Est. 2026 · Wayne · St. David's · Radnor Township

The Radnor Gazette

All the News That Fits the Township
Vol. I, No. 17 Sunday, July 12, 2026 Price: Free to Residents
5 Things to Watch This Week
  1. Delco property assessment appeal window closes Friday, August 1. If your assessed value is off, this is the only annual chance to lower next year's bill; the county still carries the 19% tax hike passed in December. See lead story.
  2. Two-alarm fire tore through a Heather Lane home on the Fourth of July. Bryn Mawr Fire Company led the fight; the cause is still not public. See Safety Beat.
  3. Zoning Hearing Board Thursday: four appeals plus a quiet correction on 118-120 N. Wayne. The docket runs from a riparian-buffer addition to a 385 W. Lancaster restaurant seeking a parking cut. See Development and Real Estate.
  4. Environmental Advisory Council meets Wednesday with Aronimink tree removal and gas leaf blower phase-out on the agenda. The same council chasing the leaf blower policy is now taking on the PGA broadcast center clear-cut and Route 30 pollinator plantings. See Environment and Parks.
  5. Wild Yeast Bakehouse opens Saturday, July 18 at Eagle Village. The subscription sourdough business, previewed in Vol. I, No. 16, gets its first storefront. See Community and Lifestyle.
The Lead

Delco's Assessment Appeal Window Closes Friday, August 1

The only annual off-ramp from the 19% county tax hike lands on the calendar this month.

The 2026 19% Delaware County property tax increase has now been in effect for six months. For homeowners who believe the assessed value driving their bill is too high, the annual window to do something about it closes at the end of the month.

The Delaware County Board of Assessment posted 2027 residential, commercial, and exemption appeal application forms on its Board of Assessment page in March. Under Pennsylvania county assessment law, the annual appeal deadline for Delco is Friday, August 1. Appeals must be either hand-delivered or postmarked by that date, and the Board's official notice reminds filers that "facsimiles and electronic filings are not acceptable" and that a hand-cancellation at a Post Office counter is the safest way to guarantee timely mailing.

The math is unforgiving. Because the county assessed all properties in 2021 based on 2019 market values, the Common Level Ratio Delco applies to convert current market value into assessed value has drifted; a home that has appreciated more slowly than the ratio assumes is now over-assessed and over-taxed. Radnor Township is one of the higher-median-value municipalities in the county, which means the arithmetic gap between fair market value and assessed value tends to run in the taxpayer's favor and is worth checking.

Appeals filed by August 1 apply to the 2027 tax year, which spans the January 2027 county bill, the July 2027 township bill, and the summer 2027 school district bill. A modest assessed-value reduction compounds across all three.

How to file

Forms and instructions are at the Board of Assessment page. Mailing address: Board of Assessment and Appeals, Government Center Building, 201 West Front Street, Media, PA 19063. Board staff Jess Wu (610-891-4879) handles appeal information questions.

A two-alarm fire damaged a house in the 600 block of Heather Lane on the Fourth of July; the incident escalated to a second alarm within ten minutes of arrival, in part because of the triple-digit temperatures. See Safety Beat, below.

Safety Beat  ·  Schools (RTSD)

Two-Alarm Fire on Heather Lane Fourth of July

A two-alarm fire damaged a house in the 600 block of Heather Lane on the Fourth of July, according to Delco Times coverage from the scene. Radio traffic captured by the paper indicates police arrived first and reported the rear deck engulfed and smoke rising from the roof; fire crews found the flames had spread into the house and pushed a crew inside.

A second alarm was struck about ten minutes into the fight, as reported by Patch, with fire inside the house, which sits in a cul-de-sac. Bryn Mawr Fire Company called in mutual aid from surrounding departments, in part due to the triple-digit temperatures. The Radnor Fire Company logged the incident as an assist, with photos showing extensive rear-deck damage and smoke damage inside. The incident was placed under control at 5:45 p.m.

The cause of the fire was not available at press time. Neither Delco Times nor Patch reported injuries.

Bryn Mawr Fire Company Is Primary for the Northeast Quadrant

Homeowners in the ridge between Heather Lane and Radnor-Chester Road should note that the Bryn Mawr Fire Company, not Radnor Fire, is the primary responder for that pocket of the Township; the two companies operate under the county mutual-aid box alarm plan, which puts additional apparatus on scene automatically once a second alarm is struck.

Quiet Week at RTSD · District Deep in Summer Recess

There were no RTSD Board or committee meetings this week, and the district calendar shows no scheduled meetings before the next Regular Business Meeting. The last recorded board activity was the June 9 Regular Business Meeting; the RTSD-TV YouTube channel has not posted a new meeting upload matching the school-board or committee filter in the last seven days.

Board of School Directors 2025-2026

Per BoardDocs: Liz Duffy (President), Susan Stern (Vice President), Sarah Dunn, Lon Rosenblum, Thomas Le, Clare Girton, Jannie Lau, Lydia Solomon, and DJ Thornton. Superintendent: Kenneth Batchelor.

Coming Up at RTSD

BoardDocs does not currently list a July committee or business meeting; the district typically resumes committee work in mid to late August, with the first Regular Business Meeting of the school year usually in the last week of August or first week of September. Agendas post to BoardDocs approximately 24 hours before each meeting.

RTSD Policy Watch

  • AI in academic integrity: No public draft yet.
  • AI and cyberbullying policy: No public draft yet.
  • Ithan Elementary rebuild: Bids awarded per Vol. I, No. 9; construction milestones ongoing over the summer.
  • Technology-use policy: Adopted.
  • Board member visibility: RTSD board member Jannie Lau, together with her husband Todd Longsworth, co-founded the Lau Longsworth Charitable Fund that partially funded the Township's America250 mural unveiled Friday. See Community and Lifestyle.
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Development and Real Estate  ·  Environment and Parks

Zoning Hearing Board Thursday: Four Appeals Plus a Quiet 118-120 N. Wayne Order Correction

The Zoning Hearing Board's Thursday, July 16 docket, published by the Radnor Granicus system, runs to five items. Four are the appeals Vol. I, No. 16 previewed; the fifth is a procedural correction on the parcel that has been the running Wayne redevelopment story since spring.

Appeal 3266: 1 Forest Road

Andrew Vonthethoff and Corrine Chan seek front-yard and rear-yard setback variances (Section 280-20C and Section 280-20E) to build an addition. The proposed footprint sits inside a regulated riparian buffer tied to an adjacent stream corridor, with additional Floodplain Conservation District relief sought under Section 280-77(F) if needed.

Appeal 3267: 385 W. Lancaster Ave.

Voracious Enterprises LLC intends to occupy the premises as a restaurant, permitted under Section 280-59.A(4). The property currently has 175 parking spaces; a full-restaurant conversion would require only 87 under Section 280-103.B(7). The applicant is asking to memorialize the reduction; no footprint changes are proposed, only interior alterations and cosmetic exterior work.

Appeal 3268: 12 Barley Cone Lane

Eric Altneu and Brookes Hammock seek a rear-yard setback variance under Section 280-30(E) and a nonconformity variance under Section 280-101.B(1) to build an addition that would enlarge an existing nonconformity.

Appeal 3269: 823 Glenbrook Ave.

Erdem Suleyman and Kalic Meryem propose converting the first floor to two residential units. They are asking for a special exception under Section 280-101A(2) to expand the nonconforming residential use and off-street parking by no more than 50 percent, a use variance under Section 280-47, and a parking variance under Section 280-103.B(1).

Appeal 3240: 118-120 N. Wayne Ave.

The Zoning Hearing Board will consider a motion, on its own initiative, to correct a typographical error in its October 16, 2025 Order nunc pro tunc. Every reference in the October 2025 Order to Code Section 280-32(C) will be corrected to read Code Section 280-104. Procedurally minor; substantively worth flagging because 118-120 N. Wayne is the site of the three-story mixed-use proposal and 118 North bar that drew three hours of public comment on June 15.

The meeting is Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Radnorshire Room, 301 Iven Avenue. The next ZHB meeting is not scheduled until September 17.

Design Review Board Reviewed Three Wayne East-End Items Wednesday

The Design Review Board took up three applications at its Wednesday, July 8 meeting, per the posted Granicus agenda:

  • DRB 2026-32: 523 E. Lancaster Ave. (CO). Install a six-foot privacy fence on two lots.
  • DRB 2026-33: Strong Pilates at 150 E. Lancaster Ave. (WBOD). One wall sign and window graphics. Strong Pilates joins the growing east-end fitness cluster.
  • DRB 2026-34: 150-168 E. Lancaster (WBOD). Facade modifications to accommodate venting, generally an indicator of an incoming restaurant tenant.

Design Review Board recommendations are advisory; final building permits move separately through Community Development. The next Design Review Board meeting is Wednesday, August 12; applications for August must be filed by July 22.

Planning Commission Took Up Chapter 280 Rewrite and Oak Hill Amended Plan Monday

The Planning Commission's Monday, July 6 agenda, archived to Granicus, packaged the two most consequential land-use items of the summer: the Oak Hill Amended Land Development Plan (with a full amended plan set, an amended Post-Construction Stormwater Management plan, and review letters from GFT dated May 27 and Gilmore dated June 16), and the Chapter 280 Nonconforming Uses Update with commission edits.

Meeting minutes are not yet posted. Whether the commission voted to recommend the nonconforming-uses ordinance to the Board of Commissioners or held it for further edits will drive next week's coverage.

Downtown Wayne Pipeline

  • Wild Yeast Bakehouse opens Saturday, July 18 at Eagle Village (first storefront).
  • Strong Pilates at 150 E. Lancaster: signage before DRB Wednesday.
  • 150-168 E. Lancaster venting modification: implies incoming restaurant tenant.
  • 385 W. Lancaster restaurant: Voracious Enterprises LLC seeking parking-count reduction at ZHB Thursday.

Environmental Advisory Council Wednesday · A Full Agenda

The Environmental Advisory Council agenda for Wednesday, July 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the Radnorshire Room is unusually dense. New business items:

  • Aronimink Golf Club 9-acre clear-cutting for the temporary PGA Broadcast Center. Aronimink hosted the 2026 PGA Championship in Newtown Square May 11 to 17, won by Aaron Rai. The tree removal, granted a waiver by Newtown Township Supervisors in January 2025 per Delco.Today, is now on the EAC's agenda as an environmental-impact discussion item.
  • Textile Recovery Pilot with Ani Desai of WearWell: Council-authorized discussion at the August 19 meeting toward a possible Township partnership.
  • Route 30 corridor pollinator plantings in Wayne and at Radnor High School; Villanova CBEST workshop with Radnor DPW and RTSD proposed for fall.
  • Limiting mature tree removal: comparison of Tredyffrin and Radnor tree ordinances on canopy protection.

Ongoing business includes the gas-powered leaf blower phase-out, where Council member Dan will ask Commissioner Cathy Agnew and Commissioner Jim Riley what the Board of Commissioners is planning after April 7 and 23 town halls. Also on the agenda: chloride and conductivity monitoring in Township streams and tap water, the seed library at Radnor Memorial Library, invasive plant management, and rain-garden maintenance.

Council 2026 budget: $6,500 allocated; $5,469 spent through July 7; $1,031 remaining.

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Community and Lifestyle

First Public Art in Radnor Township History Unveiled Friday at 118 W. Lancaster

The first public art installation in Radnor Township's history, a hand-painted mural on the exterior wall of At the Table restaurant at 118 W. Lancaster Avenue in Wayne, was unveiled Friday afternoon as the visual centerpiece of the Township's America250 celebrations.

Philadelphia-based artist Dan Scott (known online as @danscottforreal) designed and hand-painted the piece, which maps Radnor's history from its pastoral origins through the arrival of the railroad to today's suburban skyline. It depicts the Willows mansion, the Wayne Theater, the Ardrossan Estate, and a SEPTA train symbolizing the Main Line rail history.

"This mural is not just a decoration," Commissioner Catherine Agnew said at the unveiling. "It is a visual timeline of the greater Radnor community."

The project was partially funded by the Lau Longsworth Charitable Fund, co-founded by RTSD School Board member Jannie Lau and her husband Todd Longsworth. Lau, who has helped lead regional America250 outreach, said the Township's response to the sesquicentennial had been "by far the most enthusiastic and thoughtful" of the many organizations she approached.

At the Table owners Tara Buzan-Hardy and Alex Hardy hosted the wall; Molly Gallagher, Radnor Township public information officer, called the piece "the crown jewel" of the community's America250 milestone. Main Line Mural Arts, the regional nonprofit that spearheaded the selection process, will maintain the wall over an expected 10 to 15 year lifespan.

Wild Yeast Bakehouse Opens Saturday at Eagle Village

The subscription sourdough business Wild Yeast Bakehouse opens Saturday, July 18 at Eagle Village Shops, previewed in Vol. I, No. 16. This is the business's first storefront; owner-baker John Goncher will keep the subscription model running alongside walk-in retail.

SEPTA Bus Network Redesign Phase 1 Begins August 23-24

SEPTA's first-ever comprehensive bus network redesign launches its first phase the weekend of August 23-24. Phase 1 focuses on the Philadelphia core (Routes 6, 46, 47, 49, 57, 64) and includes alignment changes on Route 105, which serves a Delaware County corridor into 69th Street Terminal.

Later phases (rolling into 2027) will reach the Paoli/Thorndale-line adjacent bus network that affects Radnor commuters more directly. SEPTA's New Bus Network page has the full schedule.

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Upcoming Events

DateEventLocation / Time
Wed Jul 15Environmental Advisory CouncilRadnorshire Room, 6:00 PM
Thu Jul 16Zoning Hearing BoardRadnorshire Room, 7:00 PM
Sat Jul 18Wild Yeast Bakehouse grand openingEagle Village Shops
Mon Jul 20Board of Commissioners301 Iven Ave, 6:30 PM
Wed Jul 29Shade Tree CommissionTownship Building, 6:30 PM
Fri Aug 1Delco assessment appeal deadline (2027 tax year)Board of Assessment, 201 W. Front St., Media
Wed Aug 12Design Review BoardRadnorshire Room, 6:00 PM
Wed Aug 19Environmental Advisory Council (Textile Recovery Pilot)Radnorshire Room, 6:00 PM
Sun Aug 23SEPTA Bus Network Phase 1 launchRegion-wide

Worth Your Time Elsewhere

Hot Take: The August 1 Assessment Appeal Is the Cheapest Tax Relief on the Table. Take It.

For most of the winter and spring, the Delaware County 19% property tax increase was the subject of significant public debate: a council majority approved the 2026 budget on a 4-1 vote after substantial resident testimony against it, as documented in the February and March issues of this paper, and Vol. I, No. 10 in May recorded the bills arriving in mailboxes at the average-household level of a few hundred dollars a year in new obligation.

But there is a second story that has been running quietly underneath. Every year in Pennsylvania, homeowners get one narrow window to challenge the assessed value the county uses to compute those bills. In Delaware County, that window closes on Friday, August 1. Miss it, and you carry the same assessed value into 2027 taxes, 2027 school-district taxes, and 2027 township taxes. File a well-supported appeal by August 1, and you get a hearing.

The county's assessments were built in 2021 off 2019 market values. The Common Level Ratio the county publishes each year adjusts for the market drift since then. In Radnor Township, where home values have moved more slowly than in some fast-appreciating pockets and where the mix skews toward higher-value homes with more assessed-value dispersion, the arithmetic often runs in the taxpayer's favor. A 2019-valued colonial that has appreciated 15 percent while the county assumes market appreciation of 30 percent is over-assessed and is being over-taxed, and the appeal process exists precisely to fix that.

This is not tax avoidance. It is the statutory backstop the legislature built into the Pennsylvania assessment system to prevent inequitable bills. For homeowners who believe the 19% county tax increase compounded an already-inflated assessed value, a timely appeal is the available administrative remedy for the 2027 tax year. The Board of Assessment will hear an appeal from a homeowner who arrives with a fair-market-value case.

The forms are on the Delaware County Board of Assessment page. The deadline is August 1. It is worth an hour of your evening this week to check whether your assessed value, multiplied by the current Common Level Ratio, is above or below what a real buyer would pay for your house today. If it is above, file. If enough Radnor homeowners file, the aggregate reduction across the Township tax base becomes something the county and the Township both have to plan around in the 2027 budget cycle. Individual decisions add up. This one closes Friday, August 1.

If You Can Do One Thing This Week

This week: Check whether your Delaware County assessed value is defensible, and if it is not, file an appeal by Friday, August 1. The 2027 residential appeal form, mailing address, and hand-delivery hours are all at delcopa.gov/treasurer/boa. Postmark or hand-delivery by August 1; facsimile and electronic filings are not accepted.