White Dog Wants More Seats--Zoning Appeal on Thursday, May 19th at 7:30 PM

White Dog Café (“WD”) has petitioned Radnor’s Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) to expand their seating by 50 seats in an outdoor dining area and limiting the use of the outdoor seating to 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM on weekdays with expanded hours on weekends.  Our Township zoning officials denied WD’s application for the increased seating, and WD is now appealing that decision to the ZHB.  Below is the text of the appeal.

 The Zoning Hearing Board meeting at the Township Building on Iven Avenue starts at 7:30 PM.  The WD appeal is the 3rd item on the agenda.

Based on their appeal, WD will argue that there will be sufficient parking for the additional 50 seats beginning at 5:30 PM when many of the office-related employees vacate the parking lot.  However, if WD was permitted to add 50 more seats and based on my calculations, the required parking for the expanded restaurant would actually require all but 8 of the 158 parking spaces available at the Wayne Town Center, leaving only 8 spaces for the remaining office employees that occupy about 40,000 square feet of space and customers and employees of the other retail stores.  Any shortfall of spaces would overflow to our residential side streets and other legal parking spaces.

In addition, due to the inadequacy of WD’s parking, I have observed very hazardous traffic conditions such as vehicles backing out of the congested WD parking lot onto Lancaster Avenue, vehicles blocking the sidewalk along Lancaster at the entrance to WD, and traffic stacked on Lancaster from in front of WD to the traffic light at Banbury due to the WD customers waiting to enter the parking lot.

 Largely due to WD’s directing their employees to not park in their parking lot to make room for customers, many WD employees parked all day and every day on Bloomingdale Ave.  As a result, the west side of Bloomingdale was restricted to “2-Hour Only” parking, thereby permanently reducing the availability of parking spaces to the residents on Bloomingdale and Lenoir (similar to Farm Road when Minella’s directed their employees to park on Farm).

If you are concerned about this situation, please attend this important meeting and support the decision of Radnor’s zoning officials.  If you are unable to attend but wish to voice your concerns, please email the Zoning Hearing Board to the attention of Matt Baumann:  mbaumann@radnor.org

The ZHB public hearing details are as follows—

When?                       7:30 PM, Thursday, May 19th.  White Dog is the 3nd item on the agenda.

Where?                     Township Building on Iven Avenue

What?                        Expanded seating means more cars that will likely overflow unto the nearest legally available parking spaces—like Windsor Ave. 

Note:                          Decisions of the ZHB are binding and can only be appealed in Commonwealth Court.

 APPEAL #2854

The Applicant, Lucky Dog Enterprises, LLC c/o Marty Grims, located at 200 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, Pa.,19087, and is zoned WBOD, seeks approval to operate an accessory outdoor dining area with a maximum of 50 seats. It is proposed that outdoor dining be limited to 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekends. Applicant contends that that the parking requirements of Code §280-53.12B(5) do not apply to outdoor dining in the WBOD. Alternatively, Applicant contends that (a) the necessary parking is provided at the times when the outdoor dining would used; and (b) that outdoor dining should be permitted as a vested right or through a variance by estoppel. Finally and also alternatively, Applicant requests a variance from Code §280-53.12B(5) to allow the use of the outdoor dining area as described herein and any other relief required.

 For more information, please call me.

 Thanks,

 John Sheehan

409 Windsor Ave.

Wayne, PA 19087

Phone:   610-687-4692

Email:     johnsheehan@yahoo.com