Radnor eyes cleanup services for Wayne business district
RADNOR » Small businesses in Wayne are struggling to compete with the rise of online vendors and spiffy new downtown areas in surrounding communities.
That was the message to the board of commissioners from interim Ward 1 Commissioner Matt Marshall and a group of business people from the Wayne Business Association at the April 23 board meeting.
At that meeting, Steve Norcini, township engineer, said a company had responded to the township’s request for proposals with a $141,000 bid to keep the streets and sidewalks in the Wayne business district clean. The area includes Lancaster Avenue from Aberdeen Avenue to Banbury Way, including North and South Wayne avenues and West and Station avenues.
However, after some discussion, commissioners asked township Manager Robert Zienkowski to come back with plan at its May 14 meeting for a township employee to dedicate his or her time to doing that work.
“Wayne is a thriving downtown,” said Marshall at the meeting. However, its present condition “doesn’t display the best of Radnor Township.” For example, there are still fall leaves piled up, sidewalks and curbs need repairs and cigarette butts and other trash have accumulated. “The idea of the Wayne District Overlay was a walkable downtown … I think it’s a small price for the township that we show a better face.”
Chris Todd, president of the Wayne Business Association, told the board that while every business in Wayne is not a member of his organization, all pay mercantile taxes.
“We’re asking the township to spend mercantile tax money back into Wayne,” he said. “The WBA is not in the business of cleaning towns … We know Ardmore and Media use part of their business taxes to fund street cleaning.
“It needs to be a consistent cleaning; that’s the key,” Todd said.
Businesses do sweep their own sidewalks, but more needs to be done, he said. While parking used to be the No. 1 issue in Wayne, more and more, he hears people ask, “Why does Wayne look so bad?”
Other businesses owners who spoke said there are too few trash cans, the town is dirty and gum and discarded beer bottles mar the sidewalks.
Trash cans should also be deployed in municipal lots, one of the merchants suggested.
Marshall, who served eight years on the township planning commission before coming to the board of commissioners, said in a phone interview that the issue is one of economic development for the township, which should be “embracing new investment” to bring new businesses to the township. Some local businesses have recently closed, and that could start a “ripple effect,” he said.
With Wayne businesses competing with King of Prussia and Berwyn, as well as Suburban Square, amenities for shoppers are important, he said.
“The surrounding townships all seem to keep their town centers cleaner than Radnor,” said Marshall. “The Wayne Business Association members requested it. We all like Wayne. It’s a historic town with nice architecture. But with what’s going on with the sidewalks in disrepair, the curbs crumbling, the state of the streets, there is a lot of room for improvement.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise (that local stores are under pressure),” Marshall said. “We’re living in the age of Amazon.
“It’s a challenging environment to sometimes get permits in Radnor Township,” he added. “Some of these shopkeepers are calling me and asking, ‘Do we really need to have a sign vetted three or four times and they tell us we can’t hang it?’ Then they tell them they can’t because of some arcane (ordinance).”
Marshall also urged residents to “shop local in areas like Wayne and Garrett Hill. That obviously helps the tax base here, and more importantly, it keeps our business districts healthy.”
Another plan that Marshall proposed, a cleanup for the “Gateway” section of the township, was slated for May 12 along Lancaster Avenue from Radnor-Chester Road to Route 320. Residents were scheduled to gather in the parking lot of the Radnor Hotel at 7:30 a.m. and pick up litter from 8 to 10 a.m. Township staff were set to hand out equipment and the police planned to keep traffic on the busy thoroughfare at bay as residents work.
“They’ll be shutting lanes down on either side of Route 30 as we’re doing the work,” said Marshall.