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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-27 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � Business and Economic Development Committee � July 27, 2005 at 5 pm Minutes ' Councilor Attendance: Tremble, Stone, D'Errico, Allen, Staff Attendance: Barrett, McKay, Martzial, Gould, Ring � Others: Realty Resources CONSENT AGENDA ' 1. Alcott Subordination. � A motion was made and seconded to approve staff's recommendation. ' REGULAR AGENDA 2. State Court System —Tentative Developer Status. � Barrett recent met with Ted Glessner, State Court Administrator, regarding the B- 13 site and proposed plans. The project has been approved by the legislature, � however, the actual bond issue for the projecYs funding is not likely to be issued until October 2006. The State Court system is planning to get everything in line for the project between now and that date. There are issues to be worked out � regarding the county's space needs for the DA, law library, and some preliminary planning processes. The Court would like a development agreement with the City. They are requesting tentative developer status from the Council to confirm � the Court's interest in the property through the end of 2005. ' The Court will work closely with the City on the site plan particularly regarding the two parking issues attempting to maximize the parking developed on site and also the appearance of the building. Glessner is very amenable to the City � becoming involved in these efforts. The standard development agreement allows for City's approval for the building design. 1 A motion was made and seconded to approve staff's recommendation. A council order will appear on the next agenda giving the State Court System tentative developer status through December 31, 2005 to allow the City time to prepare � the actual development agreement. 3. Essex Street— Former Naval Reserve Center , McKay said that Realty Resources has been granted tentative developer status for 32 units in 8 buildings. It is City owned property and vacant. A zone change � request for the site was recommended against by unanimous vote of the Planning Board. A RFP was issued last January and the only proposal received � was from Realty Resources. A zone change is necessary to allow the development from the current site zoned Government and Institutional because of its previous use as a naval reserve center. Adjacent land is zoned URD-2 that � needs to be rezoned to accommodate this development. This Committee needs � to review and consider a recommendation to the full City Council. � Acting Planning Officer Gould spoke of the Planning Board's decision. Overall, the intensity of development and the number of multi-family housing units, was � not suited to the location. In response to Allen, Gould said there were a number of neighbors with traffic concern for Essex Street. He said that the trip generation from the proposed project was discussed and the traffic engineer will , address that issue. The current zone is not a housing site. The surrounding area has a variery of uses: commercial, Dakin Pool, multi-family apartments but it is predominantly single family housing. Broadway is a mixture of one and two , unit buildings. Allen asked how the proposed projecYs property line would affect the Dakin Pool property line. Barrett said that given the deed restrictions on the � pool property it is necessary for that properly line to remain. Zoning in the area is predominantly URD-1, singe family residential. URD-2 allows a variety of development, 1-4 unit buildings. Gould said the proposed contract density is a ' lower density than allowed in URD-2. In response to D'Errico, Gould said that the Planning Board held a public hearing last week and it was the first time they heard from the applicant and the neighbors, reviewed the land use policy and , made their recommendation to the Council. Tremble indicated that when the Ciry granted developer status to Realty � Resources a point was made that the neighbors had not been heard from but knew the neighbors would have that opportunity at the Planning Board level and at the Council level. There was a timeframe involved due to a tax credit and � Realty Resources had to obtain tentative developer status and that is why the Council moved forward at that time without neighborhood input. , Tom Williams, Project Manager, presented building design materials as well as current list of projects currently owned and managed by Realty. Williams read a , prepared statement (attached) regarding the proposed project. He understands the issues of concern are traffic, property values, developer expertise and management, safery and the buffer areas. � Tom Goal Gorrill from Gorril & Palmer addressed the traffic concerns. His firm performs traffic studies for the MDOT, municipalities including Bangor, and I development work including neighborhood review. He spoke of trip generation. This project would be 32 rental units would be forecast to generate 245 ends trips during a day, basically in and out, so it is divided by two to get roundtrips. � During the a.m. peak hour, approximately 18 trip ends. During the p.m. peak, approximately 21 trip ends. Those numbers have a lot of data behind them and , Gorrill reviewed them. He referred to 90 studies available out of 350. Allen asked if the studies were performed in a metropolitan area. Gorrill indicated it is a wide variety representative of both in and out of inetropolitan areas, more � rural areas. Gorrill said the number of trips per unit during the a.m. and p.m. hours are less than one would expect for a single family home. Stone asked how many more or less trips will be during peak hours (a.m. and p.m.) if it were � single family vs. the proposed development. Gorrill said they are forecasting 18 a.m. and 21 p.m. peak hour trips which would be 120/daily for single family (12 � � p.m. peak hour trip ends). Gould said the standard accepted generation rate for ; ' a single family home is 10, 1 in the peak hour. Stone clarified that it would be 120 vs. 215. Gorrill said the traffic generated by the proposed project would equal that of 21 single family homes. , McKay asked for the uses allowed under the current zoning, G&I, and the types of traffic associated. Gould said G&I is largely based on ownership. A non-profit I entity can do a wide variety in that zone; i.e. office use, non-profit group activities. In most places medical offices need to be on a major arterial street. Essex Street is not one. Allen said that the city nursing looked at the site at one � point. Gorrill talked about the Essex/Stillwater intersection. The additional trafFic from � the proposed project is a 7% increase overall. This intersection is a level of service"D". Allen said the subject intersection is impacted by the Broadway/ Stillwater intersection. She said the entire picture needs to be reviewed. Ring , thought it might be helpful to look at what this project means in terms of what percent this represents of what is currently in place regarding volume and traffic � movements. Gorrill clarified it was a .7% increase. Tremble asked about the Naval Reserve Center's use of the property in prior years. Ring said it most likely generated a lot of trips. Allen said it is more the time of day the trips take place. � That intersection is some difficult to navigate. She feels the proposed project will greatly impact what is already in place. Tremble said that tra�c tends to generally increase 1.5 to 2% on a street in a rypical year. � Gorrill said there are currently 439 trips that run on Essex Street south headed toward Stillwater. This project will add 7 to those. Headed in the northbound � direction, it is estimated 1 additional trip from the project. Relative to the impact on Stillwater/Essex intersection, there are 254 making the left-hand turn from Essex Street onto Stillwater toward the mall. The project would add 4. Currently , there are 108 that cross Stillwater from Essex and 2 will be added. Turning right, currently is 77 and Williams anticipates adding 1. Turning from Stillwater � onto Essex is currently 29 and he would add 3. He stressed these are during the p.m. peak hour. The numbers quoted by Gorrill are based on the 32 rental units. , Suzanne Roy representing Realty Resources. She read a letter from Joe Cloutier for the record. (get letter from Rod). She addressed the affect of the project on ' area property values. She provided copies of some nationwide studies completed indicate there is no affect of affordable housing on area property values. The construction and management of afFordable housing complex are , critical. Realty Resources spends more on construction than necessary because of the townhouse style design. It fits into neighborhoods better. Realty has its own management company. Rosemary Moyekens the CEO of Realty's � management company and Cindy Batchelder, property managers were in attendance. Rosemary addressed to the committee. Realty Resources manages � over 1,000 units in New England, with most being in Maine. They have an office in the Freese Building. The one most comparable to the proposal project is the Heights on Boyd Street in Bangor. Tenants are screened for references, income, , credit and criminal history. Leases are enforced. She spoke about the Freese � housing project also. The income level for the proposed project would be in the � range of$20,000-$35,000/yr. Stone asked how Realty Resources would protect the neighborhood if the complex were sold in the future. She said the financing source involves Maine State House Authority who requires a long-term ' commitment. They (MSHA) will do annual visits and inspections to make sure all is well cared for. Realty Resources has made a 15-year commitment. Realty Resources also has a 90-year affordability commitment to MSHA, which is a deed , restriction. If Realty Resources were to sell, it would be to a non-profit agency. Tremble stressed that Realty Resources has done wonderful projects for the City ' and that the Planning Board's decision and the Committee's questions have no reflection on Realty but rather a decision on what fits into the neighborhood. Angela Landen, 442 Essex Street. She took issue with a previously read � statement about low-income people indicating that at one point she was on ' welfare. She indicated there would be children living the project which require a lot of traveling back and forth to athletic events, etc. She read a prepared statement outlining issues against the proposed housing project. � Michelle , 373 Essex Street. From Stillwater Avenue to Milford Street, she stated there are 20 single family units, li apartment units. With the addition of � the proposed project, it brings the area to 68% apartment dwellings. From Stiliwater to the I-95 overpass, there are 34 homes and 22 apartment units. The project would change the entire fact of the neighborhood. � Norm Soucy, 276 Essex Street property owner. He commended the committee chair for returning to affordable income housing as opposed to low income. He � disagreed with the previously stated traffic turning information. He asked why the committee was reviewing the Planning Board's decision. He owns a lot at ' the end of Pine Street extension and was denied a zone change to place a building. He sold the property. A variance was granted to the new owner and an 8 unit apartment unit was constructed. He also questioned the traffic � information provided and the added traffic by the expansion around the Bangor Mall. In addition to the tra�c concerns, he asked about the problem of surface water. He specifically addressed this question to the City Engineer. In response , to Soucy, Tremble said that Realty Resources would pay taxes on the total project which is valued at approximately $3.5M. Stone explained to Soucy that the process is that a zone change goes to the Planning Board for their vote and � then to the Council, It came back to this Committee to allow opportuniry for the neighbors to speak. Another speaker talked about the Realty project on Boyd Street indicating it was , not a high density area. The Freese project didn't affect neighbors. These two � projects cannot be compared to Essex Street. Brett Lander, 442 Essex Street, indicated that placing 32 units in the middle of � single family residential homes doesn't follow good zoning planning. He questioned if the traffic studies were conducted during the school year. , � Regardless of the outcome on the proposed project, he requested a school zone, 15 mph, be placed on Essex Street. He suggested a flashing light such as for ' the 14"' Street School. He wondered why there was not more proposals received. He would be happy with single family homes as opposed to the high-density � proposal. He questioned the traffic figures that were previously discussed. Stone asked for clarification on the process to change from the current zoning to � residential zoning. McKay said it is currently Government and Institutional. The RFP issued by the Ciry indicated preferred uses were low to medium density housing and listed several uses that could go in under the current zoning; i.e. � group day care, nursery school, nursing home. To rezone for single family use would require the City or the developer to initiate a zone change request to go from G&I to Urban Residential Development I or II. iAllen talked about the City Nursing Facility's previous interest in the lot. There were traffic flow questions at that time as well. ' (Resident spoke but did not step up to the mic). ` Responding to Tremble, McKay said the zone change will go to the full City Council for consideration on August 8. The Planning Board's action is a � recommendation to the City Council. IYs the Council's decision on whether to grant the zone change. It takes 6 votes from the Council. , Responding to the suggestion that the property could be donated to Habitat for Humanity, Barrett explained that said the properly is technically owned by BIA and under the appropriate FAA rules and regulations the City cannot donate but , needs to receive fair market value for the property which depends upon the nature of the use for the zoning in place. If the city donated the properly to Habitat for Humanity, it would have to reimburse the Airport for the amount. � The acquisition costs, the removal the building, removal of asbestos is approximately $400,000. � D'Errico asked if the developer came back with a smaller project would there still be the same community reaction. ' A motion was made and seconded to send the item to the full Council on August 8, 2005 without a recommendation from the Committee. Tremble said that he ' would support the Planning Board's recommendation. Allen agreed and would like to see a project that is more responsive and in line with the needs of the neighborhood. , 4. A motion was made and seconded to go into executive session re: MRSA 405 (6). � � , , Executive Summary � Essex Street Common ' Realty Resources Chartered (RRC), the developer, proposes to build � thirty- two (32) units of affordable workforce town house style family rental housing on property at 402 Essex Street. This property was ' formally known as the" Naval Reserves Center." The project will be known as Essex Street Common. The idea is to create a well desi�ned � project that fits architecturally and by usage into the existing neighborhood. The architect for this project is David Johnson of Burnell Johnson Architects in Manchester,N.H. This firm has , designed a number of projects, including affordable workforce housing for Realty Resources Chartered throughout New England. � The engineers for this project are Carpenter Associates of Old Town, Maine. Realty Resources Chartered has made every attempt to follow the intent of the RFP, dated Dec. 5"' 2003; which the City of Bangor r ' issued for this property. All 32 units will be considered affordable and will be restricted to such use. The proposed project will pay real estate � taxes on the land and the improvements. The units will be built on the 3.83 acre parcel at 402 Essex Street. The units will be built around a "Common" and have road access only onto Essex Street. The design , will allow for a buffered area to the adjoining residential properties on Broadway and Milford Street and keep the proposed project closer to ' the existing commercial uses along Stillwater Ave. The remaining parcel of land abutting Milford Street will be retained by the city and Realty Resources Chartered has offered to clean up and landscape that ' parcel and install a paved pedestrian walkway to Milford Street, which could be illuminated with overhead lighting. Realty Resources Chartered, the Developer, proposes to build (18)- 2 , bedroom units and (14)-3 bedroom units. Of the 32 units; there will be up to (4) handicap accessible units. The 2 —bedroom units will be � approximately 900 sq. ft. and the 3- bedroom units will be approximately 1100 sq. ft. All units will have laundry areas. Essex ' Street Commons will have a community room for the use of the tenants. The construction designs and qualities will conform to at least the � standards imposed by the equity lenders and the Maine State Housing i / ' , Authority who is a partner for this project, as well as all applicable local codes as well as restrictions and conditions imposed by the � planning board in the permitting process. The project will be on public water and sewer and will be heated by either oil or gas. The foundations will be slab on grade. � The property is presently zoned G&ISD (Government and Institutional Service District), whicb does not allow for residential ' development. The Request for Proposal stated that a request for rezoning to URD-2 would be considered. Although the proposed 32 units should be less than the number allowed if the property were � rezoned URD-2 and would meet all the lot coverage percentages and setback requirements, it was decided that we would request a rezoning to the more restrictive Contract zoning- HDR (high density � residential). This was done, in part to allay people's concern over the possibility to further develop on the parcel. ' Realty Resources Management will handle management of the completed project. RRM cunently manages over 1800 units of 1 housing in New England. There is a need for quality affordable housing in cities such as Bangor that is affordable to people in the workforce. This project will provide � safe, clean housing for such families in an urban setting, close to schools and existing services. An "infill" project such as this is the ' type of anti-sprawl smart growth that the State Planning Office encourages. It is the intent of Realty Resources Chartered to provide needed workforce housing such as this project would provide and be a � good neighbor in the existing neighborhood. ' , 1 , 1 � ,