John Robinson

I moved to Newtown in 1993 where my wife Michele and I raised our 3 children. We chose to establish our family in Newtown for its character, close-knit community and great school system. Our 3 children all attended the Newtown School system for 12 years where we all developed lifelong friendships.  They were involved in sports and many other activities throughout the years both in school and through our Parks and Rec programs.   Newtown was such a positive influence on their development and is why I believe they are successful today. It was also helpful that my wife Michele worked in the Reed Library, having the same schedule as our children.

After I transferred to Baltimore for several years, due to advancement opportunities, we returned to Newtown where I have since retired from Northrop Grumman (August of 2021) and where Michele and I plan to stay. My daughter and her husband after having their first son and our first grandchild also moved back to Newtown from Maryland. My daughter wanted her son to grow and develop in the Newtown community she did, a community she loves and cherishes.

I have 40 years of experience as an Electrical Engineer in the design and development of state-of-the-art Military electronic systems. During my time at Northrop Grumman, I have experienced many roles from first level engineer to program and functional department leadership, technical advisor, and NG Fellow. I believe my engineering reasoning, analytical skills and keen judgment coupled with my interest in construction and property development would make me a positive addition to ZBA.

It is difficult to set zoning ordinances that are to be applied uniformly to every property’s unique physical characteristics. The ZBA was created to work through these situations where the regulations create “exceptional difficulty” or “unusual hardship” preventing reasonable use of the property. As a ZBA member, I plan to work with the businesses, residents, neighbors, and community to support and develop a solution that fits within the character of our town while being in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the regulations.

I believe maintaining the character of our Newtown Community while supporting economic growth is a balance that we have the responsibility to plan out and implement to ensure a positive future for our great town and residents.