Radnor Township Design Review Board Approves Multiple Applications at September 10, 2025 Meeting
Radnor Township Design Review Board Meeting - September 10, 2025
The Radnor Township Design Review Board (DRB) met at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, in the Radnorshire Room. The board approved the August 13, 2025 meeting minutes, reviewed one old-business item and eight new applications, continued one application, and deferred portions of two others pending additional information.
Consent Calendar
- Motion to approve the August 13, 2025 DRB meeting minutes was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.
Old Business
- DRB 2024-55 - Life Cycle Wellness, 918 County Line Road (approved): Kate McHugh, Executive Director of Life Cycle Wellness Birth Center, requested approval for a monument sign change after the center changed its name last summer. The new sign has a white background, includes the street address, is repositioned about 10 feet back from the curb, and is visible from both eastbound and westbound County Line Road. It is not electrically lit; only small solar lights are used. The board approved the relocated monument sign.
Discussion Items
- DRB 2025-53 - RMS, 57 West Avenue (sign and facade approved; fence deferred): Mike Phillips of RMS presented a two-part proposal at 57 West Avenue. The freestanding ground sign would be replaced in the same location with a 60-inch by 48-inch sign, or 20 square feet of sign area, below the 60-square-foot maximum. It would be solid black with the logo and address, face-lit with low-voltage LED landscape lighting rather than internally lit. The facade renovation would add larger windows, replace two doors with one wider door and sidelights, remove awnings, and update light sconces while touching up the existing building color. The applicant also proposed a 96-inch-tall cedar visual-break fence extending about 12 feet from the building to screen an adjacent AT&T utility lot. Zoning staff advised that a fence over 72 inches would require a variance, so the board approved the sign and facade but excluded the 96-inch fence; the applicant is expected to resubmit revised plans next month.
- DRB 2025-54 - Trianon, 4 Chalus Lane (approved): Dennis McLaughlin of Denron Sign Company proposed replacing two carved signs at the Trianon community entrances. The new signs would have black backgrounds with 23-karat gold leaf lettering and logo, be single-sided, have no lighting, and be set in concrete. The proposed height was reduced from 76 inches to comply with the 72-inch maximum. The board approved the two signs at 72 inches.
- DRB 2025-55 - Wayne Fine Arts, 122 East Lancaster Avenue (approved): A representative of Wayne Fine Art and Framing requested changing the existing blue awning to black-and-white stripes by re-wrapping the same frame, with no wording changes. The board approved the awning color change.
- DRB 2025-56 - Villanova University/Cabrini Grace Hall, 610 King of Prussia Road (approved): Scott Cousin, an architect representing Villanova, presented exterior renovations for Grace Hall, which is being renovated internally into a student center. Exterior work includes patching and repairing stone, stucco, half-timbering, and terracotta roof tiles; infilling an unused door; replacing skylights; replacing exterior lighting with Villanova standard fixtures at two main entrances; and painting wood trim and stucco. The board discussed the paint scheme: an earlier stark white-and-black concept was replaced with a brown/stone palette consistent with nearby Widener Hall. The applicant agreed to submit paint chips with the permit.
- DRB 2025-57 - Villanova University, 800 East Lancaster Avenue (approved): Hallie Ammons, Villanova's Assistant Director for Government and Community Relations, presented a proposed carved marble memorial on a stone base in front of John Barry Hall on Mendel Field to honor Villanovans who served and passed. One board member asked how the list of names was compiled and noted a local World War II connection. The board approved the memorial.
- DRB 2025-58 - Philadelphia Print Shop, 122 West Lancaster Avenue (continued): The applicant was not present, so the board continued the wall-sign application to the next meeting.
- DRB 2025-59 - Radnor Racquet Club, 175 King of Prussia Road (approved): Owner Lloyd Goodman and architect Craig Miller presented a multi-part improvement plan: replacing a north-side ballroom roof with gray architectural shingles, stucco side walls, and clear-story glazing; replacing a tarp canopy over the existing walkway with a glass/aluminum-framed canopy using hanger rods instead of support posts; installing small lights under the canopy; removing two underground liquid propane tanks and installing one 1,000-gallon above-ground LP tank; adding a covered staging area with a retaining wall, concrete stairs, walk, and handrail; adding an 11-foot by 17-foot second-floor office extension; and installing two new storage sheds approximately 10 feet by 16/18 feet. The board asked that the office addition be added to the written application description when the permit is submitted. The motion approved the canopy, above-ground LP tank, new paving, retaining wall with metal-framed roof, two storage sheds, new shingle roofing, and paint.
- DRB 2025-60 - 192-196 Landover Road (facade approved; signage and ADA ramp deferred): Andrew Moore, general contractor, presented a facade renovation for three addresses. The property will include Brood (Brynmar Beverage, at 194-196) and Distilled (a new takeout wine/spirits store, at 192). The facade plan includes relocating power lines, black siding on the lower four feet, hardie panel with copper-colored dividers, an extended parapet, repaired exterior lighting, and two cut-out metal letter signs for Brood and Distilled. The applicant also proposed seven display boxes described as movie-theater-style signs for beer and deal advertisements and a concrete pad with an ADA ramp. The board approved the facade only. The signage, movie-theater-style display boxes, and ADA ramp were continued pending a site plan, demising/frontage dimensions per address, legal documentation of business names, and a zoning determination on whether the display boxes qualify as signage. One board member expressed concern about approving the movie-theater-style displays because they would advertise alcohol and be visible to children.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: August 13, 2025 minutes; Life Cycle Wellness sign change; RMS sign and facade excluding the fence; Trianon signs; Wayne Fine Arts awning; Grace Hall exterior renovations and lighting; Villanova memorial; Radnor Racquet Club improvements; 192-196 Landover Road facade only.
- Continued: Philadelphia Print Shop wall sign; RMS 96-inch fence proposal; Landover Road signage and ADA ramp.
- Next DRB meeting: October 8, 2025, at 6:00 PM. Applications for that meeting must be submitted on or before September 17, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, we have some new faces here tonight. So just uh let everybody know these meetings are televised live. So when you approach the podium, please tell us who you are, the business you represent, and you can lay your plans out at the table uh next to the podium. So we have kind of a long agenda tonight, but we'll try to move it through uh fairly quick. So uh first, let's just ask the board if you have an opportunity to look at the minutes from last month. And if you have, can we make a motion for approval? Motion to approve. Okay, is your mic on? Motion to approve. Very second. I second. Okay, all in favor. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, so under uh the agenda tonight under old business is DRB 2024-55, the application of lifestyle wellness at 918 County Line Road for uh sign modification. Hello there. Step right up. Good evening. Hiya. Uh my name is Kate McHugh. I'm the executive director of Life Cycle Wellness in Birth Center, and we're petitioning for a small change in a new sign that we put up when we changed our name last summer. And we felt that the design that had been originally proposed was not visible well at night and not visible well for clients who might be coming in in labor in the middle of the night, coming either east or west on County Line Road. Great. So why don't you let us know what you had in mind? Well, as you can see from the photos, uh, that is the new sign. Okay. Do you have uh something you could put on the table or no? I just came with the copy of what I had sent you. Good oh, I see to put that in the right. Just for the viewers at home so they can see. Thank you. So this is the new sign. Uh the previous sign had been proposed by someone who was in a leadership role and left precipitously, and when I inherited this position, I thought this sign won't do it all. It was dark purple, it did not have the address on it, and you couldn't see it from both sides of County Line Road. So we went ahead and put up the new sign, not realizing that we would have to come back to you for support on it. Um so this is the new sign, and I sent pictures from both the east and the westbound direction to show that it really is very nicely visible from both directions that it's visible in the evening too. Okay. Pretty simple uh change. They've added the address and they've used a white background and repositioned the sign. Um is a sign has it been moved yet or not? Uh it it is where it is now. It's 10 feet back from the curve. Yep. There's no problems with people pulling out other. No, no, it's very visible. We we made sure that. Okay, and and no other changes then, right? Nope. Okay. All right.
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