Radnor Township Planning Commission Meeting - May 4, 2026

The Radnor Township Planning Commission met on Monday, May 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM in the Radnorshire Room. The primary agenda item was a discussion and vote on Application 216463 for 118-120 North Wayne Avenue, a proposed three-story mixed-use building. After hearing public comments and deliberation, the commission voted to recommend preliminary approval of the plan subject to conditions, granting all requested waivers except for the request for preliminary final status. The commission also approved the minutes from the previous meeting and received an update on the Wayne Business Overlay District Master Plan.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes Approval: The minutes from the March 2, 2026 meeting were approved with one abstention by Commissioner Dow. The motion passed with the remaining commissioners voting aye.

Public Comments & Testimony

Several members of the public and business owners spoke on Application 216463. Key concerns included:

• Mary Packer (27 Fairview Drive, St. David's): Expressed concerns about traffic safety, noise from roof decks, privacy intrusion from elevated decks, and the project's scale disrupting the downtown's character. She urged reducing height to two or three stories and eliminating roof decks.
• Chris Todd (108 North Wayne Avenue, Chris Rush restaurant): Raised issues about parking conflicts in the rear alley for future residents, citing experiences at another location. He also requested a copy of the soil study (Level II) done on the property, which the applicant confirmed existed.
• Michael Ellis (owner of Theresa's Cafe): Described the alley as a "nightmare" for deliveries and trash collection, and argued that resident parking would be impossible. He questioned where parking would come from for the increased square footage (from ~3,800 sq ft to ~15,000 sq ft).
• Andy Dickerson (partner at Theresa's Cafe): Emphasized the alley is frequently blocked, causing stress for businesses. He also warned that repeated construction disruptions could change customer habits and drive people away from Wayne.
• Carolyn Swisher (Warren Clay Architect's office, 114 North Wayne): Raised concerns about sound transfer from the restaurant, construction damage to shared walls, and the scale of second-floor windows being too large. She also questioned long-term maintenance of the green roof.
• Karen Leslie (owner of Be Devoted, 112 North Wayne): Worried about prolonged construction (potentially 1-2 years), loss of parking (recent 2-hour limit on North Wayne), and added traffic from four apartments (potentially 8 cars) plus office employees. She feared customers would shop elsewhere.
• George Packard (27 Fairview Drive): Noted the permanent zoning condition limiting office to six employees and questioned whether parking is being addressed before density.
• Another resident asked about the building height relative to neighbors and confirmed the green roof is unoccupied.

Discussion Items

• Application 216463 – 118-120 N Wayne Avenue: The applicant (David Falcone, with engineer Leslie Cunningham and architect Dan Cholino) presented revised plans. The project proposes a three-story building with four residential units (each ~800 sq ft), office space (owner-occupied, limited to six employees by zoning variance), restaurant, and retail. Key revisions included thickening the green roof from 3 inches of soil to 4.5 inches of soil plus 1.5 inches of stone, increasing stormwater retention time from ~6 hours to over 24 hours (a "green-blue roof"). The applicant requested multiple waivers, including partial waivers for stormwater infiltration (due to 100% lot coverage), rear yard buffer (existing alley constraints), and others. The commission discussed stormwater management, parking (four spaces provided for residential units, with office and retail relying on public parking), alley access (13.8 ft wide, narrower than ordinance 25 ft), and construction logistics. Commissioner Varenhorse recused himself due to a conflict of interest. The commission also noted that the project is largely compliant with current zoning and variances already obtained from the Zoning Hearing Board.
• Wayne Business Overlay District Master Plan: The commission noted that the master plan process is ongoing, with a technical advisory committee meeting recently. The timeline is estimated to conclude around Q3 2026 (likely within a few months). Residents were encouraged to participate via the website www.avisionforwayne.com. The plan will inform a future zoning rewrite.

Key Outcomes

• Motion: Commissioner Vines moved to recommend preliminary approval (not preliminary final) of the plan, subject to the applicant complying with all items in the consultant letters from Gannett Fleming (dated April 21, 2026) and Gilmore Associates (dated April 24, 2026). The motion also granted all requested waivers except the waiver for preliminary final status (which was denied). The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brubaker and passed unanimously (Commissioner Varenhorse recused).
• Conditions: The applicant must address outstanding items such as adding a note about delivery times, providing turning templates, submitting a lighting plan (already submitted but possibly missed in review), obtaining fire marshal feedback, and developing a staging/logistics plan for construction (including contractor parking and sidewalk maintenance).
• Next Steps: The recommendation will go to the Board of Commissioners for final decision. The next regular Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for June 2, 2026.