Radnor Township Design Review Board Meeting - August 12, 2026
Radnor Township Design Review Board Meeting - August 12, 2026
The Radnor Township Design Review Board (DRB) met on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Radnorshire Room. The board reviewed eight applications for signage, exterior alterations, and outdoor dining, making decisions on each item. Key discussions included sign sizes, height compliance, lighting impacts, and consistency with township codes.
Consent Calendar
- None.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- DRB 2026-33: Strong Pilates (150 E Lancaster Ave) – This was a resubmission of a wall sign and window graphics application. The applicant revised the design per July board feedback: reduced sign height from 24 inches to 16 inches to match adjacent apartment signage, removed a tagline, and repositioned the sign to the edge of the canopy. The sign height is 13 feet 4 inches from grade (below 15-foot limit) and the square footage is 14.61 (including vinyl decals). The board approved the revised plan.
- DRB 2026-35: Quaker Houghton (250 King of Prussia Rd) – Applicant requested one illuminated wall sign (channel letters with logo on a pan, 40 sq ft, mounted 15 feet above grade). The sign is the only exterior identification for the building, which will house 300 employees relocating from Conshohocken. No concerns were raised; the sign was approved.
- DRB 2026-36: Evensky Periodontics (337 W Lancaster Ave) – Two ground signs were proposed: a freestanding monument sign (22 sq ft, aluminum, no lighting) along Lancaster Avenue, and a smaller directional sign (reflective vinyl, maximum 3 ft height) on Farm Road indicating patient parking. The board required a police traffic study for the Lancaster Avenue sign due to potential sightline issues at the intersection of Lancaster and Windsor. Address numbers will be placed on the building, not the sign. A landscape bed at the base of the monument sign was recommended. The board approved with the contingency of a police study.
- DRB 2026-37: Martini & Roz (523 W Lancaster Ave) – A comprehensive application including exterior façade renovation, a monument sign, a wall sign, an outdoor dining patio, and landscaping. The building was previously Bertucci’s. Key discussions: exterior work had already begun without prior DRB approval, which was noted. The wall sign was found to exceed the 15-foot height limit and used 26-inch letters, which the board considered excessive. The board recommended redesigning the wall sign (e.g., hanging below the parapet, reducing letter size, or using two smaller signs facing different directions) to avoid a variance. The monument sign (6x8 ft, 30 sq ft, aluminum) was conditionally approved pending a police study. Outdoor dining furniture: plastic chairs were prohibited per code; the applicant must specify metal or wood chairs. A lighting impact study is required for all new exterior lights. Landscaping plans were deferred to a future meeting when the board’s landscape expert is present. Planter boxes near food areas require health department approval. The board continued the wall sign, landscaping, and lighting items, and approved the exterior façade improvements and monument sign conditionally. The applicant will return with a revised sign package and furniture selection.
- DRB 2026-38: Be Well Psychiatry (114 N Wayne Ave) – One wall sign and one window sign were proposed. The wall sign included “Be Well Psychiatry” plus “child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry.” The board recommended that the wall sign contain only the business name, with descriptive text moved to the window sign or door. The application was conditionally approved contingent on the wall sign reading only “Be Well Psychiatry.”
- DRB 2026-39: Tribe Mainline (396 W Lancaster Ave) – Proposed one halo-lit wall sign (channel letters on a backer, 25 sq ft, mounted at approximately 14.41 feet). The sign needed to be lowered to 15 feet or less to comply with code. The board conditionally approved, requiring the finished sign to be no higher than 15 feet from grade.
- DRB 2026-40: Citizens Bank (363 Lancaster Ave) – Installation of a 6-inch illuminated green band around the building facade (non-advertising architectural element). The board discussed potential light impact on adjacent condominiums to the rear. It was decided to illuminate three sides (excluding the rear facing the residences) and leave the band on the rear side unlit. The application was approved for three-sided illumination.
- DRB 2026-41: Berger Development (150-168 E Lancaster Ave) – Installation of a historic interpretive sign as required by land development conditions. The sign (approximately 3 ft by 2 ft, black powder-coated stand, no lighting) will be placed at the corner of Lancaster and Luella. It was reviewed by the Radnor Township Historical Society and the state. The board approved the sign, with maintenance responsibility to remain with the property owner.
Key Outcomes
- Approved (unconditional): Strong Pilates wall sign and window graphics (DRB 2026-33); Quaker Houghton wall sign (DRB 2026-35); Citizens Bank illuminated band on three sides (DRB 2026-40); Berger Development historic sign (DRB 2026-41).
- Approved with conditions: Evensky Periodontics ground signs (subject to police study, DRB 2026-36); Be Well Psychiatry wall and window sign (must show only business name, DRB 2026-38); Tribe Mainline wall sign (must be lowered to ≤15 ft, DRB 2026-39).
- Continued: Martini & Roz (DRB 2026-37) – wall sign, landscaping, lighting, furniture specification; exterior façade and monument sign approved conditionally. Applicant to return to a future meeting.
- Next meeting: September 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM. Applications for that meeting are due by August 19, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
We please ask you to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thanks, Connor. Okay. See some new faces in the audience tonight. So just to let you know, these uh meetings are streamed live. So when you approach the podium, please tell us who you are, the busiest represent and try to talk nice and loud so the mic can pick you up. If you have plans, you can lay them out on the table next to the podium. So we've got a I think about six or seven applications tonight. We'll try to move through pretty quickly. But before we get started, we have a little business for our board. Uh is it have we had a chance to review the minutes from last month? Uh yes, on a motion to approve. Second. Okay. All in favor? Okay, great. All right. So let's start on the agenda. Our first applicant tonight is DRB 2026-3, the application of strong Pilates at 150 East Lancaster Avenue for a wall sign and window graphics. And this applicant was in last month, and uh we welcome you back. Hiya. Uh good evening. My name is Kim De Trolio. I'm a real estate development manager with Burger Development. We are the owner, developer, and operator of 150 to 168 East Lancaster Av. Uh we're here for approval for exterior signage for one of our retail tenants, Strong Pilates. Uh we appeared before this board in uh July at the last meeting, and um our revision reflects the comments that we heard. Um just real quick, uh Colin, you were here at the last meeting, so we're just asked them to come back with a little bit more of uh what would you call it, more of a cohesive plan? Yes, and uh they're nice enough to stop back tonight. So we appreciate that. Yeah, so the we kind of took away three main concerns from the board last time. The first was the size of the uh main canopy sign here. So before our sign was proposed to be 24 inches tall, we have since reduced it to 16 inches. Um right next to uh strong Pilates here. We have the apartment entrance. The next building is the telephone building, and beyond that is Ballard Design. They were in front of you in 2025, I believe, for their exterior signage, which is also 16 inches tall. So for consistency, we felt that was a a reasonable size. Um the other comment we heard was consistency with the apartment signage. So the uh apartment signs you can see here. Um the new sign will use the same materials, the same black and white color palette, and uh one of the differences was the the sign was previously proposed to be uh mounted against the brick face. We now pulled it out to the edge of the canopy to be mounted the same as the apartment sign. So just so it's now consistent with the apartment. It is consistent with the apartment. Correct. Correct. Okay, um and then the third change was previously there was a tagline included under here. Yes. We have since removed that at the board's recommendation. Okay, good.
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