So again, in my opinion, I do not think the MOA effectively protects the residents of William Kent House.
And as an entertainment industry expert, do you have a conclusion about where you think bankrolls should actually be located?
I think it's a great idea.
I think it's an excellent facility.
I do not think it should be located in a residential area.
opinion. And in your professional opinion, will the bankroll facility as proposed have a detrimental
impact on the health, safety, and welfare that exceeds that reasonably expected from a 490
person capacity restaurant? Yes, I do. Why do you have this opinion? Again, come back to my
statement earlier that it is more than a restaurant. It is, again, that sports and entertainment venue
in a you know in reading a lot of documentation it does talk about the possibility and the
encouragement of the utilization of sports betting applications which in and of themselves
are certainly not a detrimental effect but a facility that is open if the liquor license
is granted and I have not read the liquor license application to full disclosure if the liquor
license is granted that they're staying open until two o'clock in the morning I think in my
opinion that that could create a substantial effect, a negative effect on quality of life
to the residents of the William Penn House.
And do you have an opinion based upon a reasonable degree of professional certainty of whether this
proposal by bankroll for a restaurant, liquor license, combining gambling, entertainment,
and competition among guests and patrons?
Jackson, gambling was never, we've testified that there's no gambling.
Gaming. Gaming. Gaming. And that has to testify, though.
Gaming, entertainment, and competition among guests and patrons with food service until 10 p.m. or midnight and alcohol service until 2 a.m.
With security as described in the report presented by Bankroll and by their testimony providing camera surveillance, entrance door control,
Does this meet the minimum standards for ensuring the proposed uses will not cause adverse impacts
upon the health, safety, and welfare of the William Penthouse residents and other nearby residents?
Greater than what would be expected of a normal restaurant use?
Yes, I do have an opinion.
And what's your opinion?
In my opinion, it does not adequately address those issues.
Again, there will be a security report from another witness, but from a risk perspective,
I do not think it provides adequate security services.
And did you have an opportunity to review the materials submitted by bankroll,
CH planning report, traffic planning and design, and allied security reports?
Yes, I did review those.
And did these reports change your opinions?
No, they did not.
No, they did not.
And why not?
And why not?
Again, as stipulated on...
Again, as stipulated, I am not a traffic expert, but as a risk expert in reviewing that documentation,
and again, as a risk expert looking at the documentation from CH Planning,
I do not feel that they adequately addressed the challenges that would be posed by the residents of William Penhouse.
is there anything in the material submitted by bankroll that shows there was a risk assessment
completed by bankroll i have i have not seen a risk assessment and are your opinions today
uh based upon a reasonable degree of professional certainty yes they are i have no further questions
for the witness thank you i have some questions hi mr rosen um a little confused because you've
use restaurant and entertainment venue interchangeably here. So what do you view this
use as? I view this use as a sports and entertainment venue with a restaurant.
And why is that? Have you looked at the floor plans? I have looked at the floor plans. Yes, I have.
And do you see all predominantly tables and chairs? There are predominantly tables and chairs
as well as a significant bar space. Okay. It seems like you have a lot of experience in
major events. Is that correct? Yes, sir. And what does that mean? Like
stadium-sized events, outdoor events? Well, I'm not... I love everything from small venues
to convention centers to gambling establishments. Again, recognizing that this is not that.
many outdoor festivals and events throughout the country.
How about restaurants?
I have not specifically worked in a restaurant setting.
So are you aware under the zoning code, this is classified as an eating restaurant?
I'm not familiar with zoning code in the city of Philadelphia.
Okay, so you haven't read the zoning code in connection with this case?
I have not.
I have read the documentation, but not the specific code.
And you mentioned about risk assessment.
I have to tell you, I've never heard anybody say we needed a risk assessment for a restaurant.
Where would that conclusion come from?
I would not recommend one for a restaurant.
I would recommend one for a sports and entertainment venue.
Well, we differ, I guess, on what you're characterizing as.
Yes, sir, we do.
That's fair.
I mean, I get it.
So in your report on the last page, you say, this is not just a restaurant, but an entertainment venue with the probability of large crowds, congested streets, intoxicated patrons, gambling, and all the problems inherent with this type of operation.
um i'm going to try to understand where you come up with the illusion that this is such a bad
um a bad proposed use here that it's it's almost criminal that's going to spill out onto the
streets i've seen that you you've cited some newspaper articles um is that where you've got
most of your facts because i would object i'm going to object to any references to newspaper
articles in your report um do you have any answer for that let me just state it again
And, you know, again, reading the articles, reading all of the information that I have reviewed, that is where I came up with that opinion conclusion.
Fair enough.
I just want to note for the record that those newspaper articles contain statements against interest by people such as Paul Martino and other principals of Bankroll, including Michael Kira, who testified yesterday.
I mean, you and I have been quoted in newspapers.
They don't usually come out, in my view, accurate.
So I would object that it's your site, but it is what it is.
I have no further questions for Mr. Rosen.
I'd like to call on.
You want to call your next witness, please?
Yes, Stephen Schneider.
Mr. Schneider has been allowed to speak, sir.
Mr. Schneider, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Can you hear me?
Yes, Wayne. Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Absolutely. It's Steven Schneider. That's S-T-E-V-E-N-S-C-H-N-E-I-D-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, sir.
Thank you. Again, Ron, he's a professional engineer. His CV is up on the screen. Do you have any objection?
Thank you. Again, Ron, he's a professional engineer. His CV is up here.
No, Michael, and I just had a question because I couldn't tell if he was licensed in Pennsylvania or if that matters.
I do not believe he is.
Okay, thank you. Other than that, I have no objection to enter him in as an expert.
And I just want to ask you a question, Steve. Is the document on the screen a copy of your CV?
Yes, it is.
Okay. And we requested that you study the possible traffic impacts of the project proposed by the applicant for special exception under the city zoning code. Is that correct?
That is correct.
And briefly describe what you did to investigate the bankroll project and its potential impacts on traffic in the area of 1910 Chestnut Street.
All right. I personally visited the site to observe the current roadway and pedestrian conditions. I reviewed the proposed floor plans, zoning use applications, ZBA hearing transcripts or transcripts from October 19th, 2020.
I also reviewed the Philadelphia zoning codes
for a special exception approval
I looked at a memorandum of agreement
between bankroll and neighbors
and among other things
I also reviewed the bankroll security report
addressing its security measures
those were the key ones I guess
I also conducted an analysis
of industry standards
and publications comparing the anticipated impacts of this site to a typical restaurant.
And I addressed traffic and safety concerns of the proposed site in general.
And does your analysis specifically review
the impact of the bankroll project on the William Penn House at 1919 Chestnut Street?
That is correct, yes.
And in order to complete your evaluation as a traffic engineer, what must you do with the information you assemble?
Well, I reviewed all the information that was available.
I looked at any previous studies that were possibly available to review from both the public agencies as well as the private sector, including area-wide studies.
I found a few of those from the city, for example, concerning traffic movement, traffic safety, pedestrian safety, reviewed impacts for this type of a use on this system and general traffic in the area.
And did you prepare a traffic impact analysis for the Bancro project?
Yes, I did.
Is a copy of that analysis up on the screen?
yes it is okay and do you have any professional opinions regarding the traffic pedestrian safety
and related issues and how these issues will be impacted if the bankroll project is approved
yes i do and what specific difficulties will residents of leon penthouse face if the special
exception permitting bankroll is granted um first a a higher parking demand which will lead to more
illegal parking, including use of the loading zone in front of
the William Penn House entrance, as can be seen in
some of the photos of my report. Cars currently attempt to park
in the loading zone in front of the William Penn, where they're not permitted
due to the current high parking demand in the area.
If I'm going too fast, just tell me.
The site will exacerbate
this issue by creating an even higher parking demand
in the area. The loaning zone is needed for deliveries
as was mentioned earlier, a little while ago, but more importantly
it's needed for, as also mentioned a little while ago, potential emergency and use
for the needs of the William Penthouse residents.
Another issue would be the noise disturbance
and greater potential for violence. The site's proposed
closing hour is 2 a.m., which is cause for concern of disturbance of noise around the
property, properties, most significantly to the residents of the area.
Unlike a typical restaurant where people don't stay around, don't necessarily stay around
for entertainment purposes, closes at 10 o'clock, this will have a lot of the people
staying there much later than that.
The bankroll people, I believe, said that they'll end the food service by midnight, but the bar will still remain open until about 2 a.m.
And this is likely to lead patrons.
And this is likely to lead patrons to congregate at the entrance with large numbers of vehicles on the street.
This is true because many of the sporting events, as we all know, end in the West Coast about three hours later, which is about 11 p.m. West Coast time.
East Coast would be about 2 a.m.
So because of that, these establishments, this establishment would be open until about two to cover the 11 p.m. ending of some of the possible games that might be going on.
In addition, there are other bar restaurants within the, I would say, quarter of a mile area radius, which can compound the potential disturbance of noise levels.
I also reviewed, which I thought was very important, the accident rates in the area.
According to PennDOT, crash data, Chestnut Street is currently, it's a corridor in the city ranked with one of the highest rates of fatalities and severe injuries per mile.
Due to this high volume that will be generated, as I feel, by bankroll, these accidents, rates will intensify.
And are there specific challenges presented by Chestnut Street?
Yeah, it was interesting when I got into it.
Chestnut Street is one of the only streets having three bus routes.
It also is one of the only streets having a bus-only lane.
The travel lanes on Chestnut are also about, I measured it, about nine feet wide, including the bus lane, creating a less, I'll say, less forgiving buffer to the drivers.
And I looked at some other documentation, you know, industry standards.
One was through the National Association of City Transportation Officials, which is used, you know, across the country.
Travel lane widths of 10 feet is most appropriate in urban areas.
But this type of use for trucks and buses, they recommend 11 feet, not 10.
And again, we have 9 feet in our case.
Also, these buses, as you know, run between 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. during the weekdays and 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
And it will create more congestion and obstacles on the roadway during the peak hours of the bankrolls business, as well as the closing hour, which is obviously very important.
I also had some photos of my report showing that buses are capable of contributing to the blocking of Chestnut if there's another vehicle basically in front of them.
They've just got to go around them in order to continue the route, even though it says it's supposed to be an only bus lane, but people are people, I guess.
this will also cause issues
queuing with traffic
for possibly many blocks
unplanned and aggressive
diversions of many vehicles
the dumping of traffic
loads and getting off
and on will create potential
higher
potential for really
higher accident rates
I'm sorry
Have you reviewed Bankwell's proposal for ride-share services?
And as a traffic engineer, do you believe the ride-share proposal will work?
And why not?
Well, basically, to be honest, there's no stopping or parking along the south side of Chestnut in front of the site.
This will present major issues, obviously, for many drop-offs and pickups, which people will be doing.
They will be parked.
If there's a generator as large as this,
and especially during possible peak hours of people going in and out,