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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-21 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 5 pm Council Chambers Minutes In Chair Gratwick’s absence, Councilor Sprague will Chair this meeting. Councilors: Blanchette, Gallant, Longo, Sprague and Weston Staff: Conlow, McKay, Bolduc, Nicklas, Patterson and Pereira Others: John Hamer, President of the Downtown Bangor Partnership; Betsy & Zeth Lundy As Committee members Councilors Durgin and Hawes were absence, Councilors Blanchette and Gallant sat in as voting members. 1. Downtown Signage RFP At a previous BED meeting Shirar Patterson was requested to come back to the Committee with an RFP for Wayfinding Signage. The Wayfinding Signage is a comprehensive system to get pedestrians, vehicles, bicyclists from point A to point to B. It involves various types of signs such as gateway signs, to directional signs for vehicles as well as kiosks for information such as maps and places of interest. Funding for this project will come from the CDBG funds ($25,000) and $30,000 from the Downtown TIF funds. At this time, it is requested that the Committee approve issuing another RFP for sign planning services; the previous RFP has been revised making it more comprehensive; staff is suggesting the same budget be used. The proposed system is for downtown Bangor but what we get from that can be used to grow it out to other areas of the City as well. Councilor Longo made a motion to move for approval of staff recommendation of the Downtown Signage RFP as presented. Councilor Blanchette seconded. Discussion continued before a vote was taken. Suggestions from Councilors were:  go with a company that designs signs so when additional attractions come into the downtown area we would be able to add on rather than go through this process again.  bring the RFP’s before the BED Committee so that we know what they’re going to look like.  postpone this RFP for another fiscal year due to the current changes in development on Main Street as then those changes can be incorporated at that time and consider using the City’s sign shop to do the work.  not necessary to spend $25,000-$30,000 to bring in a design consultant before we even get to a sign. We should bring a collective group together to find out where these signs will go, what they will say and look like.  Improved signage is vital for tourists to get to the waterfront, new arena, etc. John Hamer, President of the Downtown Bangor Partnership (DBP), stated that DBP has been interested in the Wayfinding Signage proposal for a number of years. He understands the need to take things slow but at some point DBP thinks it’s necessary to actually have some action. This project will immediately benefit downtown and other parts of the City. City Manager Conlow suggested we should come back to the committee and have a discussion about what our in-house capabilities are and what we’re looking to achieve. We’re starting with the RFP and we can do that within the next month but as far as what our in-house capabilities are you might be surprised at what we can’t do. Councilor Longo entered a motion to end this debate at this time. Seconded by Councilor Blanchette. Debate has ended. Councilor Sprague – there is a motion and second on the table to recommend approval of the Request for Proposals on Downtown Signage. Vote of 3 in favor; 1 opposed. Councilor Sprague added that when the proposals come back to staff the BED Committee will have oversight so that a decision is made as a Council before any money is spent. Also Committee wants to look internally, so the City Manager can move forward with that. 2. Downtown Bangor Partnership – Special Assessment Area Expansion Shirar Patterson stated that over the past several months the Downtown Bangor Partnership (DBP) has had a working group looking at the current boundaries of the downtown districts. The full boundaries of the districts have not been reviewed since the establishment in the late 1980’s. In 2006, the district was expanded to include the waterfront area which is all City-owned property. It is now proposed to include 3 new additional areas in the Downtown District; it notes how downtown has changed and evolved over the past 30 years and better shows natural gateways and boundaries to downtown in what’s considered downtown today. John Hamer further stated that what DBP is trying to do over the next 10-15 years is to determine the rationale definition of downtown now and how is it going to evolve over this period of time. The areas that they seek to have included in the district are not only adjacent to the current district they’re actually a part of the district from a practical perspective. Some Business owners have actually requested to be included in the downtown district in order to be included in DBP’s efforts in marketing and promoting downtown. In terms of a practical impact, it will not have a huge impact on our budget – 53 cents per 1,000 – but it will allow DBP to expand their operations and to include these areas that are now naturally part of the downtown. DBP recommends that the City consider this expansion as presented. If approved, DBP will notify those property owners in the new areas on the expansion and hold public hearings on the subject. Discussion continued with various questions and concerns from Councilors on issues of who would be required to pay the increased tax assessment and who would not with respect to single family residences, investor-owned multi-family residential properties and tax exempt non-profit properties. Councilor Longo made a motion to maintain the current Downtown Development District as it is now and not to expand it. Seconded by Councilor Gallant. Motion failed. Councilor Sprague added that there is a level of support for the general premise for this expansion but the Committee wants single family residential properties exempted from the Special Assessment District. The Committee is willing to have staff bring this item back to Committee with this change. Rod McKay added that The Special Assessment is 53 cents per $1,000; the process is that each year the City Council has approved the district (and can do it for a longer period of time) but each year traditionally they have approved the district and if the district boundaries are going to be amended that would have to be part of that public hearing process that the owners of the properties involved have to be notified and that would take a formal Council Action to do that. I think what John was looking for today is to gauge the support for a change and if there’s no support for the change that we probably will not be proposing the change. Shirar stated that she does not believe any of the proposed areas has a single family home; there is one duplex, believes the rest are multi-family unit buildings, but she will check this again and bring that information back to the Committee. 3. Lundy Proposal to Purchase 24 Central Street Asst. City Solicitor Paul Nicklas reviewed this item stating that at the last BED Committee meeting staff spoke about the possibility of selling what is sometimes known as The Zoidis Lot to Zeth and Betsy Lundy who operate the Central Street Farm House at the adjacent location. There was interest from the BED Committee in selling it to the Lundy’s but there were some provisions that the Committee asked legal staff to look into, particularly ‘right of first refusal’ and a provision ensuring the attractiveness of the lot. One of the things that wasn’t clear at that point was whether there were any provisions already in the code, specifically in the Bangor Center Revitalization Area (commonly called the Façade District) that already provides some sort of provisions regarding attractiveness. Staff has found that there are some such provisions and those include requiring the lots to be kept clean of all trash and debris; to be landscaped and to be provided with trees and shrubbery in a manner deemed appropriate by the Design Committee which is the Historical Preservation Committee. To the extent that that takes care of the Committee’s concerns about attractiveness, a Quitclaim Deed is appropriate at this time. If there are still concerns the City still has the ‘right of first refusal’, meaning the City would have the opportunity to repurchase the property should the Lundy’s later choose to sell it. Councilor Longo made a motion to recommend approval of this request with the provisions as presented by staff. Councilor Blanchette seconded. Unanimous Committee Vote. 4. Geaghan’s Pub – Request for City Land Rod McKay stated that the City Council in January of this year approved transferring about 10,000 sq. ft. of property in the old Maine Central Railroad Roundhouse area to the owners of Geaghan’s Pub so that they can expand their parking lot. In the process of their design process they have found that if they reconfigure the land the City is selling to them they can get more parking in. This configuration would involve a different description of the land to be conveyed than provided for in the previous Council approval. Council approval of a revised land area description is required. The land area involved is approximately the same as previously approved. Staff recommends Council’s approval. Councilor Gallant made a motion to move staff recommendation to the City Council. Councilor Longo seconded. Unanimous Committee vote. 5. ORDINANCE – Amending Chapter 165, Land Development Code, of the Code of the City of Bangor – Nonconforming Residential Accessory Structures Jeremy Martin gave a brief background on nonconforming residential accessory structures. Currently the City’s Land Development Code prohibits a property owner from demolishing and rebuilding said accessory structure in the same foot print. This amendment to the City’s land Development Code will facilitate the construction of these structures in the same foot print with no increase in the nonconformity. st With Committee’s approval, this will go on the next City Council agenda for 1 reading and referral to the Planning Board which will hold a public hearing and make a recommendation back to the City Council. Councilor Gallant made a motion to move staff recommendation. Councilor Blanchette seconded. Unanimous Committee Vote. It was moved to go into Executive Session – Economic Development – Business Development Loan – 1 M.R.S.A. § 40-5 (6) ( C ) 6. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Economic Development – Business Development Loan – 1 M.R.S.A. § 40- 5 (6) ( C ) 7. Committee Action on Above Item The Committee voted unanimously not to approve the request of Derek Robishaw doing business as DaBesta Pizza for a Community Development Business Development Loan.