Radnor Township HARB Meeting Summary – May 6, 2026
Historical & Architectural Review Board Meeting – May 6, 2026
The Radnor Township Historical & Architectural Review Board (HARB) met on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6:30 PM in the Radnorshire Room. The board approved the April 2, 2026 meeting minutes and reviewed two applications for certificates of appropriateness: HARB 2026-07 at 124 Poplar Ave and HARB 2026-08 at 418 St. Davids Rd. Both applications were approved by voice vote with no stated opposition. The next HARB meeting is scheduled for June 3, 2026 at 6:30 PM; applications are due May 19, 2026.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the April 2, 2026 meeting minutes was moved, seconded, and approved by voice vote.
Discussion Items
HARB 2026-07 – 124 Poplar Ave
- The applicant’s representative, presenting for clients Louise and Charles Carrington, described a proposal to add a two-car garage with a family room and deck area at the first floor level above the garage, attached to the rear of the existing house. The existing structure was described as a 1920s original with a 1998 addition; the addition would attach to the 1998 portion and leave the original shell largely untouched.
- Because the property has an existing non-conforming side-yard setback, the civil plan showed the garage slightly closer to the side property line. The applicant proposed shifting it at least 10 inches away from the line, near an existing four-foot-high retaining wall, so the addition would not worsen the nonconformity. A board member explained that zoning review by the zoning officer would address the existing nonconformity and that expansion cannot make the infraction worse.
- The proposal included replacing an existing pair of French doors in an enclosed front porch with a double-hung window and matching shutters; removing a non-original cantilevered stucco gas chimney at the rear; relocating side windows; and replacing a pair of French doors on the other side with a small access door.
- Exterior materials would be HardiePlank cement board siding in an off-white/yellowish tone similar to the front elevation, white trim and deck rails, and concrete block with a matching stucco finish where the garage acts as a retaining wall. The applicant stated that stucco was considered for the addition but cement board was chosen to provide relief and echo existing clapboard accents. Roofing would match the existing asphalt shingles.
- A board member commented that the project is at the rear of the house, minimally visible from the street, and relatively unobtrusive. The board approved a certificate of appropriateness by voice vote with no stated opposition.
HARB 2026-08 – 418 St. Davids Rd
- The applicant proposed removing the existing side porch and adding a new entrance and porch. The design intent was to make the addition look like a closed-in porch matching the existing front porch, including the same railings, columns, black-painted door, skirting, and similar stairs.
- Materials would match the existing house: Marvin wood windows with the same simulated divided-lite grill pattern, standing-seam metal roof to match existing metal work, wood banding, and stained wood for the deck and railings. The applicant noted the surrounding house is stucco with paneling in some framed areas.
- In response to a board question about slate, the applicant stated the metal roof was chosen to match the existing porch roof and the roof being removed. The board approved a certificate of appropriateness by voice vote with no stated opposition.
Procedural and Next Steps
- At the conclusion of the second application, an applicant asked whether the process could be expedited. Board members responded that HARB’s recommendation goes to the Board of Commissioners, which would vote at its next hearing, and the permit would be released after that action.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the April 2, 2026 meeting minutes.
- Approved the certificate of appropriateness for HARB 2026-07 (124 Poplar Ave).
- Approved the certificate of appropriateness for HARB 2026-08 (418 St. Davids Rd).
- Both approvals will be forwarded as recommendations to the Board of Commissioners.
- The next HARB meeting is June 3, 2026 at 6:30 PM; applications must be submitted on or before May 19, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Soon as you know Andy's done. Sorry about that. It's all good. I know. All right. Well, welcome everyone to the historical and architectural review board meeting for today, uh, May 6th. Uh, first on the agenda is a call to order. Did that. Uh, next on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republicans. One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. Sorry. Great. Um, next on the agenda is the approval of the meeting minutes uh for the last meeting, which was April 2nd. Um, do I have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Great. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Great. Approved. And now we can get into the applications for board review. Uh, first we have Harb 2026-07, uh, 124 Poplar Ave. This is a two-car garage edition with a family room and deck area at the first floor level above the garage. Um, so if you'd like to come up, uh describe your project, um, and we'll we'll go from there. Sure. Good evening. Uh, so this is 124 Poplar and my clients, Louise and Charles Carrington. And um, primarily the what they're looking to do is towards the back of the property and and house that's existing. So I think you've probably all had a chance to look through the application, but the now this is turned 90 degrees, so probably not ideal on the screen, but basically all the context, and I just tried to very clearly locate from vantage point of what was shot um and looking around. And you can see that the existing house, it's all kind of a buff to yellow kind of stucco finish, and um then there's a there's a little bit of clabber only in kind of the eaves and some of the um the enclosed porch, that sort of thing. So basically the whole house is pretty uh homogeneous that way in terms of the finish. So what they are uh looking to do, you know, some of this is gonna be vetted out with the zoning and um through the building process, but they have an existing non-conforming use. So the civil engineers put together this plan which shows that they're rather close on the existing property and that side lot, and it's just ever so slightly getting closer to the side lot. Obviously, they're never perfectly parallel. Um, so our proposition is to offset it another 10 inches or more where there's currently a retaining wall of about four feet high because of the grading and stuff. So that's where the garage would be, and it's basically at a at a basement level because of the way the grade really slopes down towards the back of the property. And so functionally the two-car garage that we're adding, what's existing there, which you could see in some of the pictures, it's two separate garage vehicle doors, and it's just really difficult to navigate, um, and there's just not a lot of space in the inside either. And so they're really trying to get away from some of that and have a side approach, just a single two-car uh garage door, and a little more of a paved area to give them the ability to turn around and that sort of thing. And then above that, which you'll see in the elevations, and I can talk through the architectural plan, uh, a little more living space over part of the garage, and then a deck at the balance of it. So let me go to the next page. Uh let me see a little bit. So what you're seeing is each of the floors, um, the bottom right is the attic, and I have that on the plan, but we're not really doing anything up there, um, but just for context. So basically, you're seeing here all the way to the left, that's the basement level. So existing basement, totally under underground, below grade, same with the kind of the second part. So what you're seeing that front of the house, that's the original say 1920s structure, and then where it becomes more of that L shape off the back, all of that part was a 1998 edition. And so we're just kind of taking that same approach and adding on to the 1998 edition, not touching anything really in terms of the shell beyond that.
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