarians is looking to convert the 25,000 square foot former office building into an ER and surgical center for dogs and cats.

The vets will be seeking a use variance, along with parking and loading bay variances from the zoning board when it meets in February.

The facility, said land development attorney Joe Blackburn, would operate around the clock seven days a week and would eventually grow to 85 employees spread out over several shifts.

“There will be no boarding, no grooming, no kennel, no outdoor dog run, no outdoor storage or keeping of animals,” said Blackburn. “It will be an entirely enclosed, no boarding operation.”

The hospital will service a large area stretching from Pipersville south to Lower Bucks and adjacent areas of New Jersey and Montgomery County.

The veterinarians said they plan on renovating the first floor into hospital space with plans to eventually expand to the second floor. An interior courtyard would be used as an employee break area.

If the veterinarians are successful in securing zoning relief, they are hoping to close on the property in March or April and then begin an eight or nine-month renovation project with a planned opening date of early 2027.

A group of veterinarians is proposing to turn this building at 10 Friends Lane into an emergency hospital and surgical center for cats and dogs. (Jeff Werner/Patch)