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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-04 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF MARCH 4, 2008 MINUTES Board Members Present: Allie Brown, Chairman David Clark Nat Rosenblatt Doug Damon Laura Mitchell Jeff Barnes City Staff Present: David Gould Bud Knickerbocker Peter Witham Jim Ring Paul Nicklas 1. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Planning Officer Gould noted this was the first meeting of the newly appointed seven member board and their first order of business was to elect officers for the coming year. Mr. Barnes nominated Allie Brown for Chairman and Mr. Clark seconded the nomination. Ms. Mitchell nominated Nat Rosenblatt for Chairman, and Mr. Damon seconded. Mr. Barnes moved for nominations to cease and Mr. Clark seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to cease nominations. Mr. Gould called for a vote on the nomination of Allie Brown for Chairman and there were four votes in favor. Mr. Gould called for a vote of all those in favor of Nat Rosenblatt for Chairman and there was one vote in favor. Allie Brown elected as Chairman. Mr. Gould called for nominations for Vice Chairman. Mr. Rosenblatt nominated Miles Theeman for Vice Chairman, Ms. Mitchell seconded the nomination. Ms. Brown nominated Nat Rosenblatt for Vice Chairman. Mr. Clark 2 seconded. Mr. Barnes moved for nominations to cease and Ms. Brown seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to cease nominations. Mr. Gould called for a vote on the nomination of Miles Theeman for Vice Chairman and there was one vote in favor. Mr. Gould called for a vote on the nomination of Nat Rosenblatt for Vice Chairman and there were five votes in favor. Mr. Rosenblatt was elected as Vice Chairman. PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 2: Amending the Code of the City of Bangor, Chapter 165, Land Development Code, by Enacting § 165- 80.1, Cellular Telecommunications Towers and Equipment, and Amending § 165-59, Exemptions, § 165-60, Conditional Uses, § 165-95, Airport Development District (ADD), § 165-96, Urban Industry District (UID), § 165-97, Government and Institutional Service District (G & ISD), § 165-102, General Commercial and Service District (GC & S), § 165-103, Industry and Service District (I & S), and § 165-105, Rural Residence and Agricultural District (RR & A), to Change Requirements Pertaining to the Siting of Towers. City of Bangor, applicant. C.O. # 08-104. Chairman Brown opened the Public Hearing and asked Planning Officer Gould to review the proposed amendment for the Board. Mr. Gould provided the Board with a history of the proposed amendment. He noted that the City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC) has delegated the development of this set of Ordinance amendments to the Planning Board. At the last TIC meeting the proposed language was sent to the full Council for first reading with a few changes recommended by the City Solicitor’s Office. Those changes included specifying the amount of bond to be posted on abandonment, removing the specific requirement to make tower owners allow for co-location, and a provision to provide a height exemption should FCC height requirements make such limitation a ban on provision of service. Mr. Gould indicated the real benefit of this amendment is that it will bring Bangor’s guidelines for cellular communication towers in line with what most communities in the State have done 10 to 15 years earlier. Ms. Barb Wais, 252 Finson Road, indicated she did appreciate all the work that the Board had undertaken on this issue. She felt this was a good step to preserve the community character of Bangor. 3 Mr. Jim Davitt, 59 Hudson Road, also said he appreciated the work of the Planning Board and was in support of the proposed changes. Mr. Rosenblatt noted the definitions developed in support of this language were not included in this amendment and asked if that would cause a problem. Mr. Gould noted that given the number of changes that were made following the TIC meeting and the time available the definitions were overlooked. They will be referred by the City Council to the Board for public hearing at the next meeting. Mr. Gould said that in his opinion, the City was not at great risk if the definitions were adopted two to three weeks after the initial text amendments. Ms. Mitchell asked why the co-location requirement was removed. Mr. Gould noted it was discussed at the TIC meeting and the City Solicitor’s Office had concerns with requiring tower owners to accept other providers’ antennas on their towers. Ms. Mitchell indicated she would rather vote for an amendment that included the original language with required co-location for new towers. The Board discussed the implication of having FCC regulations allow taller structures than the new regulations provide. Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas noted a case in New Hampshire where the local ordinance height standard prevented a radio tower from being built in the community and the courts concluded the community could not prohibit the use. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to recommend that the City Council adopt Council Ordinance 08-104. Mr. Barnes seconded the motion. The Board voted 4 in favor and 2 opposed to recommend the proposed language to the City Council. Item No. 3: To amend the Land Development Code, Chapter 165, Section 165-105, Rural Residence and Agricultural District as Enacted by the City Council on February 26, 2008. City of Bangor, applicant. C.O. # 08-105. Chairman Brown opened the Public Hearing and asked Planning Officer Gould to review the proposed amendment for the Board. Mr. Gould noted the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC) decided to include a retroactivity provision as a separate amendment such that the Ordinance language proposed would not get entangled in a debate over retroactivity instead of its merits alone. Mr. Gould also noted that the provision was made retroactive to July 1, 2007, just prior to the review and approval of the Broadway AM radio tower application. 4 Mr. Jim Davitt of 59 Hudson Road was in support of the proposed amendment because it would correct the oversight in the Land Development Code that provided for radio towers in a location where they would not fit in. Ms. Beverly Shumaker 208 Finson Road indicated she was very much in support of business but did not feel out of state business interests should trump the local citizens and taxpayers. Ms Shumaker was also concerned about the City’s notification process and scheduling of hearings. Mr. Greg Swett, 260 Finson Road was in support of retroactivity because if the previous tower project were constructed it would have negative implications on property values around it. Mr. Steve Daniels, 208 Finson Road noted he was in support of the retroactivity provision. Mr. Rosenblatt asked the Assistant City Solicitor to clarify why the retroactivity proposal was an issue for the Planning Board when it only dealt with the effective date of the amendment and not the amendment itself. Assistant City Solicitor Paul Nicklas indicated that the Ordinance change was an amendment to the Land Development Code and, therefore, would procedurally come to the Planning Board for hearing and recommendation. Mr. Clark asked Planning Officer Gould whether he had heard from the applicant on this issue. Mr. Gould stated he had occasionally discussed the evolving tower changes and retroactive provisions with Attorney Hamilton who represents Mr. Hecht. Mr. Gould stated his impression was that they were fully aware of what the Council was proposing. Mr. Clark noted that neither Mr. Hamilton nor his client were present to state any position on the issue. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to recommend that the City Council adopt C.O. 08- 105, as proposed. Ms. Mitchell seconded the motion. Mr. Damon noted he did not like the impact this change has on the application process and could set a bad precedent as to future Board actions and Council proposing retroactive amendments. The Board voted 4 in favor and 2 opposed to the motion recommending C.O. 08-105 to the City Council. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 4: Site Development Plan approval to place a 10’ x 40’ trailer for office use at 219 Hogan Road in a Government and Institutional Service District. Maine Department of Transportation, applicant. 5 Chairman Brown asked a representative of the applicant to provide a brief overview of their project. Mr. Craig Kosobud of the Maine Department of Transportation indicated that Mr. Tom Johnston could not be available but he would fill in to answer any questions of the Board. The proposal is to use a portable office trailer at the site during the winter months. During the construction season the trailer would likely be relocated to job sites. Mr. Kosobud noted they agreed with the Planning Staff that should any permanent building additions be proposed that they develop a full detailed site plan. Chairman Brown asked the Planning Officer for any Staff comments. Planning Officer Gould indicated the applicant, Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) was seeking Site Development Plan approval to locate a 10’ x 40’ office trailer next to an office building on the MDOT Region 5 complex. Mr. Gould noted that the MDOT site is a very dynamic one that is used by several divisions of MDOT. The proposal to locate a small office trailer here is not of much concern but the Planning Staff would encourage MDOT to develop an up- to-date comprehensive plan of the site. The plan that was provided to show the location of the proposed trailer is a somewhat outdated sketch of the site dating back to the mid 1980’s. Mr. Gould noted that Staff found the sketch acceptable based on the minor nature of the proposal and that the Board could find that the application meets the standards of 165-114 with the information provided. Mr. Gould noted Staff would recommend approval with the condition that the approval is limited to only the addition of the office trailer. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to grant Site Development Plan approval on the condition that the approval was limited to the placement of the office trailer. Ms. Mitchell seconded the motion and the Board voted unanimously to approve the Site Development Plan for the Maine Department of Transportation to locate a 10’ x 40’ office trailer on their site at 219 Hogan Road with the condition that the approval is limited to only the placement of the office trailer. Item No. 5: Site Development Plan revision approval to construct an 84-space expansion to the 145-space employee parking lot located at 76 Dutton Street in a General Commercial and Service District. Bangor Historic Track and City of Bangor, applicants. Chairman Brown asked a representative of the applicant to provide a brief overview of their project. Mr. John Kenney of WBRC explained that Bangor Historic Track was seeking approval to expand the existing parking lot off Dutton Street. 6 Mr. Clark noted that previously the gravel lot had been used as parking for the Bangor State Fair and asked where would that parking demand be met. Mr. Gould noted that this past year Bangor Historic Track had allowed the Bangor Y to use the parking lot to generate income as fair parking. Mr. Gould noted he knew this because he parked there and the lot had been paved and designed consistent with the City’s new parking standards. Mr. Gould noted on completion of the new facility the practice of making that space available may change based on demand. Ms. Mitchell asked where the storm water from the parking lot would go. Mr. Kenney indicated that stormwater goes to a recently constructed pond at Bass Park. Mr. Kenney elaborated that most of Bass Park drains to a new pond. Portions of the site and the Main Street facility are connected to the municipal stormwater system that discharges to the Penobscot River. The stormwater design picked up most of Bass Park that was not previously managed. Chairman Brown asked the Planning Officer for any Staff comments. Planning Officer Gould indicated this was an application for Site Development Plan approval for Bangor Historic Track and the City of Bangor. The proposal was to expand the parking lot off Dutton Street that was approved last year. The proposed expansion would continue the improvements that are currently in place; landscaped islands and low full cutoff lighting. As the Board may be aware the scope of the entire project was bigger than Bangor’s delegated authority so the parking lot expansion also would be reviewed by the Department of Environmental Protection. Mr. Gould noted that while the City Council had authorized a lease for this expansion but that no executed document has been provided. Staff would recommend Site Development Plan approval with the condition that an executed lease agreement be provided to the Planning Office within the 30-day standard conditional time frame per §165-113 D-2 or as extended by the Board. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to approve the Site Development Plan with the condition as noted by Staff. Member Barnes seconded the motion and the Board voted unanimously to approve the parking lot expansion for Bangor Historic Track and City of Bangor with the condition that an executed lease agreement be provided to the Planning Office within the 30-day standard conditional time frame per §165-113 D-2 or as extended by the Board. 7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Item No. 6: Planning Board Approval of Minutes. Given the Board Members were at various meetings they voted on each set of Minutes individually. The Planning Board voted 4 in favor of approving the Minutes of November 6, 2007. The Planning Board voted 4 in favor of approving the Minutes of February 11, 2008 The Planning Board voted 4 in favor of approving the Minutes of November 20, 2007. The Planning Board voted 4 in favor of approving the Minutes of February 19, 2008. OTHER BUSINESS Ms. Mitchell noted she had wanted to send the City Council a revised version of Council Ordinance 08-104 that included a co-location requirement. Ms Mitchell asked if Staff had retained any professional expertise on the issue of tower design as discussed at the TIC meeting. Planning Officer Gould stated he was unable to locate an individual to address the Board. While there had been some discussion with some cellular telephone professionals, they were unable to attend the meeting or because they often appear before the Board representing clients they did not want to take a formal position on the proposed language specifics. Ms. Mitchell asked whether Legal and Planning could further research the issue of required co-location to see if it’s possible to dissuade the Legal Office from the current concern about co-location requirements. Mr. Gould noted a few items on the up coming schedule. On April 22 Mr. Randal Arendt will be at City Hall to discuss Conservation Subdivisions at 3:00 pm. City Manager Ed Barrett will be at the next Planning Board meeting on th March 18 to confer with the Board on a proposal to create a Comprehensive Planning Committee. Lastly, Planning Officer Gould noted that with the change in the Board’s organization Staff had circulated a draft revision of the By-Laws to reflect some of those changes. Board Members should review and note any changes they deem appropriate for discussion. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.