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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-12-12 95-41 ORDINANCECOUNCIL ACTION I Date January .9. 1995 Item No. 95-'L\\I 1 Item/Subject: Amending Land Development Code - Chapter1I33, Article 14 - Neighborhood Service District - C.O. i 95-41 (As Amended) Responsible Department: Planning Division The Planning Board held a public hearing on the above -noted zoning amendment at its regularly scheduled meeting of January 3, 1995. The Board recommended amending the Ordinance change to eliminate community service organization use from the Neighborhood Service District altogether. On a vote to recommend the amended Ordinance, the Board voted five in favor and none opposed. C Dapartment Hee Manager's Conma3nte:��y City Manager Associated Information: - i Budget Approval: Finance Director Legal Approval: V , _ City Solicitor X Passage _ First Reading Page I of 1 Referral Excerpt from Staff Memorandum for January 3, 1995 Planning Board Meeting. PUBLIC BEARINGS Item No. 4: zoning Amendment - Chapter VIII, Article 14 - Neighborhood Service District - City of Bangor - C.O. i 95-41 a. This zoning amendment was submitted by the City Council to deal with an approach to the community service organization use in the Neighborhood Service District. The proposal was to delete the "community service organization" use and replace it with 'office facilities operated by a community service organization.' b. Following the direction indicated by the Planning Board i the course of its discussion at the last two meetings, Staff would recommend that the Ordinance amendment be changed by imply deleting the community service organization use instead of adding the office type comennity service organization use e to the zoning district. (See attached amendment C.O. 95-41.) C. As discussed at previous Planning Board Meetings It is difficult to limit the exposure of residential properties to community service organization uses whether they are simply "offices' or other more intensive related activity. Staff would recommend that the Planning Board recommend the amended Ordinance to the Bangor City Council 95-41 Auige WCouneflor (AS AMENDED) Np CITY OF BANGOR (TITLE.) rWXMtC2e Amending. Land Development Code -,Chapter VIII, Article 14 - Neighborhood Service District BeYw wsd Ey W CRY of de My afBawyn, as fd . THAT Chapter VIII, Article 14, Section 4.3 (I) of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Bangor be amended by deleting the words "Community service organization" and relettering the remaining permitted uses. STATENBNT OF FACT: This amendment would eliminate the 'comounity service organisatlon" use in the Neighborhood Service District. DATE: January 4, 1995 TO, Bangor City Council TeDlf: Bangor Planning Board SUBJBCTe Response to Council Order 94-493 - Community Service Organization Use The Bangor City Council passed an order on October 25, 1994 requesting that the City Staff and the Planning. Board review the Land Development Code treatment of the community service organization use. The Planning Board reviewed this subject at three different meetings with special emphasis on the Neighborhood Service District locations and the community service organization use in such zoning districts. The City Staff made a number of recommendations to the Planning Board as to available. options in dealing with this particular land use in the Land Development Code and at its seting on January 3. 1995 the Planning Board achieved consensus on the following recommendations: 1. That the City amend the Land Development Code to delete the community service organization use from the Neighborhood Service District. 2. That the definition of community service organization in the Land Development Code be revised as follows: "Community Service Orcanisation. A nonprofit charitable institution, not to include social clubs, the primary functions of which are serving public health or social welfare of the community, provided that the specific activity which characterizes the primary use of such community service organisation use shall be similar in nature, intensity and impact to other permitted r if a conditional use, other conditional uses n the zoning districts in which such use is permitted." 3. That community service organization use be changed from a permitted use to a conditional use in the Urban Service District and that it remain as provided for in the other zoning districts of the Land Development Code. Should the City Council wish further deliberation on the part of the Planning Board on this subject, the Board stands ready to follow-up on any suggestions. David Cole, e, C Bangor Planning Board DC/LPJ Attachments: 1) Staff Psmorandnm of November 29, 1994 2) Staff Memorandum of December 15, 1994 DATE: November 29, 1994 TO: The Planning Board FROM: The Planning Staff SUBJECT: Treatment of Community Service Organization Use in the Land Development Code Background The City Council passed an Order asking the Staff and the Planning Board to look at the treatment of Community Service Organizations under the provisions of the Land Development Code (C.O. 94-463, Attached). The primary concern behind this request s the inclusion of such uses in the Neighborhood Service District where there is a potential for imwediate juxtaposition of acamunity service organization uses and low density residential properties.: Community Service Organization use is included in a number of the City's zoning districts: Multi-Pandly and Service District as conditional uses (major arterial street locations); Neighborhood Service District as a permitted use; Urban Service District as a permitted use; Downtown Development District as a g permitted use; ver:mantand Institutional Service District as a permitted use; Shopping and Personal Service District as a permitted u and general Commercial and Service District as a permitted use. A "community service organization" is defined in the Land Development Code as a n profit charitable institution, not to include social clubs, the primary function of which is serving the public health or social welfare of the community." The Council Order requests that the review of community service organization uses and more specifically "social service agencies" should focus on the Land Development Code's "definition and regulation of the location" of these vsAlso, it requests that "special attention shall be given to the Neighborhood Service District." Neighborhood Service District The Neighborhood Service District is a follow-on to the old C-1 Zone in the 1974 Zoning Ordinance. The District was created in the 1960's to identify those uses which had a primary service area of the immediate neighborhood as opposed to city-wide and area -wide markets. However, there were extensive areas on three of the City's arterial streets which were essentially "down zoned" from a prior •'1«al business" category from the 1960 Zoning Ordinance. This Created a larger number of properties under the "neighborhood" designation than neighborhood use in these areas would logically have supported. The areas in question created a concentration of such uses in the Outer Hammond Street area between Dean Street and Nest Broadway; another concentration on Center Street between Jefferson Street and Cumberland Street; and a third concentration on State Street between Pine Street and Otis Street. There is also a scattering of Neighborhood Service District zoned properties in some of the residential areas such as Garland Street, Ohio Street, etc. The uses in the Neighborhood Service District are fairly narrowly defined and include, grocery store; delicatessen; drug store; laundromat; business or professional office; barber/beauty shop; shoe repair, small appliance repair; flower shop; community service organization; and group day cam or nursery school. (As an aside, there was a review of these uses about a decade ago to e if they should be expanded to insure better utilization of these properties in the neighborhood zoning districts, but after n exhaustive review of a number of potential uses, the list remained the same •) present use of the Neighborhood Service Districts includes a wide range of activities since many of the properties am either grandfathered for more intensive commercial use or had bass stepped -down" from more intensive to less intensive commmercial activity over the years under the Ordinance's n nconformities provisions. However, it is interesting to note that a large number of the uses in these districts do comply with the Neighborhood Service concept as them are a number of convenience stores, offices, beauty/barber shops, delicatessens, community service organizations, and small repair shops. Along with the conforming uses them are a number of nonconforming uses such as gas stations, auto repair, and more intensive retail uses which would not, strictly speaking, meet the Neighborhood Service District definitions. The number of community service organizations in these neighborhood service districts is fairly limited. The Ned Cross has its offices on a Mildred Avenue location and Manna has opened up a soup kitchen at a former gas station (which was moat recently used as a carpet sales establishment) on the corner of Center and Jefferson Streets. Plannina Issues Other than the fact that we may have too much property in some areae included in the Neighborhood Service zoning category, it appears that there is a potential for certain types of activity to have an impact on residential properties located around these isolated neighborhood service district properties. In some cases neighborhood service property is surrounded onall sides by single-family residential zoning, for example. if an activity is located on such a property that generates large numbers of people coming and going or brings into the neighborhood people who are perceived to represent a threat to the neighborhood, there is a potential conflict in the use of the property. The easiest way to handle the issue is to eliminate the community service organization use from the Neighborhood Service District all together. However, depending upon the definition of the community service organization use, that may not be necessary. also, there is mora potential for conflict In some locations of neighborhood service district sites than others, such as those alluded to above, which are isolated properties in wholly residentially zoned and used areas. Coswunity Service organization Definition. There is a temptation to depart from the general, generic definition of aeommunity service organization included in the land Development Code and attempt more specific subdivisions of this useCategary. However, it is difficult in practice to separate out the various activities of small social service agencies which may find these small -scaled developments outside of high rent, retail locations attractive and functional for their use. Mat small community service organizations, for ample, combine their administrative office functions and counseling and treatment activitiesin one building and among the same staff members. This makes it difficult to draw a line between when clients will receive specific treatment orservices and when, primarily, administrative and clerical management of social service agency activities are being carriedout. The trend toward deinstitutionalization of various types of patient populations and the need for more outpatient follow-up for various types of conditions, which are under treatment has given rise to the demand for reasonably accessible social service agency sites, which can carry out multiple service activities. The recent concern over a soup kitchen on Center Street illustrates a type of activity which brings a relatively large number of persons together at a single point in time and has a potential for disrupting the surrounding neighborhood, while the overall level of activity may not be disruptive. it may be that the community service organization definition could have a distinction as to when places of assembly of a certain number of persons for feeding or treatment are included as a separate sub use category. As a practical matter, the addition of a definition of a specific activity to the Land Development Code would then break it out of the generic definition of "community service organization" and such a use category would have to be dealt with separately in terms of where it was permitted and the development standards required to initiate it, etc. The present distribution of Neighborhood Service Districts in the community can lead to a high level of exposure of an 1nWividual activity to abutting residential properties and, therefore, to potential conflicts in the use of such properties. The present definition of community Service organization is sufficiently broad to include a wide range of activities which may or may not be desirable to have in some purely residential settings. It would be Staff's view that either the whole community service organisation use category or Some subdivision of it is inappropriate for the present Neighborhood Service District distribution in the City and that, therefore, treatment of these uses in this zoning district should be altered either through redefinition or elimination of the use. DATE: December 15, 1994 TO: The Planning Hoard PROM: The Planning Staff SUBJECT: Proposed Community Service Organization Alternatives for land Development Code There are several general approaches which could be used to deal with the community s organization use in the Land Development Code and which would answer the request of the City Council's Order in this regard. Hirst, the use and definition could be eliminated altogether, which has some appeal as being a relatively simple action but, may lead to unforeseen problems a outlined below. Another suggested approach would be to redefine the use and try to make it limited in each zoning district by being comparable or "similar to" other uses allowed as either permitted or conditional uses in its zoning district. Finally, the general definition could be defined somewhat to clarify what is proper and not proper under the banner of "cosmunity service organization' and the treatment of these uses in the various zoning districts could be reviewed and modified on a district -by - district basis. (This might include making such uses conditional use where they were permitted use previously, etc.) 1. Elimination. The problem with eliminating the use altogether and doing away with its definition in the Ordinance is that there can be no direction an the part of the City as to where and how these uses are established and there can be a number of difficult determinations to be made by the Code Enforcement Office as to what kind of use any given application. is and whether it is or is not 'appropriate to the site in question. Given the concerns of the conmunity in various residential areas and the experience that some neighborhoods have had with an over concentration of such activities, it would appear responsible to continue to have a community service organization use and to control it through zoning provisions. 2. Compatible Definition Revision. The suggestion was made that the community service organization use ould remain as s both as to definition and to district permissibility if it were limited to activities which were similar in intensity and type to those in the zoning district in which it was to be located. The -pros and cons" of this are that it sounds somewhat logical and would appear to lead to desirable outcomes, on the one hand, but, it would leave a number of ambiguous interpretations to be made by City Staff in Those instances where such determination is not clear cut. Inevitably, these would be situations that would turn out to be controversial and have .- potential impact on their surroundings. 3. Refined Definition and District Review. A more comprehensive way to deal with the community service organization use would be to clarify the definition somewhat and to specifically exempt certain types of activity which my be inappropriate or cause high impacts in the zoning districts in which these uses would logically be found. To that end, we would suggest a definition similar to the following, -Community Service Organization" 'A non-profit charitable institution, not to include social clubs, the primary function of which is serving the public health or social welfare of the community and which may include services for and treatment of various client populations either on -premise or off -premise, but which shall specifically exclude: manufacturing and processing activities, operation of places of assembly where capacity for groups of twenty or more program or service clients at any one time; and eating or drinking establishments. - This definition would rule out the introduction of industrial and manufacturing type uses under the auspices of community service organization sponsorship and would eliminate those activities which bring together a large number of people on the premises of a CSO at any one given time. (Other development standards, density controls, etc. would apply as appropriate for the various districts.) The treatment of such a revised community service organization use could be as follows, 1. As a conditional use in the Multi -family and Service District (as presently allowed); 2. Eliminated from the Neighborhood Service District; 3. As a conditional use in the Urban Service District (presently a permitted use); 4. As a permitted use in the Downtown Development District (as presently treated); 5. As a permitted use e in the Government and institutional Service District (as presently allowed); 6. As a permitted use in the Shopping and Personal Service District (as presently allowed); 7. As a permitted use e in the General Commercial and Service District (as presently allowed). This would appear to allow adequate protection for those urban developed area districts, which are in close proximity to established neighborhoods, while at the same time allowing for a variety of zoning districts in which such uses could be located. Those activities which are eliminated from the revised definition would be allowed in their own right as primary use activities in the zoning districts where they are presently permitted and under the same conditions. G /i 95-41 Amippedtof nnobi Cohen December 12, 1994 CITY OF BANGOR (TITLE.) &MU81ModIng Land Development Code Chapter vx1. xx, Article 14 - Neighborhood Service District Be ¢ordain d M1at4e Oita C loftys CitsofBanaor• aefoNeum. THAT Chapter viii, Article 14, Section 4.3 (I) of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Bangor be amended by deleting the words "Community service organization,' and inserting In its place the followingz "x. Office facilities operated by a community service organization,--. STATEMENT OF FACTt This amendment would limit the 'community service organization" use in the Neighborhood Service District to office activities. IN CITY COUNCIL December. 12, 1994 Introduced Under Suspension of the Rules ,Vote on Suspension Of Rules - Passed First Reading Referred to Planning Board CITYPLEAR IN CITY COUNCIL January 9, 1995 P d As Red by Substitution /00 BE 95x41 ORDINANCE ( 'TITTLE,) Amending Land Development Code '- Chapter VIII, Article 14 - Neighborhood Service District. Designed to