Radnor Residents Battle Township in Court

Attorneys representing a group of Radnor residents, Radnor Township and a private girls' school were in front of a panel of Commonwealth Court judges on Monday.

The Citizens to Keep Radnor Parks Public, who believe that Radnor's lease of its Radnor Memorial Park to Agnes Irwin School is not legal, were there to defend their appeal of a Delaware County Court's decision that favored the township and the school.

In June, 2011, Radnor entered into a 15-year lease with the school for them to build a turf field and use the park as an ahtletic field. Under the agreement, Agnes Irwin would pay for everything it added to the land, which is located next to Archbishop John Carroll High School on Matson Ford Road. The lease also gave the school exclusive use of the field during certain hours.

Five citizens, all who live in the area near the field, filed a complaint shortly after the lease was approved and alleged that the lease was improper.

In February, 2012 Agnes Irwin started construction on the turf field, and the citizens sought injunctive relief to stop it. A lower court denied it at a hearing.

Radnor Township has provided its brief to the Commonwealth Court; read it in full in the pdf section of this article.