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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-06-19 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR MEETING OF JUNE 19, 2007 MINUTES Board Members Present: Robert Guerette, Chairman Nathaniel Rosenblatt David Clark Laura Mitchell Miles Theeman Allie Brown Jeff Barnes City Staff Present: David Gould Peter Witham Bud Knickerbocker News Media Present: Bangor Daily News Chairman Guerette called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA As no one wished to remove the item for discussion, Chairman Guerette asked for a motion. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Mr. Theeman seconded the motion, which carried by a vote of 5 to 0. The item approved is as follows: Item No. 1: Final Subdivision Plan Revision approval to change the numbering of the Lots within the approved two-lot subdivision located off the end of Haskell Road in a General Commercial and Service District. Webber Oil Company, applicant. 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 2: To amend the Land Development Code by changing parts of parcels of land located at 402 Stillwater Avenue from Contract Shopping and Personal Service District to Contract Shopping and Personal Service District. Said parts of parcels of land containing approximately 3.38 acres. Global Rand, Inc., applicant. C.O. # 07-210. Chairman Guerette opened the Public Hearing and asked the applicant or their designee to make a presentation. Mr. James Manzer of Ames A/E, represented Global Rand. Also, present was Randy Rand of Global Rand. Mr. Manzer explained that they are requesting an amendment to one of the contract zoning conditions. When this contract zoning was last revised in 2006, the floor area ratio was set below the standard for the Shopping and Personal Service District from .4 down to .3. When submitting an application for site plan approval it was discovered that that ratio would not work for the development as proposed. In talking with the City Staff they decided to apply for a zone change to amend their contract zone change conditions to delete the .3 floor area ratio and use the existing default requirement for this zone of .4. Mr. Manzer indicated that in addition to this amendment, the applicant has acquired land area from the abutting property owner to meet the default floor area ratio requirement. Chairman Guerette asked for comments from proponents. As no one spoke either in favor of or in opposition to this request, he closed the Public Hearing and asked for the Planning Staff report. Planning Officer Gould indicated that this is an application for a contract rezoning. Presently, the property is covered by a contract zoning agreement. This proposal will change one standard of that existing contract. This property was originally rezoned in 1993 under a contract zone that dealt with office and medical use. For more than ten years the property sat vacant. In 2006, the current applicant came to the City with a concept of doing a self-storage facility on that site. At that time, Staff worked with the contract conditions and tried to make them flexible so that the proposed use, “mini warehouse” as defined in the S & PS District, would be a potential use at this site and a revised Contract Zone Change was approved. However, when the site development plan was developed, the total amount of floor area exceeded the .3 floor area ratio of the contract zone change. Mr. Gould explained that the applicant had three choices: 1) to scale back their project so that it would fit the standards; 2) to acquire more land to meet the standards; or 3) to come back and revise the contract conditions. In this instance because the difference between the contract standard and the default standard for the Shopping and Personal Service District at .4 wasn’t significantly different, the theory was to take away that contract condition and deal with the default. Mr. Gould indicated that there has been a lot of support for this project and it has been before the Marsh Mall Committee. Staff recommended approval. Mr. Rosenblatt asked for a clarification of floor area ratio and what the rationale was for the original condition calling for .3. Mr. Gould explained that floor area ratio only comes in to play when you have a multiple story building. The original proposal for this lot was for a one- 3 story medical office use. When this project came along the total floor area was increased as they intend to have a multi-level building. Mr. Theeman asked what their intent was for construction on that lot. Mr. Randy Rand, of Global Rand, indicated that they are proposing a self-contained, climate controlled, self- storage facility. No more than 1,000 sq. ft. can be rented to anyone person and it will be similar to a mini storage facility. They are proposing multi-level access to each floor by vehicle so there is no need for an elevator. There will be no outside storage nor will there be any vehicle storage inside. The Board discussed the difference in floor area allowed under a .3 floor area ratio and a .4 floor area ratio. Chairman Guerette asked for a motion. Mr. Rosenblatt moved that the Board recommend that the City Council approve the proposed Contract Zone Change for the property at 402 Stillwater Avenue Global Rand, LLC, applicant as set forth in C.O. # 07-210. Mr. Theeman seconded the motion. The Board voted five in favor and none opposed. Item No. 3: To amend the Land Development Code by changing parcels of land located at 15 Fifth Street, 331 Hammond Street and a portion of a parcel located on Pond Street from Government and Institutional Service District to Urban Residence Two District. Said parcels containing approximately 90,700 sq. ft. Bangor Theological Seminary, applicant. C.O. # 07-211. Chairman Guerette opened the Public Hearing and asked the applicant or their designee to make a presentation. Mr. Dick Cattelle, representing the applicant, explained that this is a request for a zone change for three parcels that are a part of the Seminary Campus property. The Bangor Theological Seminary relocated to the Husson College campus over a year ago and since that time there has been an extensive effort to find a buyer for the property who was willing to undertake the project and was interested in either reuse of or redevelopment of the property. Mr. Cattelle indicated that they now have a buyer who is interesting in continuing to use the property more or less as it is. The vast majority of the campus will remain zoned G & ISD for rentals to not-for-profit organizations such as the existing daycare center. A condition of the Purchase & Sale Agreement is that the buyer rezone those properties that are now used for residential purposes. If left zoned as G & ISD, they would be nonconforming uses and in order to secure financing the zoning needs to be changed. In discussions with Staff, they felt that the least impact on the neighborhood would be to change them to URD-2. Chairman Guerette asked Mr. Cattelle how these properties are going to be used. Mr. Cattelle indicated that the current plan is to keep them the way they are as rental units. There isn’t any grand plan for any major reconstruction or rehabilitation of those buildings. The Seminary is anxious to sell and the buyer at this point is interested in keeping them as they are. Any additional changes on the part of the new owner would need to come back for approvals. 4 Mr. Theeman asked Mr. Cattelle to explain the current use of the buildings. Mr. Cattelle indicated that for the most part they are configured as apartments. There is some dormitory element to them but that would need to be changed in order to be purely used as apartments. Chairman Guerette asked for proponents. Mr. Paul Cook, the future managing partner of these properties, indicated that in order to make this project work financially they have to have a legal use there in order to get financing. The present use is inconsistent with the zoning. Their long-term goal would be to fill the property with non-profits that they felt would be consistent with the neighborhood. Mr. Cook discussed the present residential uses within the buildings. Mr. James Brochu, Director of the Seminary physical plant, indicated the rezoning would allow the buildings to remain used as they presently are (residential) and that would be a very good use for them. Chairman Guerette then asked for opponents. Ms. Diane Devita, 201 Cedar Street, had concerns about the future use of the property. The potential for low income housing or transient populations was not a direction they would like to see the property go in. Mrs. Devita indicated that she and her husband operate the Source of Life Ministries, a non profit entity. Dr. Michael Devita, 201 Cedar Street, did not want any zoning changes that would allow open ended land uses. He would rather wait until the buyers of the property had a specific plan on which the neighbors could rely. As no one else spoke, Chairman Guerette closed the Public Hearing and asked for Staff comments. Planning Officer Gould explained that this is a request for a zone change from G & ISD to URD-2 for three properties which are currently a part of the Seminary’s campus located on Hammond Street, Fifth Street and Pond Street. The Government and Institutional District is largely governed by ownership and not actual land use. The City always faces a difficult decision when an institutional use changes ownership or seeks to locate to a new location because the City’s Land Use Policy cannot predict where those locations will be. The area where Hammond Street intersects with Union Street is Multi-family and Service District extending further out Hammond Street and Union Street to Urban Residence 2 District. The land use decision for the City is what use should the Seminary property be if not owned by the Seminary. Secondly, if a non institutional owner is going to own the property what is the most logical residential district, M&SD, URD-2 or URD-1. Mr. Gould indicated that the M&SD allows some very high densities and a number of office uses that should be carefully examined prior to such a change. Urban Residence 1(URD-1) limits properties to only single-family dwellings and that would be inconsistent with the units in the existing buildings and inconsistent with the zoning immediately adjacent to them. Therefore, URD-2 zoning seems to be the most fitting residential district and Staff recommended approval. Chairman Guerette asked for a motion. Mr. Theeman moved that the Board recommend to the City Council that the Zone Change request at 331 Hammond Street, 15 Fifth Street, and a portion of a parcel located on Pond Street for Bangor Theological Seminary, 5 applicant, per C.O. #07-211 be approved. Ms. Mitchell seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of the proposed zone change request. NEW BUSINESS Item No. 4: Site Development Plan approval to construct a 700 sq. ft. addition to the existing building at 422 Center Street in a Neighborhood Service District. Paul Winkler d/b/a Tri-City Pizza, applicant. Chairman Guerette asked the applicant or their designee to make a presentation. Mr. Jon Stewart from Plisga & Day, represented the applicant, who is requesting approval to expand his pizza business with a 700 sq. ft. kitchen addition to put in bigger ovens and add some facilities to better serve his customers. Mr. Winkler along with the construction manager, John Elliot, were also present to answer questions. Mr. Paul Winkler indicated that he wishes to add 700 sq. ft. to the building for kitchen use, and to increase the lobby size to better serve his customers. He also wishes to make some changes to bring his operation up to codes. In response to a question, Mr. Winkler indicated that this addition will be single-story on a slab, for kitchen use only. Chairman Guerette then asked for the Planning Officer’s report. Mr. Gould indicated that this application is for Site Plan approval to add 700 sq. ft. to the existing Tri City Pizza. The Neighborhood Service District has a total limitation of 2,000 sq. ft. This site predates when the City started reviewing site plans in the early 1970’s. The site is served by public sewer and water, and has adequate parking, etc. Because this came through the site plan process Staff discussed with the applicant what is typically expected of a new development. The one thing that Staff was concerned with is that there is 42 feet of asphalt that extends all the way to the street. Routinely, there would be a landscaped area along the parking area to help direct people in and out of the driveway. Staff brought this to the applicants’ attention that this was something that the Board could look at under Site Plan Review standards relative to landscaping. The applicant had concerns about the difficultly of their location and whether or not any improvements would work for them. The pre-existing site does not have what would be today’s transition zone. They do have a fence there but Staff wanted to make sure that whatever fencing and landscaping materials are there are preserved for the benefit of the neighbors. Staff wanted to bring to everyone’s attention the potential to upgrade the exterior of the site (parking lot, landscaping, and buffers) as the applicant is requesting an upgrade of the physical plan of the building. Mr. Gould indicated that by not doing so this would not be a violation or a reason for denial. Chairman Guerette felt that narrowing the asphalt access especially onto the Center Street side of the building might create some traffic problems. He asked Mr. Winkler to address this point. Mr. Winkler indicated that coming out of the parking lot onto Center Street is difficult because you cannot see beyond the building. A buffer may hinder sight distances. On the Earle Avenue side there is a strip of lawn that is approximately 5 to 6 feet 6 wide. If they loose that spot they will loose another parking spot to make that larger and he did not feel that it would serve any purpose on that side. Mr. Rosenblatt asked if the proposed expansion is directly related to the site plan or is the City trying to bring the site a little up to the current standards. Mr. Gould indicated that their proposal is to simply build a 700 sq. ft. addition diagonally behind their building. They are not proposing any changes to the existing parking lot. Had this site been brand new, they would need to have setbacks, parking lot buffers, etc. Staff is not saying to the Board to turn down the plan but they did not feel that they would be doing their job if they did not point out that these are elements of site plan review. Mr. Rosenblatt asked what Staff was asking the Board to consider. Planning Officer Gould indicated that Staff wanted the Board to consider landscaping standards to separate parking areas from roadways and other areas. One potential for Center Street is that if the parking moves from the residential side to against the building then the travel aisle is further away from Center Street. Also, Staff is concerned about the wide area of pavement because people coming and going are not necessarily sure where they are supposed to be because of the wide range of asphalt. Mr. Rosenblatt felt that this is a unique location given its history. He moved that the Board grant Site Development Plan approval at 422 Center Street for Paul Winkler, Tri-City Pizza, applicant. Mr. Theeman seconded the motion. Ms. Mitchell indicated that she would vote in favor. The Board voted five in favor and none opposed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Item No. 5: Planning Board Approval of Minutes. This item was continued to the Board’s next meeting. Other Business Chairman Guerette indicated that the Board’s next Special Meeting will be held on June th 26. As there were no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.