Radnor officials say price and location constraints have left few options for relocating local magisterial court
The township earlier this month abandoned a proposal to turn a shuttered veterinarian’s office into a courthouse after vehement pushback from residents.
After abandoning a proposal to turn a shuttered veterinarian’s office into a magisterial district court, Radnor officials said Tuesday no other sites are currently on the table as they attempt to relocate the courthouse within the township’s bounds.
Radnor commissioners in July advanced a proposal to purchase the former office at 405 W. Wayne Ave. and convert the building into a local courthouse.
Radnor’s magisterial district court — which typically handles preliminary criminal hearings, traffic and local ordinance violations, and small civil suits — has been located in Newtown Square for three years as Radnor has been unable to find a home for it in the township.
At a series of public meetings in recent weeks, residents pushed back against the West Wayne Avenue proposal, raising concerns that the courthouse would bring traffic and parking issues to the area and put individuals accused of crimes in proximity to the children who live and play in the neighborhood.
The township dropped the plan to purchase the veterinarian’s office earlier this month, citing resident concerns and a “thorough review of the site and vital feedback.”
» READ MORE: Radnor drops plans to turn an old veterinary hospital into a local district court
With that site off the table, Commissioner Jack Larkin told residents during a Tuesday information session that the township is continuing to look, but has found no other suitable options for a local courthouse, leaving questions regarding whether the court will be able to find a home in Radnor at all.
Locating a new space for the court has been made difficult by a series of parameters from Delaware County and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Larkin said, including ADA accessibility, size, and parking. Delaware County, which is responsible for footing the bill for the building, has told Radnor it can pay between $20 and $30 per square foot for the space, a rate that is hard to come by in the township, Larkin said.
On top of the guidelines from the state and county, Larkin said, residents have made clear they do not want a court near a residential neighborhood, a needle that is difficult to thread in Radnor, he said, where many commercial districts abut residential areas.
At Tuesday’s meeting, a group of around 20 residents rebuked commissioners for what they described as poor planning and a lack of communication around the West Wayne Avenue acquisition proposal. Some said a lack of social media and email notification about the process made community members feel the commissioners were “sneaky.” One attendee said the court relocation effort is a “pet project” that residents have not asked for. Others rejected Larkin’s justification for why the court needs to move into Radnor at all.
Larkin, an attorney, has argued repeatedly that it is important for Radnor residents to elect their own local judge rather than be split between other districts, and that bringing the courthouse home will signal to Pennsylvania that Radnor cares about retaining its own judge come the state’s decennial court district realignment process.
“I just generally think that it’s good to have your judge in the community that he’s judging. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. The [magisterial district judge] is supposed to be in the magisterial district where he lives, where he works,” Larkin said.
Until three years ago, Radnor’s district court cases were split between Marple and Newtown Townships.
In response to questions about whether Radnor’s district courthouse being located outside the township’s bounds would affect the judicial realignment process, Stacey Witalec, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Judicial System, said “there are several courts within Delaware County which are co-located” and pointed to the court reestablishment procedures outlined in Pennsylvania statute.
Inquirer Radnor
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