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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-02 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF APRIL 2, 2013 MINUTES Board Members Present Andy Sturgeon, Chairman Paul Bolin Charles Boothby Doug Damon John Kenney Wayne Mallar (Alternate Member) John Miller Julie Williams City Staff Present: David Gould Jen Boothroyd Chairman Sturgeon called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 1: Conditional Use and Site Development Plan approvals to construct a 3,473 sq. ft. drive-thru restaurant with associated site work and parking located at 56 Bangor Mall Boulevard in a Shopping and Personal Service District and a Stream Protection District. Restwend, LLC, applicant. The Public Hearing was opened by Chairman Sturgeon. Planning Officer Gould indicated that the applicant has requested that this item be continued. Mr. Bolin moved that the Board continue this Public Hearing. Mr. Boothby seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Item No. 2: To amend the Land Development Code by changing a parcel of land located at 275 Center Street from Urban Residence Two District to Government and Institutional Service District. Said parcel containing approximately 13,120 sq. ft. M. & J Company, applicant. C.O. # 13-115. 2 Chairman Sturgeon indicated that because the company that he works for is representing the applicant, he had a conflict of interest. Mr. Bolin moved that Chairman Sturgeon had a conflict of interest. Ms. Williams seconded the motion. The Board voted four in favor and three opposed. Vice Chairman Damon was asked to preside and Alternate Member Mallar was asked to vote. Vice Chairman Damon opened the Public Hearing and asked for a presentation by the applicant. Mr. Aaron Shaw, P.E. with the James W. Sewall Company, represented the applicant. Mr. Shaw explained that the applicant is requesting a zone change from Urban Residence Two District to Government and Institutional Service District in order to make it more compatible with hospital uses. Mr. Boothby asked what the applicant is proposing to use the parcel for. Mr. Shaw indicated that they are hoping to make it into a parking area. No one from the audience spoke either in favor of or in opposition to the zone change request. Vice Chairman Damon closed the Public Hearing and asked for Staff comment. Planning Officer Gould gave a brief history of the zoning of the St. Joseph Hospital campus. The proposed zone change is consistent with the City’s Land Use Policy of the Comprehensive Plan which calls for government and institutional uses and Staff recommended approval to the Board. Mr. Boothby recalled a similar situation when Eastern Maine Medical Center proposed to demolish two historic structures to make way for parking. They were asked to reconsider their options, and eventually chose instead to construct a parking garage on existing owned land. He suggested that it may be time for St. Joseph Hospital to similarly reconsider their long-term parking situation. Mr. Miller moved to recommend to the City Council that the zone change from Urban Residence Two District to Government and Institutional Service District for M & J Company at 275 Center Street as contained in C.O. # 13-115 be approved. Mr. Kenney seconded the motion. The motion passed, 6 voting in favor and 1 opposed. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 3: Site Development Plan approval to construct an 8,200 sq. ft. building for retail sales and service use (lawn and garden equipment) at 1209 Hammond Street in an Urban Industry District. Kurt Thomas, applicant. Mr. Fred Marshall with Plymouth Engineering represented the applicant and explained that this is a proposal to construct an 8,200 square foot commercial building to be built on the former Linnehan’s used car lot at 1209 Hammond Street. Mr. Marshall discussed the proposed Site Development Plan. 3 Mr. Bolin asked if the outstanding issues identified in the Staff Memorandum had been resolved. Mr. Marshall stated that they had been addressed. Planning Officer Gould indicated that this parcel is part of the BanAir Industrial Park, developed by the City. This parcel will have a connection to the applicant’s adjacent property. At the time that the Staff Memorandum was written there were unresolved items on the site development plan. Since that time, revised plans have been submitted addressing those concerns. As the plans are now in order, Staff recommended approval. Mr. Kenney asked if the BanAir Industrial Park has a Site Location of Development Act (SLODA) permit. Mr. Gould stated that this subdivision is covered by a SLODA Permit and that lot build-out is pre-approved under that permit. Mr. Kenney made a motion to grant Site Development Plan approval to construct an 8,200 sq. ft. building for retail sales and service use (lawn and garden equipment) at 1209 Hammond Street in an Urban Industry District for Kurt Thomas, applicant. Mr. Bolin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Item No. 4: Final Subdivision Plan Revision and Planned Group Development Revision approvals to modify an existing three lot subdivision located at the EMMC Campus at 489 State Street in a Government and Institutional Service District. Eastern Maine Medical Center, applicant. Mr. Bolin stated that he had a conflict with this item, as he is an employee of Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC). Mr. Miller disclosed that he is a member of EMMC’s Board of Directors, and noted that the Board has found this not to be a conflict in the past. Ms. Williams moved that Mr. Bolin had a conflict of interest. Mr. Boothby seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously in favor. Alternate Member Mallar was asked to vote. Mr. Jeff Mylen with Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) addressed the Board, stating that development on the campus in recent years seemed to suggest that a Planned Group Development was the best approach. Mr. Doug Rice, P.E. with Wright- Pearce stated that the proposal does not include the creation of any new lots, just redefining the lot lines for one of the existing lots. Attorney Andrew Hamilton noted that a Planned Group Development is important for campus-type developments like hospitals, where development can proceed regardless of internal lot lines, in favor of viewing the campus as a whole. 4 Chairman Sturgeon asked if any lot dimensions are changing. Mr. Hamilton stated that they were. Planning Officer Gould indicated that a Planned Group Development (PGD) is used when an entity may want to own a piece of a development, like a building within a hospital campus. A PGD allows us to look at the complex as a whole, instead of individual ownership. He stated that Orchard Hills is a residential example of a PGD, where owners own their unit, and the land underneath it, individually, but the entire development is viewed as a whole for planning and development purposes. A PGD allows the standards normally associated with individual lot lines within a development to be disregarded. Mr. Gould noted that the City’s subdivision standards state that a plat must be presented at a 1”=100’ scale, and the applicant has proposed at a 1”=120’ to allow the subdivision to fit on a standard-sized sheet of mylar. The ordinance permits the Board to waive the 1”=100’ requirement if they feel it is appropriate. The proposal is for the same number of parcels as before, but the applicant is redefining the boundaries of one parcel. Mr. Damon moved to waive the standard requiring the subdivision plat to be presented at a 1”=100’ scale, and to allow this proposal at the 1”=120’ scale. Ms. Williams seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Ms. Williams made a motion to approve the Final Subdivision Plan Revision and Planned Group Development Revision approvals to modify an existing three-lot subdivision located at the EMMC campus at 489 State Street in a Government and Institutional Service District, Easter Maine Medical Center, applicant. Mr. Boothby seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Item No. 5: Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification approvals to construct a 294 sq. ft., two-story press box at the existing softball field at the Husson University Campus located at One College Circle in a Government and Institutional Service District. Husson University, applicant. Sean Thies from CES, Inc. spoke on behalf of the applicant. He indicated that the applicant is proposing to build a two-story press box at the softball complex. The press box will be located behind existing bleachers, will utilize underground electric, and will be sited on existing impervious space. Planning Officer Gould noted that is important to recognize that when Husson University comes in for amendments to their SLODA and Site Plans, they may concentrate on one small section of the campus, and show only that portion on their plans. This does not negate all other approvals in place for all other areas of the campus. Mr. Gould indicated that when Husson University received approval for the 5 baseball field, a condition of that approval was that they would provide periodic monitoring of noise levels. This has only been done once in the past ten years. The Planning Office received a noise complaint and he recommended that the Board show support for having Husson do sound monitoring as conditioned in their prior approval. Mr. Damon asked if the proposed structure will increase the number of night games. Mr. John Rubino, of Husson University, responded that there are no new lights proposed as part of the press box project. Ms. Williams asked if the sound testing requirement applied to the softball field, or only to the baseball field. Mr. Gould said that it was part of the approval of the baseball field. Mr. Damon asked if the sound testing would involve testing the baseball field or only the softball field. Chair Sturgeon asked if there had been many complaints about noise levels since the development of the baseball and softball fields. Mr. Gould said that there has only been one recent complaint. He noted that the sound standards are for total sound limits on the site. Mr. Bolin stated that there is no evidence of a new sound system being proposed for the press box. Mr. Gould confirmed that the applicant had said there would be no new sound equipment at the press box. Mr. Damon suggested that a new sound system might solve the problem if it was designed to project noise away from abutting properties. Mr. Gould indicated that the abutting complainant believes that the existing system is exceeding noise standards. Ms. Williams asked whether the noise standard applies to all noise in general or to noise from crowds or sound systems. Mr. Gould said that the sound standard does not apply to crowd noise. Mr. Kenney moved that the Board grant Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development approvals to construct a 294 sq. ft., two-story press box at the existing softball field at the Husson University campus located at One College Circle in a Government and Institutional Service District, Husson University, applicant, with the condition that the approval applies only to the press box application as shown on the site plans, and with the condition that the Board strongly recommends that Husson monitor sound as suggested. The motion was seconded by Mr. Boothby. Mr. Miller asked whether Member Kenney’s language of “strongly recommend” conveyed Mr. Gould’s intent. Mr. Kenney offered to rescind the second condition so that that issue could have a separate vote. Mr. Gould stated that their condition of approval was to “periodically” test, and it has been done once in the ten years since that approval. 6 Ms. Williams asked if the Planning Division has the authority to direct Husson to do the sound testing. Mr. Gould said that he was not sure if the Division had that authority. He brought the issue up hoping that the Board would show support for the idea. Chairman Sturgeon asked whether Husson has received any noise complaints in the last two years. Mr. Rubino indicated that they had not. Mr. Boothby asked that as a community with SLODA delegated Authority, if the Board was authorized to regulate SLODAs and if noise is regulated by a SLODA. Mr. Gould indicated they are. Mr. Boothby felt it is within the Planning Board’s authority to ask Husson University to do sound testing and because the previous approval included a condition requiring periodic noise tests that once in ten years it not periodic. Member Williams suggested that the second condition of Member Kenney’s motion be rescinded, and that the Board direct the applicant to do the noise testing. Board Members had questions regarding when the noise study should be done, and if the Board could place a condition on a plan that is separate from the application under review. Mr. Kenney rescinded the second condition of his motion. Mr. Boothby agreed to the change to his second to the motion. The Board voted unanimously in favor of Mr. Kenny’s motion as amended. Attorney Andrew Hamilton addressed the Board, stating that Husson University has heard the message and will pursue voluntary compliance with periodic noise testing. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Item No. 6: Planning Board Approval of Minutes. Chairman Sturgeon indicated that there were no minutes available for the Board to approve. There being no further business or discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:11 P.M.