Radnor Township Zoning Hearing Board – October 30, 2026

The Radnor Township Zoning Hearing Board held a televised public hearing on three appeals: #3276 (Brennan patio impervious coverage), #3277 (Serve Holdings parking variances for 105 N. Aberdeen Ave), and #3278 (Ciarrochi front patio and stairs). Zoning Officer Megan Donovan warned of fraudulent invoices claiming to be from township boards and commissions, stating that the township will never request payment by wire transfer and that official emails end in @Radnor.org. The agenda lists Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 7:00 PM; this summary uses the provided meeting date of October 30, 2026. No minutes were available, and no adjournment time was stated.

Announcements

• Zoning Officer Megan Donovan warned of a potential scam involving fraudulent invoices claiming to be from Radnor Township boards and commissions. She said Radnor Township will never request payment via wire transfer, official township email addresses end in @Radnor.org, recipients should not make payments, and suspicious invoices should be reported to the Community and Development Department.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Appeal #3276: Lawrence A. Palmer, 404 Lancaster Avenue, with 404 Associates, said his property is directly behind 407 Midland Avenue and stated opposition to the variance. He said that when his commercial office property sought additional parking about 20 years ago, it was denied because of stormwater concerns; he objected that the applicants had basically put another house in their backyard and now wanted to go further. The applicants responded that they were not going further and were only seeking to retain the patio.
• Appeal #3277: Joseph Parente, 31 Luella Court, spoke in support of Serve Holdings. He said he and his wife moved about a year ago for Wayne's walkability and saw the CERV Foundation as a unique community-involvement opportunity. He noted vacant commercial space in the area and said many neighbors supported the project but would not all speak at the hearing.
• Appeal #3277: Bruce Grossman, managing member of the general partner of Lancaster Wayne Associates LP, testified in opposition. He described the Wayne Square shopping center east of and behind the subject property and expressed concern that the coffee-shop use would cause overflow parking onto Wayne Square's lot, require policing and towing, and create loading conflicts near the Aberdeen Avenue entrance and exit. He said the center has adequate parking for its tenants and that the applicant had not been granted parking rights there.

Discussion Items

• Appeal #3276 – Brennan, 407 Midland Ave (R-2): Applicants Jennifer and Edward Brennan sought a variance from §280-20(F) to permit 30.86% impervious coverage where 30% is the maximum, to retain an existing approximately 158-square-foot stone patio at the rear of the principal dwelling. Edward Brennan testified that the board had previously granted relief for an accessory structure, that engineering led them to shrink the structure back to setback compliance and eliminate that need, and that they agreed to remove 526 square feet of existing impervious surface, including parts of the driveway, walkways, concrete steps, a concrete pad, and the patio, bringing coverage to about 29.9% without the patio. They argued retaining the patio would result in 30.86%, the minimum relief sought; the approved stormwater design included capacity for the patio; and there would be no stormwater impact. They also cited the historical and architectural value of the stone and egress from dining-room doors. Board members described the less-than-1% exceedance as de minimis and noted the historic home.
• Appeal #3277 – Serve Holdings LLC, 105 N. Aberdeen Ave (C-2): The applicant sought variances from §280-103(B) to permit 8 parking spaces where 16 are required and from §280-4(B) to allow 8-foot-6-inch stall width for three spaces where 9-foot-6-inch width is required. Counsel David Falcone said the property historically had commercial, office, and retail use and that the proposal is a coffee shop on the first floor, gathering and workspace on the second floor, and office on the third floor for the CERV Foundation. William Yo described the foundation's volunteer-focused mission and said the coffee shop would help community members gather and perform small service acts. Architect Dan Ciolino testified that the lot is 7,238 square feet versus a 20,000-square-foot C-2 minimum and has 45 feet of frontage versus 100 feet required; the building is about 1,236 square feet; parking calculations yielded 16 required spaces, based on 36 seats plus 2 employees for the coffee use and 894 square feet of office space; and 8 on-site spaces are proposed after removing one existing space to create an ADA space. He said the three front spaces would be narrowed to 8 feet 6 inches to create a 3-foot safe egress path, that existing rear spaces are nonconforming, and that about six off-site public parking spaces exist on N. Aberdeen. Falcone argued the undersized lot creates a dimensional hardship and that the variances are the minimum necessary.
• Appeal #3277 – Party status and opposition: Fred Fromhold appeared for Lancaster Wayne Associates LP and requested party status, which was granted without objection. Bruce Grossman testified about overflow parking and loading concerns. Board members questioned parking calculations, fire hydrant proximity, street parking, and whether the parking variance would run with the land; counsel confirmed it would run with the land. Board discussion was mixed: one member called the request a lot to squeeze in but concluded the hardship burden was met because the lot is roughly half the required size and frontage and nearly any permitted commercial use would need relief; another member said the applicant was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and that the hardship was self-imposed by the chosen program. The motion to grant both variances was made and seconded; the transcript records votes of Aye, No, Aye, with no formal tally announced.
• Appeal #3278 – Ciarrochi, 621 Heather Lane (R-1): The agenda described the request as Zoning Code 280-145 dimensional variance, while at the hearing the board described it as a special exception under §280-1072 to expand an existing nonconforming front entry patio within the front-yard setback, plus variances from §§280-15C and 280-17C to construct stairs within the required front-yard setback extending toward the township-owned right-of-way of Heather Lane. Steve Ciarrochi testified that the existing patio and steps are crumbling and pulling away; that the existing steps make a 90-degree turn onto a sloped driveway, which he called unsafe, and that his wife had fallen there; and that the proposal would replace the 12-foot by 4-foot patio with a 20-foot by 6-foot patio and redesign the steps to descend toward the street with one jog for safety and aesthetics. He said about 14 of roughly 45 homes in the neighborhood have walkways to the street, Heather Lane is a cul-de-sac or oval with one entrance, and guests park on the street. Contractor Brian Walders testified that the project was designed by Marshall Sabatini's firm, that the applicants discovered the existing front-yard conditions were nonconforming, and that a proposed four-foot-deep pent roof over part of the patio did not require relief. The board noted that both the special exception and variances were needed because stairs extending into the right-of-way are not permitted.

Key Outcomes

• Appeal #3276: Motion to grant the dimensional variance from §280-20(F) to permit 30.86% impervious coverage carried; board members voiced support and described the less-than-1% exceedance as de minimis.
• Appeal #3277: Motion to grant both parking variances was made and seconded. The transcript records Aye, No, Aye, with no formal vote tally announced; the applicant thanked the board after the vote.
• Appeal #3278: Motion to approve the special exception under §280-1072 and variances from §§280-15C and 280-17C carried; the transcript records four ayes.
• Party status: Lancaster Wayne Associates LP was granted party status in Appeal #3277 without objection.
• Next meeting: The agenda states the next ZHB meeting is November 19, 2026, and applications for that meeting were due by October 20, 2026.