Expert Witnesses Testify in Rite Aid Proposal

A land surveyor who admitted he has not stepped foot on the proposed building site and a civil engineer who said there are worse traffic generators than a drive-through pharmacy were among the expert witnesses that testified Tuesday night at the a hearing for a proposed Rite Aid in Ardmore.

The Township of Lower Merion Zoning Hearing Board was continuing its hearing on to demolish a car wash building, consolidate the parcels and build a 14,246 square foot drive-through pharmacy at Lancaster and Ardmore avenues.  Rite Aid is seeking several variances from the town but is also challenging the validity of the ordinances.

About 10 members of the public attended the hearing, which lasted more than three hours.

At the beginning of meeting, Zoning Hearing Board Chairman Kenneth Brier asked if anyone was opposed to the Rite Aid application and one woman in the audience raised her hand.  However, when members of the public were later given opportunities to ask the witnesses questions, no one spoke up.

Stuart Cohen, an attorney representing the property owner of the IHOP, which is next door to the proposed Rite Aid, questioned whether Rite Aid’s land surveyor, James Henry, was really familiar with the property.  Henry was testifying as an expert witness for Rite Aid of Pennsylvania attorney Mark Damico.

“Mr. Henry, did you personally perform the survey?” Cohen said.

“I wasn’t out there physically on the site,” Henry said, explaining that field crews had performed the land survey for the proposed pharmacy under his supervision.

Cohen asked Henry if he had walked the property.  “Have I walked it?  No, I have not,” Henry said.

Henry and Cohen disagreed about whether an easement along the IHOP property should be labeled as an access easement for the Rite Aid or a parking easement for IHOP and the car wash.

At one point, Cohen showed Henry a photo of the side of the IHOP building exterior.  “The sign says, ‘Parking for pancake employees only.’  Is this something your people should have picked up on?”  Cohen asked.

“I would assume, yeah, they probably should have, but this was not brought to my attention,” Henry said.

As he concluded his questions, Cohen asked Henry, “If this access easement is in fact limited to the IHOP property and the car wash property, would you note the limitation of that plan?”

“I can’t make a legal determination,” Henry said.  “I’m just a land surveyor.  I plot the easements and survey the land.”

Following Henry’s testimony, Peter Stampfl, an architect who has been involved with designing some 240 Rite Aid stores and offices, was presented by Damico as an expert witness in the field of architecture.

The architectural plans for the Rite Aid in Ardmore call for a 12,568 square foot retail area and a 1,678 square floor mezzanine, resulting in a total floor area of 14,246 square feet, Stampfl said. At its highest point, the building would be 30 feet, while the rest of the building would stand 28 feet tall, Stampfl said.

There will be a loading area, at the corner of the building facing Ardmore Avenue, and this would be near the store’s drive through.

Kenneth Brier, chairman of the Zoning Hearing Board, asked Stampfl what kind of vehicles would be bringing merchandise to the store.  Stampfl first answered that that was a question for Rite Aid. Upon further questioning, Stampfl said the vehicles would typically be 40- to 50-feet long.

Brier asked Stampfl about Rite Aid’s request for a variance to place a single entrance to the store facing out onto Lancaster Avenue. 

“By putting the entrance where it is now, you have not met the MUST (Mixed Use Special Transportation district overlay) requirement to have it at Lancaster and Ardmore avenues,” Brier said.

Stampfl said that was correct, but the single entrance on Lancaster Avenue “is a safer point of egress for the elderly and any individuals with small children,” because it would allow for a shorter walk from the parking spaces to the store and it is closer to the sidewalk.

William Kerr Jr., an attorney representing Lower Merion Township, questioned why the architectural plans called for a receiving area at Ardmore and Lancaster avenues, where the town prefers the main entrance to be, facing out onto Ardmore Avenue. 

Damico asked Stampfl how the proposed pharmacy would affect the health, safety and welfare of Lower  Merion.

“I do not believe it would have an adverse effect on the health, safety and welfare of Lower Merion,” Stampfl said. “The building is well-designed.  I think it would be an asset to Lower Merion.”

Damico’s third and last witness of the night was Matt Hammond, a civil engineer and vice president of Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. of Pottstown.  Hammond conducted a traffic study of the proposed Rite Aid location.

To collect data for the traffic study about the intersections of Ardmore and Lancaster avenues, and Ardmore and West Atkins avenues, civil engineers visited the site on several days from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Hammond said.

Based on traffic study, Hammond estimates that there would be 21 new vehicle trips in the morning and 66 new vehicle trips in the evening if a Rite Aid was built on the site.  Because a vehicle trip is defined as a movement in or movement out of the parking lot, 21 vehicle trips is equal to 10-12 new cars, Hammond said.

There would be about one car every six minutes in the morning and one car every two minutes in the evening, Hammond said.

Hammond said as far as traffic generators were concerned, there were a number of other permitted uses for the proposed site, including medical professional offices, a full-scale restaurant, a bank, or a grocery store, “uses that would generate significantly more traffic.”

Damico asked Hammond to comment on Rite Aid’s request for a variance to permit 30 parking spaces, where 57 spaces are required by the township.  Hammond said that a parking analysis for the site was conducted by surveying parking at the Rite Aid at 705 Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr.

Charles Davidson, a Zoning Hearing Board member, asked Hammond, “Why didn’t you use the Rite Aid across the street?”

Hammond said the Rite Aid across the street from the proposed site is part of a shopping center, whereas the Bryn Mawr Rite Aid is a stand-alone pharmacy like the proposed Ardmore Rite Aid would be.

The survey of the Bryn Mawr Rite Aid found that 15 parking stalls were occupied during weekday peak hours, and 14 parking stalls were occupied during Saturday peak hours, Hammond said.

The estimated need at the proposed Ardmore Rite Aid is 23 parking spaces for weekday peak hours and 21 parking spaces for Saturday peak hours, Hammond said. This estimation did not take into account the number of pedestrian-oriented facilities and transit amenities in the area, which could reduce the number of cars, Hammond said.

Hammond said he would expect to have less people parking at the proposed Ardmore facility than the Bryn Mawr Rite Aid, which does not have a drive through.

Brier ended the hearing for the night at 10:30 p.m., after more than three hours of witnesses’ testimony.  Hammond’s testimony will continue at the next Zoning Hearing Board meeting for the proposed Rite Aid on Feb. 17 at 7:15 p.m. in the Township Administration Building.