HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-04 Planning Board Minutes
PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR
MEETING OF APRIL 4, 2006
MINUTES
Board Members Present: Robert Guerette, Chairman
Hal Wheeler
David Clark
Nathaniel Rosenblatt
Alice Brown
Jeffrey Barnes
City Staff Present: David Gould
James Ring
Lynn Johnson
News Media Present: Bangor Daily News
Item No. 1: Election of Officers for 2006.
Chairman Guerette opened the meeting and asked Planning Officer Gould
to moderate this part of the meeting. Mr. Gould reminded the Board Members
that the Board generally nominates a Chairman, Vice Chairman, and directs the
Planning Staff to act as Secretary for the Board. Mr. Gould also noted that all
Members of the Board are allowed to vote.
Planning Officer Gould indicated that the first item was the election of a
Chairman. Mr. Wheeler, noting that this will be his final opportunity to do this,
said that it was with great pleasure and a sense of privilege that he nominate for
Chairman, Mr. Guerette. Mr. Rosenblatt seconded the motion. Mr. Gould asked
if there were any other nominations. There being none, Mr. Wheeler moved that
the nominations be closed. Mr. Rosenblatt seconded the motion. The Board
voted unanimously in favor of the motion to elect Mr. Guerette as Chairman of
the Planning Board for 2006.
Planning Officer Gould indicated that the next item was the election of a
Vice Chairman and opened the nominations. Chairman Guerette indicated that
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he enjoyed the composition of the Board noting that Vice Chairman Wheeler had
been extremely helpful in keeping the meetings focused and providing the
necessary direction for having a successful meeting. With that, Chairman
Guerette nominated Mr. Wheeler as Vice Chairman. Mr. Rosenblatt seconded the
motion. As there were no other nominations, Mr. Rosenblatt moved that
nominations cease. Planning Officer Gould called for a vote. The Board voted
unanimously in favor of the motion to nominate Mr. Wheeler as Vice Chairman
for 2006.
Chairman Guerette then moved that the Planning Officer and Staff act as
recording Secretary for the Board for 2006. Mr. Rosenblatt seconded the motion.
The Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Item No. 2: Conditional Use/Site Development Plan approval for
construction of a 9,000 square foot building for
warehouse use and approximately 33,000 square
feet of access drive and vehicle maneuvering area
located at 1243V Hammond Street in a General
Commercial and Service District. Epstein Properties,
LLC, applicant.
Chairman Guerette opened the Public Hearing and asked for a
presentation by the applicant. Mr. Fred Marshall of Plymouth Engineering,
representing the applicant, Epstein Properties, LLC, explained that this proposal
is for construction of a 9,000 square foot warehouse located on Outer Hammond
Street. A portion of this property was developed for what is called the “Frito-
Lay” warehouse and at that time an access road was cut into the overall piece of
property. His firm has worked with the applicant for close to 9 months trying to
figure out how to fit this proposed project onto the site because there is a
substantial amount of wetland. The parcel is bordered on the eastern side by
Fed-Ex and on the western side by TBA or the Tire, Batteries & Accessories. This
lot runs between the old Hammond Street and Route 2 and access would be
through the shared driveway. Also, there is approximately 33,000 square feet of
access drive and vehicle maneuvering area. The configuration, while unusual,
was driven by the desire to minimize the wetland impact and putting all of the
development allowed on the upland area. Mr. Marshall indicated that the
applicant has applied for a wetland permit which should be issued in the next
few weeks and they have applied for a stormwater Permit By Rule which has
been granted.
Mr. Rosenblatt asked Mr. Marshall to discuss the stormwater plan and
indicate where the stormwater would be directed. Mr. Marshall explained that
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the topography goes from old Hammond Street in a southwesterly direction to
Hammond Street (Route 2). The majority of the stormwater flows down and is
caught by the loading docks where there is a gradual paved swale that directs it
around the building into a pipe and eventually into a wetland area.
Mr. Clark asked where the access to this site would be. Mr. Marshall
explained that access would be through the same drive into the Frito Lay
warehouse.
Chairman Guerette asked if the stormwater output is subject to the State
Stormwater regulations or if different regulations applied. Mr. Marshall explained
that this project falls between the threshold between no permit, a permit by rule
and a stormwater permit, therefore, it does get treatment by erosion control and
the grass swale which is probably more than what most stormwater permit by
rules are obligated to do. A Permit by Rule is between 20,000 sq. ft. and an acre
of impervious surface on any new project and it requires that one comply with
the basic erosion control standards and make sure that the site is stabilized. In
this project, the applicant went a step further because they are creating an area
which will filter the stormwater but not to the extent that it would be filtered with
a full Permit where one has to do bioretention cells, soils media and gravel, or
underlying detention ponds that have drains underneath them. It more than
meets the Permit by Rule standards, but it does not nor does it have to meet the
standards of a full Stormwater Permit.
Ms. Brown asked about ownership of the right-of-way that is proposed to
be used for access. Mr. Marshall explained that Frito-Lay leases the property
from the owner (Epstein Properties, LLC) so the underlying ownership would be
in the Epstein’s. The land for the Frito-Lay building is totally leased by them and
they control it and maintain it. Frito-Lay is granting an easement to the
proposed tenant, Sullivan Tire, and they will share that road. As the road turns
off into the new site, that area will be controlled by Sullivan Tire. If the
remaining parcel is ever developed, there would be three-way control of the
access.
Chairman Guerette then asked for comments from proponents. Seeing
none, he asked for comments from opponents. Mr. Howard Clouston, indicating
that he was not opposed to this proposal, said that he owned the pie shaped
parcel on the back side of Hammond Street. He indicated that there was a storm
drain that comes down through his land and he asked if all of the stormwater
was being directed to the left hand side of the driveway and if there would be a
detention pond placed there. He noted that in Spring all of the run-off from the
other side of Old Hammond Street runs down through there. Mr. Marshall
explained that none of the runoff from this site would end up over on the left
hand side because the topography pitches away from Mr. Clouston’s land, but it
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would end up in the same place where the runoff comes from his property.
There is, in effect, a small detention pond on the site to bring it back as close as
they could get it to pre-development.
Chairman Guerette closed the Public Hearing and asked for comments
from the Planning Officer. Mr. Gould explained that this application is for
conditional use/site development plan approval to construct a 9,000 square feet
warehouse building on Hammond Street in a General Commercial and Service
District. The applicant is proposing approximately 33,000 sq. ft. of additional
maneuvering and parking area in support of the warehouse operation. The
General Commercial and Service District does allow for some heavier commercial
uses or light industrial uses such as warehousing with the provision that it be
treated as a conditional use. This application meets the conditional use
standards in that there is no outdoor storage being proposed and the total floor
area of the warehouse does not exceed 20,000 square feet. Also, all of the
development standards have been met. Staff felt that the four conditional use
standards in Section 9 have all been met regarding: 1) the location in which the
use is to placed is consistent with the district standards, 2) the use will not
generate unreasonable traffic congestion on adjacent streets, 3) the operation of
the facility will be adequately maintained by provision of utilities, and 4) the
architectural style will be compatible within the general area within 500 feet.
The applicant has provided an elevation drawing of the building which is fairly
consistent and uniform with what one would expect to find out on the Hammond
Street Bulge. Planning Officer Gould noted that the applicant’s proposal for a
shared driveway to limit wetland impact is an extremely good idea. Staff feels
that all of the details of conditional use have been met and that the site plan
presented is in order and ready for approval by the Board.
Ms. Brown noted that Staff indicated that the site development plan
showed another property line. She asked if this would require subdivision
approval. Mr. Gould indicated that Staff asked Mr. Marshall that same question
at the time of submission. Mr. Marshall indicated that this line is in fact a lease
line. He, too, felt that this may be a subdivision. The applicant got an opinion
that it does not constitute a subdivision. Ms. Brown asked if the City Solicitor
could give them an answer. Mr. Gould explained that, essentially the history of
the project would need to be tracked as to who conveyed what and when it was
conveyed. In the applicant’s 1998 approval the lease to Frito Lay created two
lots. Because more than five years have gone by, they may be able to create
another lot thereby not creating subdivision. Mr. Marshall said that the opinion
the applicant obtained indicated that because it had been longer than five years
it did not constitute a subdivision.
Chairman Guerette then entertained a motion noting that the Board
needed to make two motions; first for conditional use approval, and then for site
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development plan approval. Associate Member Brown was asked to vote. Mr.
Rosenblatt moved to grant conditional use approval of the proposed project for a
9,000 warehouse building use at 1243V Hammond Street, Epstein Properties,
LLC, applicant. Mr. Wheeler seconded the motion. The Board voted five in favor
and none opposed to the motion. Mr. Rosenblatt moved to grant site
development plan approval of the proposed project for a 9,000 warehouse
building use at 1243V Hammond Street, Epstein Properties, LLC, applicant. Mr.
Wheeler seconded the motion, which also passed unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Item No. 3: Planning Board Approval of Minutes.
There were no Minutes for approval.
Other Business
Chairman Guerette asked Mr. Gould to give the Board an update on the
status of the Comprehensive Plan Update. Mr. Gould explained that the Board
had gone down through the list of comments at the last meeting and there was
some discussion as to when the timeframe might be when Staff would be able to
give the Board a completed update in terms of answering all of the concerns and
details. Planning Officer Gould indicated that by the next Tuesday, Staff would
have a good response to all of the questions that collectively were deemed to
warrant a response.
Mr. Wheeler asked that the meeting be pushed back to 7:00 p.m. due to
the holidays. It was the consensus of the Board that the meeting would be
scheduled at 7:00 p.m. on April 11, 2006.
Planning Officer Gould indicated that the State of Maine is in the final
stages of reviewing the Growth Management Act and Staff would forward the
link to the web address for those who wished to read this material. He indicated
that he felt that this program would be changing substantially from what created
the current “cookbook” approach Comprehensive Plan.
There being no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at
7:50 p.m.