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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-12-07 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF DECEMBER 7, 2010 MINUTES Board Members Present: Allie Brown, Chairman Paul Bolin Doug Damon John Kenney John Miller Andy Sturgeon City Staff Present: David Gould Paul Nicklas Peter Witham Chairman Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 1: To amend the Land Development Code by changing a portion of a parcel of land located at 88 Walter Street from Urban Residence One District to Urban Residence Two District. Said portion of a parcel of land containing approximately 21,750 sq. ft. Anastasios Karageorgiou, applicant. C.O. # 11-017. Chairman Brown opened the Public Hearing and asked for a presentation by the applicant. Mr. Ron Bragg the contractor working for the applicant, Anastasios Karageorgio, indicated that the applicant wants to turn the existing building into an apartment building. Chairman Brown then asked for comments from those in favor of the zone change request. Mr. Joe Kacer, an abutting property owner of apartment buildings on the adjacent street, spoke in favor of the proposed zone change request. Mr. Kacer explained that there are many apartment units in this vicinity and noted their locations. He indicated that the building at this site has been run down for many years and it 2 would be better for his tenants, who look down at this building, if it were turned into apartments. He expressed his concern that he would like the project to have fencing, and landscaping to make it look nice and that there not be abandoned vehicles. Chairman Brown then asked for comments from opponents. Mr. George Farris, 71 Walter Street, spoke in opposition. Mr. Farris felt that there is an existing traffic problem with narrow streets and this will only add to that problem. The property is presently in disrepair and there aren’t any guarantees that the new apartment building will be any better. Ms. Margaret Samways who lives at 102 Walter Street, indicated that she has many concerns about the site and without seeing any construction plans for what the applicant is proposing that she would not be in favor of the zone change. Mr. Jeremy Qualey who has resided on Walter Street for 6 years indicated that one of his biggest concerns is that the current apartments on the street are not very well maintained and they have very questionable tenants who bring a bad crowd to the neighborhood. He said that there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood. This is a narrow street and visitors park on both sides of the street which makes it very difficult for the residents to get out of their driveways. Mr. Qualey said that if this is approved it will be a “pandoras box,” and they will not have any control over the applicant putting in inexpensive apartments or allowing tenants with criminal records. Without any assurance as to what will go into this building, they are opposed to the zone change. Chairman Brown explained that the only thing before the Board is the zone change request which the Board does not approve, it only makes a recommendation to the City Council, who will make the final decision. If the zone change is approved, then the applicant will need to come back before the Board for site development plan approval. While it will not be a public hearing the Board Members almost always entertain public comment. Ms. Joanna Farris indicated that they talked with the Code Enforcement Officer about this site and she was told that the Department of Environmental Protection would need to examine this site before anybody could do anything with it because there was a transmissions shop and a junk yard there that used a lot of chemicals. Chairman Brown indicated that the only thing under consideration at this meeting is the zone change and her questions were not germane to the zone change. Ms. Farris asked if they are going to be able to ask these questions before it gets approved. Ms. Brown indicated that she could go to the City Council meeting and express her concerns, as well. As no one else spoke, Chairman Brown closed the Public Hearing and asked for Staff comments. Planning Officer Gould indicated that this is a request by Anastasios Karageorgio to rezone part of the existing parcel at 88 Walter Street from Urban Residence One District to Urban Residence Two District. The applicant is requesting 3 approval of 21,750 sq. ft. of a larger parcel (1 acre in size). The existing block building was previously used by a truck garage and transmission shop and is now an abandoned building. The applicant discussed with staff what his options would be to reuse this site. Mr. Gould indicated that this is an old nonconforming building in a residential neighborhood. Back in the 1980’s in this area much of the land was zoned as Residential 4. If you had enough land area, then a four unit building was allowed. While some applicants built new buildings many of the apartments created were from conversions of single-family homes. In 1989 with the Comprehensive Plan revision the City decided to reverse the conversion trend because it was creating congestion, parking problems and other issues. The City took a broad brush approach to the older areas of the City on both the east and west sides that included this area and down- zoned them to single-family residential, the current URD-1. Since then the City has been consistent in holding that policy, but this is a somewhat unique property in having an old industrial/commercial structure on it. What we see is an opportunity to remove this abandoned property by allowing its conversion to multi-family residential. This is similar to the recent rezoning of the former Knights of Columbus property on Court Street. The question for the City is what is better for the neighborhood, to leave it as it is or convert it to multi-family residential. The applicant was really interested in creating more units, but in this area of the City there are only two other residential zoning options besides single-family URD-1. They are URD-2 that allows a maximum of 4 units in a building on a lot and Multi-Family and Service District that has no set upper limit of units that can be put on a parcel. The interest of the City is in making the abandoned building go away. One way is to rezone only enough land to allow 4 units in the existing or a new building and room for parking. There is more land, but rezoning the whole parcel opens up the potential for more than one building. It would be possible to write a contract zone change to allow more than four units, but it would involve more restrictions and oversight. The simpler approach was to rezone only enough land for the four units. If the zone change is approved the applicant would still have to return for site plan approval for the four units and associated parking. If the Board and the City decide the site is better the way it is they can vote to not adopt the change. That is the choice before the Board now. Staff felt it could be an acceptable choice for the neighborhood to support this zone change to help remove or allow a new building with a maximum of four units. Mr. Andrew Sturgeon commented on the large size of the lot, and the request to rezone only a half of the lot. He asked if it would insure only four units could be built without returning to the Board. Mr. Gould responded that the maximum allowed in the URD-2 is four units. For five units M&SD would be required. Mr. Sturgeon supposed that they could have spit the lot to attain more, but that is not before the Board. Mr. Gould pointed to an exhibit depicting the parcel, the area to be rezoned, the existing building outline, and an example of required parking. He noted that it would not be enough room to build another 4-unit building, just enough for the existing building and the eight-space parking lot for it. 4 Mr. Sturgeon asked if other multi-unit buildings could be pointed out on the exhibit, but Mr. Gould responded not with this exhibit. The Board discussed the availability of a survey plan and the potential that a right-of-way may go through the property. Chairman Brown asked if the proposal was a “spot zone” in the middle of URD-1. Planning Officer Gould noted his definition of a spot zone is allowing one property certain benefits that you would not allow similar properties in the same circumstances. Mr. Gould indicated that it is his view that the Planning Office would consider the same approach for a nonconforming structure/use in a neighborhood. The applicant’s options are to leave the building as it is, replace it with a single family dwelling or attempt to rezone it to allow more than one dwelling unit to offset the cost of demolition and clean up. The Board discussed the traffic generation from single family dwellings versus multifamily dwellings if the large parcel was divided into four separate URD-1 lots. Mr. Gould noted that multi-family structures have lower trip generation rates, per unit, than single family homes. Mr. Sturgeon made a motion to recommend the zone change request to the City Council. Mr. Kenney seconded the motion. The Board voted three in favor and three opposed to recommend to the City Council that the zone change request contained in C.O. # 11-017 from Urban Residence 1 District to Urban Residence 2 District at 88 Walter Street for Anastasios Karageorgiou be approved. The recommendation failed to achieve a majority of affirmative votes of the members present. Item No. 2: To amend the Land Development Code by changing a parcel of land located at 715 Hammond Street from Contract Multi-Family and Service District to Contract Multi- Family and Service District to amend the existing contract zone change conditions. Said parcel containing approximately 10,750 sq. ft. Mark Eggleton and Janet Berkel, applicants. C.O. # 11-018. Chairman Brown opened the Public Hearing and asked for a presentation by the applicant. Mr. Thomas Needham, Esquire, representing the applicants, Mark Eggleton and Janet Berkel, indicated that this request was a simple revision to the contract provisions for the dental office at 715 Hammond Street. The two changes were dealing with the contract’s floor area limitation on the first floor and the number of dental professionals allowed at one time. Attorney Needham noted that the Planning Staff provided a good history of the prior rezoning hearings but took exception to the characterization that the dental practice was expanding. 5 As no one from the audience spoke either in favor of or in opposition to the zone change request, Chairman Brown closed the Public Hearing and asked for Staff comments. Planning Officer Gould reviewed the history of the contract zone dating back to 1982. While the Planning Staff had concerns about the office use in the residential district there had been strong neighborhood support and the Planning Board and City Council had found the use to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Gould noted Staff worked with Attorney Needham to simplify the floor area condition to avoid confusion in the future. As with any contract rezoning the Planning Board must be comfortable that the proposed conditions adequately limit the operation within the scope of what’s intended. Mr. Gould noted that the Planning Staff has reservations that the growing number of professionals at the office will have a tendency to overtax the site. Chairman Brown asked Dr. Eggleton to describe the available on-site parking. Dr. Eggleton noted approximately 8 spaces are available and usually one or two are open for patients, given the office is on a corner on-street parking is available on two streets. Board members noted that if there were concerns of the neighbors over the proposed change they likely would have turned out at the hearing. Mr. Sturgeon moved that the Board recommend to the City Council that the zone change request contained in C.O. # 11-018 from Contract Multi-Family and Service District to Contract Multi- Family and Service District at 715 Hammond Street for Mark Eggleton and Janet Berkel be approved. Mr. Bolin seconded the motion. The Board voted six in favor and none opposed to the motion. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 3: Site Development Plan/Site Location of Development Modification approvals to construct 38 parallel parking spaces along the roadway northeast of Hart and Carlisle Halls at Husson University in a Government and Institutional Service District. Husson University, applicant. Chip Haskell with CES, Inc., represented the applicant, Husson University who is requesting Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification approvals to construct 38 parallel parking spaces adjacent to Hart and Carlisle Halls. Mr. Haskell indicated that revised plans were submitted which addressed the City Engineer’s concerns regarding grading and erosion control measures. Mr. Bolin indicated that he felt that Husson University has served the community well and seems to be well laid out and thought out. Mr. Miller asked if there were provisions for handicapped parking spaces in this development. Mr. Haskell indicated that there are handicap spaces in the adjacent lots but none proposed with this site 6 development plan. Mr. Gould indicted that relative to a facility such as this the Code gets into percentages of handicap parking needed. In this type of scenario there would need to be a percentage of handicap parking and some of those would need to be placed so that there are closest to the accessible route or doorways. Planning Officer Gould indicated that this is additional parking to support the dormitories. What is unique about this is that the applicant is trying to get it done now (as gravel parking) with the understanding that they are not going to be able to do the paving until spring. There is enough of a demand for them to go through the process. This is also a Site Location of Development Act Modification. The applicant has addressed the concerns of the Engineering Department regarding grading and erosion control. Staff felt that the plans, as submitted, meet the submittal requirements, as well as, the requirements for Site Location of Development Modification approval and recommended that the Board approve both applications. Mr. Bolin moved that the Board approve the Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification to construct 38 parallel parking spaces along the roadway northeast of Hart and Carlisle Halls at Husson University in a Government and Institutional Service District. Mr. Miller seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Item No. 4: Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study Presentation. This item was continued to the Board Meeting of December 21, 2010. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Item No. 5: Planning Board Approval of Minutes. Mr. Sturgeon asked if there was any decision made regarding Item No. 5 on the November 16, 2010 Meeting for the Walden Parke Subdivision. Chairman Brown indicated that the item was for the applicant to make a presentation regarding the development status of the project and that no decision was made. Mr. Damon moved that the Board approve the Minutes of the November 2, November 16 and November 22, 2010 meetings as published and validated by questions from members of the Board. The motion was seconded and it passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.