Villanova expansion plans approved

A 31/2-year battle over expansion at Villanova University has ended with a vote by Radnor Township commissioners to approve new dormitories, parking lots, and a performance center for the school.

The board voted 4-2, with one abstention, Monday night to approve the $225 million project.

Work is expected to begin in the fall on the parking lots, and two dorms near Lancaster Avenue are slated to be open by 2019, Chris Kovolski, a university assistant vice president, said.

The dorms will house close to 1,200 students, most of them seniors, and will include a bistro, apparel store, and convenience store, he said. The new dorms will allow 83 percent of the undergraduate population to live on campus, he said. Currently, about two-thirds of the 6,500 students do so.

"It will provide important on-campus living options that we know students and their families are looking for," Kovolski said.

The school also is building a pedestrian crossing over Lancaster Avenue to minimize traffic disruption. The plan's opponents are concerned the bridge will be underused.

The budget and timetable for the performance center are pending, he said, because the project is dependent on donor money.

More students living on campus should reduce the numbers commuting from Radnor, said Township Commissioner Bill Spingler. It also will result in a significant amount of money in permits and fees, he said, and makes use of space along the heavily traveled road that currently is used for parking.

Spingler made winning approval for the plan central to his work on the board, and with that accomplished he plans to resign Monday.

"I put my life on hold for the last year and a half to make sure I was there to vote for this," he said.

Although it was clear that the plan's supporters had the votes to pass it, opponents put up an aggressive fight.

They argued that the dormitories would not decrease the number of students living off campus in Radnor, said Commissioner Richard Booker, and that the construction work would be highly disruptive. The larger issue, opponents said, is the concern that Villanova doesn't give enough back to the township.

The university is exempt from many taxes and does not make a payment in lieu of taxes, as some universities do.

Spingler said the construction project is expected to generate $5 million in permits and fees for Radnor, as well as money for traffic lights and parks and recreation. Some say that doesn't make up for the services the school uses.

"That's a pittance," Booker said. "We spend more of that on police in a couple months in supporting Villanova on patrolling."

Little can hinder the project now that it has the commissioners' approval, though.

"Going forward, they won. They're going to build," said Sara Pilling, who lives less than three blocks from the campus and was active for 40 months fighting the plan. "What kind of a godawful mess is it going to be?"

@jasmlaughlin