MoreThanTheCurve.com sent each candidate for Borough Council and Mayor a set of questions. Each candidate was asked to respond back by Friday, October 11th. Below is the response from Anita Barton. Barton is the incumbent Councilperson from the 4th Ward. She is a Democrat. Election Day is November 5th. We did not make any edits.
What is the biggest day to day issue facing your ward?
The large amount of home rentals and nuisance bars.
You voted to not alter the zoning code as requested by the developers of the proposed Wawa. What was the main issue for you in determining to not provide the requested change?
First, it was right next to the A Field, second they had no consideration for the neighbors that live in the area (they kept addressing the cleaners across the street, no mention of the neighbors) third the comprehensive plan we worked so hard on and how this type of project does not fit into our vision for that part of the Borough.
You were the sole dissenting vote when Council vote to accept the proposal from Keystone. What was the reason for your not voting with the rest of Council?
We had received a new plan design from Brandywine the day before and I was thinking planning (as we would have looked at it) and should not have even considered their new design. I misunderstood the fact that we didn’t have to look at the new design with such short notice and having never voted on a project this large before, I thought we had to. So therefore the no vote only on that fact. I am looking forward to working with Keystone and getting the best designs for the Verizon building and the others he is developing within the Borough.
Traffic is always part of the discussion when a new development is proposed. How do you think the traffic situation can be improved short term and what is being done long term to secure the necessary funding or partnerships to fix the problem?
We are doing a traffic study now and finding solutions that include traffic light timing. This is a huge process and we are working hard on this study.
There seems to be a rift between the native/long term residents of the community and the newer residents. What do you think has caused that rift and what steps can be taken to heal it?
I have not heard of any rifts in my neighborhood. The only concerns we seem to be having are with all the rentals and parking. The partying and girlfriend/boyfriend stay over’s have caused a huge parking problem and noise factor.
Feel free to share with the voters anything else you feel is important about your candidacy:
I am looking forward to continuing my support of my neighbors and getting their issues and concerns solved. With the paving of Sutcliffe Lane (which I had pushed to the top of the streets to be paved list), getting handicapped parking and permit parking where needed and similar issues solved. It has been my pleasure to serve and would be pleased to do so for the next 4 years.