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Health & Fitness

Two Local Issues Worth Paying Attention To This Fall

The future of the Willows Mansion and Cottage and the amendment of our institutional zoning code are both issues that will have a long-lasting impact on our neighborhoods and community.

With our students back in school, our work schedules resuming their usual frenetic pace, and noise from a tight Presidential race coming at us from all directions, it’s tempting to filter out local issues as non-essential information overload.   Who has the time?  However, this fall there are two important issues facing Radnor residents that merit your consideration and input, as they will both have long-lasting effect on our neighborhoods and community.  The first is the current planning for the future of the Willows Mansion and Cottage (not the park itself), and the second is the reconsideration of our zoning code as it pertains to our institutional properties. 

The Willows Mansion and Cottage currently operate at a loss and require urgent and significant capital investment in the buildings.  We do not have the money in our budget to fund these costs, unless we make the unpopular (and unwise, in my opinion) decision to borrow funding or increase taxes to supplement these ongoing losses.  Instead, we have issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit ideas from our community and region for alternate uses, creative alternatives and/or long-term partnerships that will help us run these buildings more efficiently and productively for the benefit of our residents.  Preliminary indications are that we will receive a wide spectrum of ideas in response to this RFP, all of which are due on October 5th.  In October and November, we will have several public meetings to discuss these proposals and solicit thoughtful input from our residents, which will be essential to sound decision-making.  Many of our residents hold strong feelings and opinions about the Willows, and this fall is the time to share them.  Information about the proposals received and the meetings to discuss them will be published on Radnor’s website, Radnor.com.  

Virtually every neighborhood in Radnor is affected by one of the numerous institutions here, and we are not immune from the many natural tensions that occur in all town and gown communities.  We are indeed very fortunate to host so many thriving institutions in Radnor, which bring employment, business and vibrancy to our town. While it is in our best interests to see these institutions prosper and adapt, it is equally important that we safeguard the high quality of life we enjoy in the surrounding neighborhoods.  Recently, it has become apparent that our current zoning regulations are outdated, inadequate, and unable to meet the needs of our community, or those of the institutions within.  Hence, the Township has hired a consultant to work with our planning boards in crafting recommendations for changes to our code -- changes that will allow us to regulate the current and future development of our institutional properties so that the institutions will be able to thrive, and our surrounding communities will be respected and protected.   Several recommendations have already been put forth, and you can participate and learn more at a public meeting on this topic on the first Thursday of every month at 7 pm in the Township building.

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The decisions our community makes on both of these issues – the Willows and our institutional zoning – will have a great deal of impact on the future of this town that we all love.   There is no question that we will get better results if we have informed resident input, so try to give these issues a bit of your attention this fall and join the conversation! 

 

Find out what's happening in Radnorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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