The Radnor Gazette

Stormwater Authority Ordinance Introduced; Arts Commission Created the Same Night

Score 4 (UPDATED) · Source: Citizen Portal recap; BoC June 15 video

The story that led Vol. I, No. 14 moved from preview to action. On Monday, June 15, the Board of Commissioners formally introduced the ordinance to create a Radnor Township stormwater authority, a separate municipal utility with its own appointed board and its own fee structure, set up to fund the multi-decade capital backlog. Introduction starts the mandatory public-hearing clock; the hearing date has not yet been posted.

In the same meeting the board unanimously passed a resolution establishing Radnor's first public-art commission, with a mandate to recommend standards, locations, and processes for a township public-art program. The board also converted four on-street parking spaces to ADA-designated handicap spots and authorized engineering and resurfacing contracts for culvert replacement and street resurfacing. Specific roads and dollar amounts are in the agenda packet on Granicus.

The new authority is the bill that lives outside the property-tax envelope, a structure used by other PA townships to fund stormwater capital work. The rate calculation and governance composition are set during the public-hearing window; residents wanting input should write before the hearing, not after.

118 N. Wayne Landlord: Bar Won't Survive Without Redevelopment; Three Hours of Public Comment

Score 4 (UPDATED) · Source: Patch (June 18); BoC June 15 meeting video

The North Wayne Avenue redevelopment fight we have tracked since April hit its most consequential week yet. Property owner Joseph Smogard, who bought 118-120 N. Wayne Avenue in 2024, gave Patch his first on-the-record interview on Thursday. His central claim is financial: with next-door Omega Cleaners vacant and 118 North's rent below market, he is losing about $8,000 a month on the parcel; the redevelopment, he argues, is what would let him keep 118 North's rent below market.

That framing matters because 118 North is owned by Ken Kearns, founder and producer of the Wayne Music Festival and president of the Wayne Business Association. The WBA, whose president is Kearns, issued a public statement opposing the project and urged residents to attend Monday's Board of Commissioners meeting. Smogard told Patch he was not consulted before the statement was released. Resident Connie Congleton, leading a petition that has gathered 831 signatures, told the board: “We are not against change or progress. What the people who have signed this petition are asking for is change that follows a plan, progress with purpose.”

Monday's meeting ran three hours and twelve minutes, most of it devoted to the 118 N. Wayne hearing. Ward 1 Cmsr. Jack Larkin laid out the legal frame: the township cannot deny a by-right application simply because residents oppose it. The application has now passed Zoning Hearing Board review and received preliminary Planning Commission approval. Next: the Board of Commissioners vote on preliminary conditions. One new technical fact: Smogard's consultant filed an air-sampling report showing volatile organic compounds above residential standards but acceptable for non-residential use, a legacy of the dry-cleaning tenant. If the residential floors require remediation, the cost math changes.

Brandywine and Merrick's Tavern Watch

Score 7 (NO CHANGE) · Source: SAVVY Main Line, prior coverage

The new boutique hotel at 169 King of Prussia Road (lead in Vol. I, No. 12) had no new public announcements this week. The Pomelo Rooftop is still pending. No master plan filed for the larger King of Prussia Road sentinel parcel.

Wayne Station, 60 West Wayne, and 333 Belrose

Score 5 / Score 7 (NO CHANGE) · Source: SAVVY Main Line, June 11

Wayne Station, the mixed-use building at Lancaster and Louella, is now scheduling hard-hat tours for its luxury apartments above a planned 85-seat steakhouse, a Pilates studio, and a second outpost of The Little Gym. Across from Boyds, The Concordia Group has broken ground on the 45-unit 60 West Wayne condo project. The renovated 333 Belrose in Radnor has been soft-opening to invited guests; reservations are expected to open this week.

Recent Home Sales

Score 7 (NEW)

Patch's weekly home-sales roundup spotlights a $4.8 million Villanova estate sale as the top recorded closing in the last seven days. No discernible market signal beyond strength at the top end.

Quiet Week at RTSD: District in Summer Rhythm

Schools beat · Empty-week fallback (Tier 1.6 Step F)

No Board of School Directors business meeting was held in the last seven days. The most recent meeting was the June 9, 2026 business meeting, covered in Vol. I, No. 14. The next major budget touchpoint is the November mid-year review of the $130 million 2026-27 budget the board adopted on May 26 at a 16.33-mill tax rate.

RTSD-TV empty-week note. The channel uploaded no new business, committee, special-board, or school-board meeting videos in the past seven days. The most recent matching meeting on the channel is the April 14, 2026 Facilities Committee meeting, more than two months old; readers tracking the Ithan Elementary rebuild will find the latest on-the-record committee reporting there.

Coming up at RTSD. BoardDocs shows no scheduled board or committee meeting through June 30; the district returns to monthly business meetings on a summer-into-fall cadence, typically 7 p.m. in the Radnorshire Room, Radnor Township Municipal Building, 301 Iven Avenue. Watch BoardDocs Friday evenings for new postings.

RTSD Policy Watch (as of June 21)

Standing tracker

• Ithan Elementary rebuild: construction underway per April 14 Facilities report; no new milestone this week.
• AI in academic-integrity policy: no public draft yet in BoardDocs.
• AI / cyberbullying policy: no public draft yet in BoardDocs.
• Technology-use / device assignment: no Radnor draft yet. Note: Lower Merion this month introduced a draft policy to stop assigning iPads in K-2 and store devices on carts in third and fourth grade. RTSD is not on that timeline.
• Cyber-charter reimbursement (PA): no Harrisburg action; the PA Capital-Star compromise framework is the live proposal that would reshape RTSD's per-pupil obligation. Watch the FY 2026-27 PA budget cycle.

Police Beat: No Arrests Announced; Bryn Mawr Investigation Active

Safety beat

Beyond the overnight Bryn Mawr Avenue thefts that lead this issue, Radnor PD did not announce arrests, additional pattern alerts, or significant incidents this week. The active investigation remains the request for camera footage on the 200 block (see lead story).

A reminder for the warmer driving season: PA's hands-free driving law took effect last year. Under the law, holding a phone in a vehicle, including at a stoplight, can result in a citation; consult PennDOT for current penalty amounts.

SAVVY: Lower Merion Leaf Blower Ban in Refinement Phase

Score 6 (UPDATED, adjacent jurisdiction)

The Lower Merion gas-powered leaf-blower ban took effect June 1 and is now in a refinement phase: after landscaper complaints, the township may amend the ordinance to specify that the ban targets only handheld and backpack-style blowers, not wheeled tow-behinds or chemical sprayers. Radnor's own leaf-blower investigation is the next domino, although nothing has been added to a Radnor agenda this week.