The Reason for this Blog

Thank you for taking the time to visit Abington Township Issues. I established this blog in an effort to reach as many Abington Township residents as possible in order to share information regarding issues facing the Township. While Abington Township has its own website, the Township does not do an effective job in disseminating critical or time sensitive information to the residents, nor does the Township provide the level of transparency or accountability one expects from those entrusted to run our Township. For example, it often takes weeks, sometimes months to see the minutes from the monthly Board of Commissioners’ meeting posted online.

My motivation for this endeavor began in the fall as a result of another Abington Township resident calling the Township to inquire about a possible Zoning Ordinance violation. This inquiry was met with a series of inappropriate questions, indefensible actions and misinterpretations of the Zoning Ordinance by Abington Township staff and the Board of Commissioners. It quickly became apparent to this resident and me that certain members of the Abington Township staff arbitrarily and capriciously apply the Zoning Ordinance and give preferential treatment to some residents because of “who they are”. More importantly, this behavior appears to be supported by the Board of Commissioners. My inquiries into this matter have been met with total silence, contradictory actions by Commissioners and the Township, and a complete distortion of the facts. While one can easily debate the merits or non-merits of having a Zoning Ordinance that is described in the following postings, there is little room for debate when an established ordinance, that has been actively enforced up until the incident I describe, is arbitrarily and capriciously applied based on who an individual is. In addition, there is little room for interpretation as to what the ordinance mandates an owner must do with commercial vehicles.

As a result of this experience, I want as many Abington Township residents as possible to be aware of the improper and unethical behavior exhibited by the Township throughout this incident. Moreover, I hope that with the support of the residents, this type of behavior will become a thing of the past. While my first five postings are related to the aforementioned Zoning Ordinance violation and the improper behavior by the Township, this will not be the sole focus of this site. Quite the contrary. One of the most pressing issues facing our Township that hardly anyone knows about is the re-writing of the zoning code for our Township. I intend to write quite a bit about this critical issue and its implications.

I hope that Abington Township Issues becomes an interactive forum with which to share ideas, information, concerns, problems, suggestions and hopefully solutions in order to make Abington Township a better place to live. One thing that has become clear is the need for more accountability of those running Abington Township, more transparency for all Abington Township meetings, consistent and fair treatment of all residents, and better dissemination of information (so as to avoid misinformation). With the help and assistance of the residents of Abington Township, these goals can be attained. However, this can only be obtained if the residents are informed and a take a more active role in the Township. Please let your neighbors know of this blog or issues facing the Township. I encourage you to contact your Commissioner or Abington Township about things you disagree with or agree with. Ask questions. Challenge assumptions.

I encourage your questions, comments, and suggestions either about what I have written or about what you would like to be addressed. My first five postings deal directly with Zoning Ordinance issue I made reference to above, which are as the follows:

1. Exhibit 1 - The Memo was prepared by Larry Matteo, Director of Planning and Code Enforcement of Abington Township, and mailed to a select group of residents of Lycoming Avenue. You can click on the Memo to get a larger version of it. In addition, I have also included the attachments he sent with the Memo.
   
   
2. Exhibit 2 - Dear Residents Letter is my reply to Larry Matteo's Memo (Exhibit 1) that I sent to the select group residents of Lycoming Avenue. While it is long, I wanted the residents (and visitors to Abington Township Issues) to have a full and complete understanding of all the facts and to see how disingenuous Larry Matteo's Memo is.
   
   
3. Exhibit A, B, C for the “Dear Residents” Letter are those exhibits referenced in the Dear Residents Letter. You can click on each one to get a larger and more readable version.
   
   
4. Exhibit 3 - Letter to the Commissioners is a letter sent via regular mail to each Abington Township Board of Commissioner, which also included the Memo, the Dear Residents Letter, along with attachments referenced in the Dear Residents letter.