Radnor planners OK proposed C-3 zoning change

The zoning change would be restricted to C-3 commercial properties that are at least 450 feet from an arterial highway and adjacent to existing residential properties. This change would affect very few Radnor properties, said Caniglia.

Flynn, who lives nearby, said there is “a pretty substantial pile of trash,” behind an existing fence at the site. Although her company has cleared “a bunch of stuff” from the site, including chemicals used for swimming pools. There is also a vacant house next door that was badly damaged by a fire that Rockwell bought and will demolish, she said.

The zoning change would

“acknowledge what is happening in the neighborhood already. It is really a mixed-use neighborhood. This property is at a transition place between more intense commercial and residential,” said Flynn.

Because of its location, the site is not ideal for commercial enterprises or offices, she said.

There is “no access for big trucks with the (railroad) overpass (on Aberdeen),” she said. Flynn also showed drawings of the townhouses that Rockwell would like to build. Those homes would have rear garages with one driveway.

“The site slopes down from the street so it’s really conclusive for this style of home,” she said. They would also like to move the front curb back into the property so that they could create street parking without blocking a traffic lane, which is what happens now.

“We don’t want to chase the commercial out of this location,” she said about the Little Chicago area. “The hardware store is super convenient for us. We don’t want to chase the uses out of there. It’s very much mixed now.”

They received “overwhelmingly positive” support for the change from residents at a neighborhood meeting, she said.

Two property owners also spoke at the meeting.

Dominic Demitis, a Poplar Avenue resident who owns

214 Aberdeen and 223 and 225 Plant Avenue, said that he likes the proposal for townhouses but is concerned about parking.

Another man asked about the allowed impervious surface, which would go from

65 percent to 60 percent if a commercial property was changed to residential under the new zoning. Caniglia said it would stay at 65 percent if the property remained commercial.

Planning Commissioner Stephen Varenhorst asked why more properties in that area would not be included in the zoning proposal.

“Most municipalities consider their commercial properties to be very, very desirable because that’s where tax revenue comes from,” said Mary Eberle, the solicitor. “For every residential piece of ground, generally it costs the township 6 percent more than the revenue from that piece of ground to provide the services necessary for the residential people that live there 24/7. So rezoning commercial property is not something municipalities usually look favorably on. This is not rezoning. It’s adding an additional use but it has the potential to eliminate commercial development.”

There is also the residents’ concern about parking which could be exacerbated by allowing more residential properties into the area, she said. She suggested that it may be a good idea, if the commissioners agree, to try this change on “a limited basis.”