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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-04-15 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF APRIL 15, 2014 MINUTES Board Members Present: Paul Bolin, Vice Chairman Charles Boothby John Kenney Wayne Mallar Dora McCarthy, Alternate Member John Miller Julie Williams City Staff Present: David Gould Vice Chairman Bolin called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. In the absence of Chairman Sturgeon, Alternate Member McCarthy was asked to vote. CONSENT AGENDA Vice Chairman Bolin indicated that he has a conflict of interest as he was formerly employed by Eastern Maine Medical Center and is currently employed by Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. He asked the Board if they wished to split up the two items. Mr. Miller moved to split the two items on the Consent Agenda. Ms. Williams seconded the motion which carried unanimously. Mr. Kenney moved to approve Item No. 1. Ms. Williams seconded the motion which carried unanimously. The item approved is as follows: Item No. 1: Site Development Plan approval to construct a 1,755 sq. ft., second-story addition over an existing garage and boiler room at 336 Odlin Road in a General Commercial and Service District. Maine Hospitality, LLC, applicant. 2 Ms. Williams moved that Mr. Bolin has a conflict of interest on Item No. 2. The motion was seconded and it passed by a vote of 6 to 0. As the senior Member of the Board, Mr. Miller presided. Mr. Miller noted that he is on the Board of Directors for Eastern Maine Medical Center and has declared so in the past and found not to have a conflict of interest. Mr. Miller asked for a motion on Item No. 2. Ms. Williams moved to approve Item No. 2 on the Consent Agenda. Mr. Boothby seconded the motion which carried by a vote of 6 to 0. The Item approved is as follows: Item No. 2: Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification approvals to construct a 2,700 sq. ft. addition for a chiller mechanical room located at 489 State Street in a Government and Institutional Service District. Eastern Maine Medical Center, applicant. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Board voted to consider the Minutes out-of-order. Item No. 5: Planning Board Approval of Minutes. Mr. Boothby moved approval of the Planning Board Minutes of the April 1, 2014 Meeting. Mr. Miller seconded the motion which carried by a vote of 6 to 0. PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 3: Conditional Use, Site Development Plan, and Site Location of Development Modification approvals to add a drive-thru and canopy for a pharmacy use (drive-in business) located at the Crossroads Plaza on Stillwater Avenue in a Shopping and Personal Service District. CMI, Inc. and Brohill, LLC, applicants. Vice Chairman Bolin opened the Public Hearing. He indicated that this item was continued from the Board’s April 1, 2014 Meeting. Mr. Fred Marshall with Plymouth Engineering and John Theriault, Traffic Engineer with the James W. Sewall Company, were present in support of this application. Mr. Marshall gave a brief history of the development on this site. He noted that there have been many changes to the second building (Kobe Steak House) due to a failed proposal for a parallel service road and the Hogan Road extension plans as a result of the construction of Wal-Mart. The portion of the building proposed for a pharmacy use was previously occupied by a restaurant. 3 Mr. Theriault discussed the traffic associated with the prior restaurant use and the proposed drive-thru pharmacy use. He indicated that the new use would create less traffic congestion. No one spoke either in favor of or in opposition to the request. Vice Chairman Bolin closed the Public Hearing and asked for staff comments. Planning Officer Gould indicated that because the applicant is requesting approval of a drive-thru use at this site it is a conditional use under the Land Development Code. As such, it needs to meet the four standard conditions for the granting of a conditional use as well as the specific conditional use standards of the Shopping and Personal Service District. Mr. Gould indicated that the proposal meets the four standard conditions in that the development standards have been met, the use will not create unreasonable traffic congestion; there are appropriate utilities and the proposed use is appropriate for the location sought and consistent with other uses in the area (there is another drive-thru use on the other end of the building). The proposed use also provides for adequate queuing space and has adequate parking provided. Mr. Gould indicated that one of the conditions of the original approval (in 1994) was that when the Hogan Road extension was constructed the Stillwater Avenue entrance to this site would be closed. In 2008, a plan was approved with an entrance onto Stillwater Avenue as a right in and right out only. The applicant’s engineer has indicated that they would like to discuss with the Board eliminating the restriction on this entrance. Mr. Theriault discussed the previously approved right-in and right-out only entrance on Stillwater Avenue. He researched the accidents reported at this site noting that during the last three years there were only two accidents and one of those was because of poor visibility due to snow banks. The applicant wishes to do away with this restriction. Planning Officer Gould indicated that the applicant had submitted revised plans that are now in order. If the Planning Board chooses to do something other than approve the right-in and right-out entrance on Stillwater Avenue that is on the plans before the Board the applicant will need to amend the plan. Mr. Miller asked if the pharmacy doesn’t get built what other uses could the drive-thru be used for. Mr. Gould indicated that the Code Enforcement Office won’t look at a change in traffic but will look at the Board’s approval and the uses allowed for a drive-thru use in the Shopping and Personal Service District. Mr. Miller asked if the Board could condition this for a pharmacy use only. Mr. Gould indicated that that is beyond the Board’s authority. Mr. Marshall indicated that if the pharmacy use goes away, the lease with Kobe Steak House prohibits other restaurants. Mr. Theriault indicated that if any fast food restaurant wanted to go in there the traffic permit would 4 need to be updated. Mr. Marshall said that the applicant would not be opposed to a condition prohibiting a drive-thru restaurant. Ms. Williams indicated that she would be uncomfortable restricting what could be used here. Mr. Mallar felt that conditioning it on the volume of traffic would be a better way to go. He indicated that he was uncomfortable with allowing an additional 100 trips and would like to see it less. Vice Chairman Bolin noted that the number of trips is not within the Board’s purview. Mr. Boothby moved to approve the Conditional Use/Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification applications at Crossroads Plaza for CMI, Inc and Brohill, LLC. applicants. Mr. Gould asked the Board to clarify its intent regarding the applicant’s request to eliminate the right-in, right-out access on Stillwater Avenue. Ms. Williams seconded the motion. The Board voted one in favor and six opposed. Therefore, the motion failed. Mr. Miller moved to grant Conditional Use, Site Development Plan, and Site Location of Development Modification approvals to add a drive-thru and canopy for a pharmacy use (drive-in business) located at the Crossroads Plaza on Stillwater Avenue in a Shopping and Personal Service District. CMI, Inc. and Brohill, LLC, applicants with the condition that any future drive-thru use does not generate any more traffic than what is proposed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mallar. The Board voted six in favor and one opposed. Item No. 4: Conditional Use/Site Development Plan approvals to add a diesel fuel pump on the north side of the property and other changes to the approved site plan for the construction of a convenience store with gasoline sales and a car wash located at 1065 Broadway in a Shopping and Personal Service District. Leadbetter Realty Trust, applicant. The Public Hearing was opened by Vice Chairman Bolin. Jim Kiser with Kiser and Kiser and Jeff Leadbetter were present in support of the application. Mr. Kiser explained that the applicant has made some adjustments to their plans to construct a gas station, convenience store and car wash at 1065 Broadway. When they were going through the layout of the site they found that some of the proposed items did not work out very well. Some of the changes that they made were to reduce the mechanical room of the car wash, add area to the convenience store, narrow the lane between the two buildings, and move the diesel pump off of the islands and over to the side of the facility adjacent to the car wash. Other changes include adding a natural gas line, removing a vacuum station and creating some additional parking spots. A small adjustment was made to the stormwater management system as they are now 5 proposing internal gutters which will guide the runoff flow out to the front rather than to the rear. Vice Chairman Bolin asked for comments from proponents. There being none he asked for opponents. Vice Chairman Bolin closed the Public Hearing and asked for Staff comments as no one from the audience spoke. Planning Officer Gould indicated that this is basically the same project reviewed by the Board in December, 2013. The applicant made some revisions to the approved site. As presented, Staff felt that the revised request met the standards for conditional use approval and the plans met the requirements for submittal. Mr. Miller moved to grant Conditional Use/Site Development Plan approvals to add a diesel fuel pump on the north side of the property and other changes to the approved site plan for the construction of a convenience store with gasoline sales and a car wash located at 1065 Broadway in a Shopping and Personal Service District for Leadbetter Realty Trust. Ms. Williams seconded the motion. The Board voted seven in favor and none opposed. Other Business Planning Officer Gould discussed a handout provided by Staff outlining approvals by the Planning Board during the previous calendar year. The Growth Management Law requires that every five years there should be an evaluation of what activity is going on and it’s compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Gould indicated that he didn’t feel that this should wait to be done every five years and Staff gathered this information for the past year. He noted that the Board does not need to take action but asked if they had questions or they would like to add items Mr. Mallar noted that the Board did not take action on the request to eliminate the restriction for the right-in, right out entrance at the Crossroads Plaza. He indicated that there is not a vehicle in the Land Development Code to make sure that items on the plans are put in place. He also suggested that a performance bond on some of these projects be required to ensure compliance. Mr. Kenney felt that this was a good idea. He asked Mr. Gould how he viewed the issue of approval of a drive thru use. Mr. Gould indicated that the Land Development Code notes a drive-thru use. The Board reviews a specific use but the Land Development Code classifies it as a broad category. Mr. Kenney asked Staff to look at this possibly tying it to trip generation. Mr. Gould added that it would be interesting to see what other communities do. As there were no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.