Ordinance Regulating Trailer Park Size Moves Forward

Potential trailer parks in Newtown Township will have to follow new guidelines if an ordinance being advertised by the township passes. The ordinance, if passed, wouldn’t have an impact on the current proposal for a trailer park at the Newtown Swim Club.

The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors on Wednesday authorized the jointure solicitor to advertise an ordinance that would increase the required acreage for a mobile home park from 15 to 25 acres.

The jointure governs zoning in Newtown Township, Wrightstown and Upper Makefield. Upper Makefield has authorized advertisement of the ordinance. If Wrightstown does the same, it will come before each township for a vote.

The motivation behind the proposed ordinance “is to not have to face the threat of a mobile home park again,” Newtown Township Board of Supervisors Chair Mike Gallagher said.

County Builders has submitted an application for a 56-pad trailer park on the Newtown Swim Club site.  Newtown Swim Club owner David Platt is working with the builder to create a residential development on the 16-acre property on Newtown-Yardley Road once it closes after this summer.

Any parcel in the township’s R2 district is zoned for a mobile home park, Gallagher noted, adding “most of that is already developed.”