So 12 o'clock is our dead break time, and I would appreciate your next witness tries to concentrate on things that Mr. Cromey has not covered.
Yes, she is. She's focusing on the ADA aspects.
Please bring her one.
And this is Hillary. I just wanted to, Mr. Phillips, you didn't have any recross. Is that correct?
I had no recross. Thank you for asking that.
Okay. Thank you.
All right. And Mr. Chair, I want to just appreciate the board for extending the time on this.
We very much appreciate your commitment to letting this hearing have the time it needs.
We want to have this done today and then move on to the next stage of it, okay?
All right.
So I'd like to call Nicole Fincham-Sheehan.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Can we also put their video on?
Good afternoon.
Can you hear me?
We can.
Could you put your video on, too?
here you go good morning good morning good morning could you state your name and spell
please for the court stenographer it's nicole fincham sheehan nicole n-i-c-o-l-e
Fincham, F as in Frank
I-N-C-H-A-M
hyphen Sheehan
S-H-E-H-A-N
like Nancy.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth?
Please proceed.
Alright, thank you. I'm going to show my screen.
Good morning, Nicole. We're going to just go through your qualifications and background first to present you with your expertise. Can you share with the board where you're currently employed and what your scope of responsibilities are?
I'm currently employed at CH Planning Limited as a senior managing associate. While at CH Planning, I oversee ADA compliance, ADA sensitivity training, diversity, equity, inclusion, transit planning, and transit development.
And what is your educational background?
I possess two bachelor's degrees in health administration, public policy, and sociology with a concentration on health disparities in epidemiology.
What type of training and education do you have concerning ADA and disability issues?
What type of training and education do you have concerning...
I've been certified through the Easter Seals in various ADA regulations.
And I've been working in this industry for over 20 years providing ADA compliance and training.
Do you personally have any disabilities?
I'm currently considered to be legally blind.
and um how does that how are you what kind of accommodations are you do you require in order to
to do the the work that you do uh it depends upon the environment that i am i do use a long white
cane when traveling and navigating both indoors and outdoors when it comes to technology i use
adaptive software, both on the computer as well as my phone. And I use public transportation
and walk a lot of places, my feet or my car. Okay. I'm just going to go through a couple of
your, before you were at CH Planning, you worked in various other employers. You were a disability
accessibility specialist in Florida? Yes. I worked for Palm Trend as that position. And
one of the things I was tasked with was making the entire fixed route, which are the big city
buses, ADA compliant, as well as the bus stops. Okay. And then you also had a position in
Baltimore? Yes. I worked in Baltimore for the city council president's office, the mayor's
office and state delegate overseeing ADA issues and compliance, making sure that all city buildings
were ADA compliant and brought up to standards since the act was developed in July of 1990.
Did you also have a position or role with the Biden-Harris campaign?
Yes, I worked on the Biden-Harris campaign on health care pertaining to making sure that individuals with disabilities had equal and equitable access to being able to obtain adequate health care as well as transportation.
Have you ever testified in court or before any administrative agencies around disability and ADA issues?
Could you share with the board what your experience is with that testimony?
I've testified in several legislative hearings when it comes to ADA compliance, especially pertaining to higher education and web accessibility for individuals who are disabled, but especially blind or visually impaired, as many things are made to be ADA compliant.
But the blind community is unfortunately the forgotten community.
I've also testified as a witness for custody cases when one parent is sighted, one parent is blind, stating that the individual is disabled just because they're blind.
It doesn't mean that they cannot care for a child. And I helped to get legislation passed in the state of Maryland for that as well.
WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE BOARD CERTIFY MS. FINCHIN AS THE AS A EXPERT IN ADA COMPLIANCE AND ADA ISSUES.
OPPOSING COUNCIL, ANY COMMENTS?
NO OBJECTION.
OKAY, FINE.
THANK YOU, STEVE.
All right. Thank you. All right. We're going to go to the report that you wrote in conjunction with Mr. Cromey. And I think we're going to be focusing on the safety and accessibility concerns.
But first, Nicole, can you can you share with the board whether whether what kind of a in-person visit you had to the property and and describe what your experience was as you were as you were walking along Pastore Street and in the neighborhood?
So I performed an on-site visit to the property with Mr. Cromey and him and I walked the property several different times, different angles, just for me to get a full sense of how the property was created and the formation of the property and how individuals navigate the community, both if they are walking as well as using vehicles.
Were you there on multiple occasions?
Were you there on multiple occasions?
And did you, as you were walking on Pastoria Street, did you notice any issues that concerned you in your travels?
Yes, Pastoria Street concerned me greatly because of the lack of sidewalks where they break off.
You have a sidewalk and then it will break off.
and then you have another sidewalk. In addition, there was a lot of landscaping that came over
certain portions of the sidewalk. So even if I could have walked on the sidewalk, I wasn't able
to due to the landscaping covering the walkable path. Then getting off of the curb where the
sidewalk ended, there was no curb cut or ramp in order for me to step down. I had to step off of
the curb. So for myself, that would be fine. But for someone who is using a wheelchair or walker
or other mobility device, they would not be able to do that. That would be hazardous to them.
And then on the one side of the street, there are a lot of woods and grass. So it's hard to
even get in that area without getting stuck, especially if you're using a mobility device.
Did you have any encounters with vehicles during the time that you were walking in on Pastoria
Street? Yes, I did. There was traffic. The last time I was there was prior to them adding the
speed cushion. So they were not there when I was there. But there was traffic that came past me.
What concerned me deeply was the hybrid vehicles. Because I am blind or visually impaired,
scared I cannot hear those vehicles and especially if they're approaching me from behind so I have
no idea that I need to get out of the way so you can't see them and you can't hear them because
they're electric vehicles and they don't make a lot of noise that's what you're saying yes sir
okay um did in fact one of those vehicles come upon you yes sir um can you tell the board what
that was like? So the vehicle came up behind me. Ben was with me, so he didn't hear it at first.
And, you know, when we realized that it was there, we kind of tried to move over. Luckily for us,
we were walking, so we were able to move to the side. But if we would have been in a wheelchair,
the wheelchair and that vehicle would not have fit side by side together on that street because
it is so narrow. So the individual in the mobility device essentially would have nowhere to go.
Did you also notice other pedestrians while you were there with strollers or other kinds of
mobility impaired people? Yes. As previously discussed by my colleague, there was someone
walking their dogs. There was someone that was, you know, using the stroller walking through the
neighborhood um because it was a beautiful day and that's what you know we do on a beautiful day
um and so it was you know it was very concerning to me um there's a gentleman that lives in the
community that has an oxygen tank that he kind of pulls on a kind of like a little cart um
and it's too heavy for him he's an elderly gentleman to lift up on the curb as the current
curbs are in the community for the sidewalk. And then again, you know, getting off the curb when
the sidewalk ends and having to walk in the street and navigate his cart with the car coming next to
him is a safety barrier. So how do you, in your approach to working on this project,
How do you evaluate the safety and the wisdom of adding 15 vehicles and parking spaces to Pastoria Street? And how do you evaluate that in terms of the ADA and other safety issues that you looked at?
So with adding the 15 parking spots, that was one of the things Mr. Cromwell and I discussed in the area that he had pointed out earlier.
The landscape area would be an area that's perfect for those parking spots.
In addition, it's not too far for someone to walk from their home to that that general parking area in order to get into their vehicles.
In addition, it would make the community, the street, Pastoria Street, safer for all residents.
those with disabilities, seniors, children, everyone who is accessing that street.
In your experience in these different jurisdictions that you've worked on with ADA,
are you aware of other streets that are shared pedestrian and vehicle streets?
Is that something that you've seen before or that you've encountered?
No, I have not encountered, nor have I seen that before.
No, I have not encountered, nor have I seen that before.
In your view, is this project, is this proposal for the 15 parking spaces, does it comply with the ADA?
In my opinion, no.
I would say it does not because it's an individual, it's going to be a hazard.
And if the individual, you know, again, has to unload a mobility device out of their car, they're going to have difficulties doing so with oncoming traffic.
Are you aware if any of the units that were built on this property are actually ADA compliant units and that if there are any disabled people who are living on the property at this moment?
To my knowledge, no, there are no ADA compliant specified units.
Again, there are individuals who live in the area who do have disabilities and use, like I said, the gentleman uses the oxygen tank and other mobility devices, but the units themselves are not ADA compliant.
From your knowledge of the ADA, are there specific guidelines for how close an accessible parking space should be for people who are qualified as disabled under the ADA?
Yes, it is.
What? I believe it's roughly within a 10 feet radius. I don't have the number in front of me and I apologize.
From but your understanding is at this moment, there are no there are no disabled units that are ADA compliant on the property.
That is correct. And in most areas, the community itself would be required to have ADA parking spots, but they don't have to be in correlation with the home. So if they have 25 parking spots, one of those parking spots has to be labeled as an ADA accessible parking spot. So for every 25, you have one. And for every 100 parking spots, you would have four. So one of those four would have to be labeled as an ADA van parking spot.
Okay, let me just look at, show you the part of the report that is concerning the ADA issues.
I don't know, are you able to see the screen at all or not really?
I am not.
Okay, all right, so let me just read it to you.
As the Philadelphia Complete Streets Design Handbook 2017 says, all modifications to the public right-of-way and applications of the design guidance in this handbook should consider accessibility for disabled Philadelphia residents, workers, and visitors.
All of the pedestrian safety issues mentioned above are compounded for people with disabilities. When you add an individual who uses a mobility device, is blind, visually impaired, or deaf, hearing impaired, the conditions on West Pastoral Street are unsafe and can lead to injury or even death.
Even something as simple as the quiet motor of a new hybrid or EV vehicle presents a significant danger to an impaired person when they cannot see or hear it approaching in time.
The most problematic issues with the proposal are lack of continuous five-foot-wide, unobstructed sidewalk, which forces people with mobility devices into the street, multiple curb cuts, multiple turning movements, the lack of vehicular access to the Topahawken Street curb cut for ingress and egress, increases traffic on Pastoria Street.
So were those your conclusions and findings that you added into the report?
Yes, sir.
Okay. And is there anything else that you want to share with the board as to why you believe that they should not grant this variance and have the parking places put inside the interior of the property?
I just think for the safety of all individuals, again, not just your individuals that have disabilities and your seniors, but for all individuals, Pistorius Street, you know, needs to be a safe haven.
And even adding the speed cushions, they were added because it's assumed, again, that people are speeding down the street.
So you're putting people's lives in danger by having them share a street with moving vehicles.
And someone who has a disability, you know, this could be death for them if they don't know that the vehicle is coming towards them and the vehicle is speeding.
So in my conclusion, I believe Pestoria Street should be pedestrian only and that the five parking spot or excuse me, 15 parking spots need to be moved over to the landscaping area to ensure a safe and equitable and accessible community for all who live and visit that area.
an equitable and accessible community for all who live and visit that area.
All right. I have no further questions at this point.
Mr. Phillips.
Thank you. And good morning, Ms. Vincent Sheehan.
I just have a few questions to go over with you.
First of all, you are not a professional engineer, correct?
Correct.
And you are not a transportation engineer, correct?
Correct.
And you're not a member of the Institute of Traffic Studies?
And you're not here testifying as a traffic engineering or transportation engineering expert, correct?
Correct.
You said that you went to the property.
And due to your vision impairment, does that affect your ability to...
Can you just explain for the board the extent of your vision impairment?
Because I don't want to ask questions about, you know, did you see this or that?
And, you know, you weren't able to view.
So I have a very rare eye condition.
I'm extremely photophobic or light sensitive.
So when I am in the sun, I wear sunglasses.
Upon visiting the community, it was actually a cloudy day.
So it was a pretty good day for me to be able to see.
And then I also have good night vision or evening and night when the sun is behind the clouds.
So essentially, I have most of my difficulties seeing outside when it's extremely sunny.
And then if there's snow with the sun reflecting off of the snow.
So it was a cloudy day when you visited and you were able to view the conditions at the property and on the street.
Yes, sir.
Is that fair?
OK, I'm going to share my screen briefly.
Now, when I share my screen, are you able to see what I'm pulling up?
Just give me one moment.
I am not, probably.
All right.
So then it's futile for me to share my screen and ask you questions, so I will just ask
based on your memory, I guess.
uh did you were you able to see the uh ada ramp leading to the 15 parking spaces
from the west side of the building over off the of the top and hawking street area
no uh towards the uh western edge of the uh of the property opposite the side where there's the
curb cut off of pastorius yes i did see that okay and so you saw the ada ramp that led down to these
parking spaces, right? Yes. Okay. And did you view the other, you know, three ADA ramps located on
the property? Yes. Okay. You claim that there are no ADA compliant accessible units in the building.
How did you reach that conclusion? With doing research, generally speaking, if there are ADA
units within a particular development, it has to be listed. Okay. And so you're not aware that
there are actually four ADA compliant units in the building? No. Okay. Now you said that you walked
down Pastorius and you saw other, yeah, and you had concerns due to the lack of sidewalks along
Pastorius, right? Correct. Okay. And you did note that there was a newly installed sidewalk in front