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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-20 Planning Board Minutes Approved as Amended February 3, 2009 PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF JANUARY 20, 2009 MINUTES Board Members Present: Alice Brown, Chairman Nathaniel Rosenblatt Jeffrey Barnes Miles Theeman John Miller Douglas Damon David Clark City Staff Present: David Gould Bud Knickerbocker Jim Ring Peter Witham Chairman Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 1: Final Subdivision Plan – Haskell Road – 6-Lot Commercial Subdivision – Webber Oil Company, applicant. Chairman Brown asked the applicant to come forward and make a presentation to the Board. Attorney Tim Woodcock, with Eaton Peabody, representing Webber Oil Company identified issues from the Preliminary Plan hearing. He drew attention to two documents, the Declaration of Covenants for Open Space and the Declaration of Covenants for the “Restricted Area”. The Open Space document leaves open the details to an agreement between the City and Webber Oil Company. He mentioned the recent trails document “Bangor Trails”. The trails plan is good for the community and trails will be an asset in the future. The Open Space covenant will include language that the City and Webber will work out the details of a trail agreement. Mr. Woodcock noted Meadowbrook is a fragile Brook and the Restricted Area covenant protects 25 feet on both sides of the brook. Mr. Rosenblatt noted the Restricted Area as shown on the plan runs through the right-of-way. Mr. Woodcock said this is an existing road and right-of-way. While the 2 plan does depict this in the Restricted Area, the covenants clearly provide it as an exemption. The applicant will work to coordinate the plan with the declaration. Mr. Theeman noted that in the Declaration of Covenants it refers to a “Note 12” but there is no “Note 12” on the plan (shown as note A). Mr. Woodcock noted again the document language and plan need to be coordinated. Mr. Damon asked if Webber Oil was going to maintain the open space for this project. Mr. Woodcock responded that they would and the City would have the right to enforce any violations of those provisions. Mr. Theeman asked about sidewalks being built for this project to serve pedestrian movements. Mr. David Gould, Planning Officer, noted at site plan approval the Board reviews pedestrian travel (165-114 B) and could request applicants to provide for such safe movements. Mr. Woodcock said this was a good point, but with no specific plans at this time it is hard to determine what will occur and where sidewalks will be needed. Some developments may not need sidewalks. Mr. Theeman asked about the off-site traffic improvements. Mr. John McCormick of CES stated the design for the additional lanes is underway and will be designed in accordance to MDOT standards. The work should be done this construction season. Planning Officer Gould gave the Staff Report and summarized the project. The road construction, stormwater and utility extensions were put in place previously and serve the hotel and cell tower. He wanted it to be clear on the plan that applicants will be required to follow up on the subsequent details and cannot develop a site without State permits and legal documentation in place. The Final Plan has specific notes that outline these conditions; unfortunately in some areas the subsequent legal documents don’t match 100%. There is no Final Plan Mylar tonight, but the Board could approve the plan with conditions. The City’s legal office will have to find the Open Space and Restricted Area documents acceptable and executed copies will have to be returned to the City. Mr. Rosenblatt asked that the Restricted Area be removed from the Plan, in the right of way, and discussed the list of conditions and what will take precedence if the document between Webber and the City differs with the approval. Mr. Gould stated the Declaration takes precedence. Further, he noted there is more legal work needed to be done; certainly the hatching of the Restricted Area can be taken out of the right-of-way. Mr. Theeman noted, given the provisions in Site Plan review, he was content with the plan relative to pedestrian access and movement to the lots. Mr. Rosenblatt asked Mr. Ring to address any concerns over the Restricted Area and how will this area be protected. Mr. Jim Ring, City Engineer, noted any stream crossing and culverts will require permitting. He expects some disturbance will occur, but there is a limit to the amount of disturbance that DEP will allow and the City shares the concerns about looking after this watershed. Mr. Ring noted Staff had discussions 3 with the Applicant very early on and the resulting two documents have been very responsive. Mr. Damon still sees the lack of sidewalks as an issue. Sidewalks could be on each of the 6-lots which are largely on one side of the road. Without sidewalks, hotel guests will not be able to walk to any future development and there is no connection to the existing road. Mr. Gould noted the Board’s authority is limited to this application and the older part of the Haskell Road does not include pedestrian walkways. The Board will have to wait and see what will be brought forward. Mr. Theeman suggested the Board should have required sidewalks all along. Mr. Woodcock noted this is the second time the issue of sidewalks has arisen during the review of this project and the applicant will take a serious look at pedestrian circulation as specific projects are brought forward. He noted it makes sense to have some kind of interior connections within the subdivision, but wants the flexibility to deal with this at the time the projects come forward. Mr. Rosenblatt asked if there are any required improvement guarantees or standard conditions that will need to be met by the applicant. Mr. Gould stated there are no public improvements as these were constructed with the previous phase. Mr. Rosenblatt asked Mr. Woodcock if he and the applicant were agreeable to an approval with conditions. Mr. Woodcock said yes. Chairman Brown asked for a motion. Mr. Rosenblatt made a motion for Final Subdivision approval with the conditions that: 1) the Restricted Area shown in right-of- way should be deleted; 2) in the Declaration of Covenants and the Legend, note 12 should be changed to note A; 3) D under Special Development Notes should be deleted or revised to be consistent with final language of the Declaration; and 4) receipt and acceptance of the final executed declarations on Open Space and Restricted Area. Mr. Theeman seconded the motion, which passed 7-0. Item No. 2: Site Development Plan and Site Location of Development Modification – 891 Broadway - Husson University, applicant. Chairman Brown asked the applicant to come forward and make a presentation to the Board. Mr. Sean Thies of CES representing the applicant came forward. He noted the applicant had previously requested a zone change for this site and the site was rezoned to Government and Institutional Service District. The proposal is to take the existing house and convert a portion of the house to administrative office use. Approximately fifteen employees will be housed at this location and there will be fifteen parking spaces. Chapin Street will be improved and the driveway will be moved to better orient with Broadway. A new water line will allow for sprinkling the building, which is a safety requirement. Buffers along Chapin Street will be put in place, a retention pond will be built for run-off from the new parking area and existing 4 vegetation along the boundaries of the site will remain. There will be one handicapped space and a handicap lift will be included to access the building. Mr. Rosenblatt asked about the impaired watershed and how the stormwater from the pond will be handled. Mr. Thies responded that the site is being graded to keep stormwater out of the impaired watershed and that the stormwater will cross under Broadway via an existing culvert. Mr. Damon asked if the stormwater in this area goes in the direction of Dunkin Donuts. Mr. Thiess noted that the stormwater will run towards the University and will bypass the section of Broadway where Dunkin Donuts is located. Mr. Thies further noted that there will be no net increase in post development run-off. Mr. Theeman asked Mr. Ring if Chapin Street is a public street. Mr. Ring stated that Chapin Street had once been proposed as a public street around 1962 or 1963, but was never constructed. The City has no rights to this street. Mr. Gould summarized the project and noted DEP views this project as a “common scheme of development” and is being treated as if it were on campus. This is why Site Location of Development Act approval is required. The boundary for the Impaired Watershed Map for Arctic Brook is at the edge of this parcel and the applicant is grading the site to stay out of the watershed. The building on this site is a nice historic structure and is being preserved by the University. The site has adequate buffers and Staff has no concerns with this development. Chairman Brown asked for a motion. Mr. Barnes moved to approve the Site Development Plan and Mr. Theeman seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0. Mr. Barnes then moved to grant Site Location of Development Act approval and Mr. Theeman seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Brown noted that the Minutes of the October 7, 2008, October 22, 2008 and January 6, 2009 Meetings were in order for approval. Mr. Theeman noted on page 4 of the October 22 Minutes the word “rent” in second paragraph should be changed to “trend.” He then moved to approve the minutes of October 7, 2008, October 22, 2008, as amended, and January 6, 2009 Meetings. Mr. Barnes seconded the motion, which passed 7-0. Other Business Mr. Gould distributed a list of projects the Board discussed at the previous meeting. Mr. Gould noted these appeared to be issues that can be addressed in future Board Agendas. As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.