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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-10-15 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD OF THE CITY OF BANGOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1996 MINUTES Board Members Present Moshe Myerowitz, Chairman George Burgoyne Thomas Drummond Scott Hall Carol Woodcock City Staff Present: Norman Heitmann John Lord Rod McKay Robert Osborne News Media Present: Bangor Daily News Chairman Myerowitz called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. He explained the components of the Agenda for the benefit of the audience. CONSENT AGENDA As no one wished to remove the item for discussion, Chairman Myerowitz asked for a motion. Mr. Drummond moved to approve the Consent Agenda. That motion was seconded by Mrs. Woodcock and it passed by a vote of 5 to 0. The item approved was: Item No. 1: Developmental Subdivision approval for 34 units of housing located at the former Freese's building on Merchants Plaza in a Downtown Development District. Freese Building Assoc. Co., applicant. PUBLIC HEARINGS Item No. 2: To amend the Land Development Code by changing a parcel of land located at 131V Pearl Street from Urban Residence 1 District to Contract Urban Residence 2 District, subject to certain conditions. Said parcel containing approximately 17,650 sq. ft. City of Bangor, applicant. C.O. # 96-385. 1 Chairman Myerowitz opened the public hearing and called for proponents. There being no proponents, Chairman Myerowitz asked if there were any opponents. There being no one wishing to testify, Chairman Myerowitz asked for comments from Planning Staff. Planning Officer Lord explained that this parcel was too small to be made into two lots under the present zoning standards and that the contract zone change limited the number of dwelling units to one in a building and limited the square footage for any primary use structures to 1,500 sq. ft. He noted that there was a proposal for disposition of this parcel to Habitat for Humanities to build housing in the area. He noted that this was in keeping with the City's Comprehensive Plan in that it supported single-family detached housing in this area and fulfilled objectives of the City's housing element to provide affordable housing to its residents. Chairman Myerowitz closed the public hearing and asked for a motion. Mrs. Woodcock moved to recommend approval of the contract zone change to the City Council. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgoyne and passed by a vote of 5 to 0. Item No. 3: To amend the Land Development Code by changing part of a parcel of land located at 302V Husson Avenue from High Density Residential District to Contract Shopping and Personal Service District, subject to certain conditions. Said parcel containing approximately 4.6 acres. Rosscare, applicant. C.O. # 96-386. Chairman Myerowitz opened the public hearing and then asked for a ruling from the Planning Board as to whether he had a conflict of interest on the item. After a question from Member Hall as to whether Dr. Myerowitz felt he should be excused, it was agreed that his request should be honored. The Board voted 4 to 0 to excuse Dr. Myerowitz from this item. Dr. Myerowitz turned the meeting over to Vice Chairman Burgoyne and left his seat and removed himself to the audience. Vice Chairman Burgoyne called for proponents. P. Andrew Hamilton, attorney representing Rosscare, introduced other representatives of the applicant and the applicant's design, Mr. Marshall of Ames Corp., and provided a brief history of the Rosscare site and application. 2 Dr. Bragg spoke briefly about trends in health care and the consolidation of physician's practices to reduce costs. He indicated that as president of Norumbega Medical Associates he would be one of a seven-person internal medicine staff which would have its practice on this site. Mr. Hamilton outlined the contract zone change standards and suggested that the application met them. There being no further proponents, Mr. Burgoyne asked for opponents. Jim Walsh, a Morningside condominium owner raised a question about the impact of the site development on the Morningside site and asked why provisions for protecting the existing trees on the proposed project's west property line adjacent to Morningside had not been included in the contract zone change conditions. Ken Deal, owner of several dwelling units in the Mallard Pond Condominium Project and a member of the Mallard Pond Governing Board, indicated that his association felt that Rosscare was a "good neighbor" and that their proposed use of the site would not have an adverse affect upon their housing project. Priscilla Williams, a Grandview Avenue resident, asked about the protection from buffers and whether or not there would be any Grandview Avenue extension that might ultimately have access to this site. Angela Aloupis, a neighbor adjacent to the Grandview Avenue subdivision, was concerned about the maintenance of buffers and traffic impact. David Hughes, a Husson Avenue resident, agreed with the comments of Mr. Deal from the Mallard Pond Condominium Association on the impact of the project. Bob Haeberlein, a Morningside condominium owner was also concerned about lack of a buffer between the Morningside Condominium site and the proposed Rosscare site. Andrew Hamilton commented on the protection of the area offered by the contract zone change conditions and also indicated that his client was amenable to adding a condition to provide additional buffering on the boundary between the Morningside condominium site and the proposed Rosscare development. 3 Fred Marshall of Ames Corporation explained the way in which the buffer and standards for specimen trees would work as spelled out in the contract conditions. Mr. Burgoyne called upon the Staff to comment. Planning Officer Lord explained that the proposed zone change was not consistent with the City's Land Use Policy for the area which was for high density residential uses nor was it consistent with the zoning in the area which was the present zoning of the parcel and the zoning of those parcels around it - High Density Residential. Staff recommended that the Planning Board recommend denial of the proposed zone change request to the City Council. Mr. Burgoyne closed the public hearing and asked for a motion. There followed a discussion for the need for a buffer to protect the Morningside development from the removal of existing trees along the westerly property line of the proposed site. The Planning Board suggested that a new condition which would provide a vegetative buffer along the westerly property line for a depth of twenty feet except in those areas adjacent to the buildings and parking lots on Morningside site, which would have a thirty foot buffer, be added to the contract conditions. Mr. Hall moved to amend the contract conditions by the provision outlined above. Mrs. Woodcock seconded the motion which passed by a vote of 4 to 0. Mrs. Woodcock moved to recommend that the amended contract zone change be approved by the City Council. Mr. Drummond seconded the motion which passed by a vote of 4 to 0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Item No. 4: Planning Board Approval of Minutes of October 1, 1996 Planning Board Meeting. The minutes of the October 1, 1996 Planning Board Meeting were unanimously approved as printed. OLD BUSINESS Item No. 5: Amending Planning Board By-Laws - Section B, (l),(a) - (Second Reading)"Time of Meeting." Mr. Hall moved passage of the amendment to the By-Laws which 4 removed the day and time of the regular Planning Board meeting and substituted language indicating the Board would designate the day and time of meeting from time-to-time. Mr. Drummond seconded the motion which passed by a vote of 5 to 0. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Item No. 6: Planning Board Review of Correspondence and Other Communications From the Planning Office. Planning Officer Lord noted that the Code Enforcement Office had granted a 60-day extension of the completion date for a fill and grade project located at 1456 Union Street. There being no further business to come before the Board the meeting was adjourned at 8:54 p.m. 5