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Home My WebLink About2022-01-18 Planning Board Minutes PLANNING BOARD TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022, 7:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS AND VIA ZOOM MEETING MINUTES Board Members Present: Ken Huhn, Chair Reese Perkins, Vice Chair Michael Bazinet Ted Brush Alison Coladarci Don Meagher Lisa Shaw City Staff Present: Anja Collette, Planning Analyst Anne Krieg, City Planner John Theriault, City Engineer Chair Huhn called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ______________________________________________________________________________ LAND DEVELOPMENT PERMITS 1. Land Development Permit Application for Site Development Plan – 410 State Street – Map- Lot 054-224-C – Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center - Land Development Permit Application for Site Development Plan approval for parking lot reconstruction of the Wing Parking Lot, on the north side of State Street, at property located at 410 State Street, Map-Lot 054-224- C, in the Government & Institutional Service (G&ISD) District. Applicant; Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Agent; Wright Pierce c/o Jaime Wallace, PE. Janet McLaughlin with Northern Light Health present in Council Chambers; Jan Wegman and Jaime Wallace, with Wright Pierce presented the following in part and in substance: Proposed reconstruction, raise of grade of lot, addition of base materials to solve existing drainage issues Located off State Street to north of EMMC campus Zoned as I&S based on 12/09/2016 zoning map, contract zoning agreement established 11/27/1989 Parking lot with approximately 585 spaces in the lower portion Proposed project is adjusting the grade of the parking lot to help alleviate some historical flooding that has occurred in recent past Parking lot experiencing degradation of pavement surfaces Subsurface gravels highly susceptible to frost action based on Geotech reports 73 HARLOW STREET, BANGOR, ME 04401 TELEPHONE: (207) 992-4280 FAX: (207) 945-4447 WWW.BANGORMAINE.GOV Planning Board Meeting Minutes – January 18, 2022 History of periodic flooding during major storm events, including sewer overflow within parking lot Large watershed area draining to major City trunk-line through lot (160-acres) Proposing phasing plan for project o Shaded portion and portion above – Phase I and II Phases over two separate construction seasons Alleviate parking concerns o Phase I Grading to say about the same, parking lot to be raised 1-2 feet (steepest portion of the parking lot) Re-grading around bottom portion of parking lot to promote stormwater storage Installation of additional basins to help route water to storm drain system’ Storm drain improvements Working with City Engineering on improvements to state Street storm drain crossing – improvements help alleviate flooding within parking lot Site Lighting Upgrading lighting fixtures and poles, concert to energy efficient LED lighting Parking Access Temporary secondary access to Phase II, to be removed at the end of construction, allow employees to use parking area during Phase I Parking spaces to be re-stablished after secondary access removed No Changes proposed to landscape buffers, some impact to tree buffer for grading, trees removed within buffer to be replaced in-kind, planting will be restored per original approved site plan; damaged curbing to be replaced, island locations to remain, pedestrian and vehicle access to State Street to remain the same Question regarding fencing – currently is fenced - no proposed change to any of the fencing due to grading. Fencing will be maintained, same as it is now. Board discussed time period for approvals, and how this project will be going over three seasons – Site Plan approval good for 2 years, can obtain extension if needed. Third phase would be maintenance – Planning Board approval would not be needed. Member Brush made a motion to approve the Land Development Permit Application for Site Development Plan approval for parking lot reconstruction of the Wing Parking Lot, on the north side of State Street, at property located at 410 State Street, Map-Lot 054-224-C, in the Government & Institutional Service (G&ISD) District. Applicant; Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Agent; Wright Pierce c/o Jaime Wallace, PE, seconded by Member Bazinet. No further discussion. All members in favor, roll call vote not taken. Page 2 | 4 Planning Board Meeting Minutes – January 18, 2022 OTHER BUSINESS 2. Housing Discussion Planning Officer Krieg reviewed the documents that were presented to the Business and Economic Development Committee (BED) earlier this evening. She also reviewed the work from the recommendations from theAffordable Housing Workgroup from 2019. Boarding houses – research on other communities & cities are dealing with this issue – they’re making a comeback for a different market – those fresh out of school, retirees but congregate care/assisted living not needed, etc. Boarding house model has been upgraded, centralized kitchen, functionality of dorm – own room, own bathroom with common areas. Boarding Houses only allowed in M&SD at this time and Downtown. Bed & Breakfast – allowance in larger homes, historical districts –where it makes sense to provide this as an option Short Term Rentals – council asked for more research. Planning Analyst Collette worked with Granicus to obtain feedback from other communities on how they regulate this use –research is in the packet as well – recommendation to have registration system, inspection. Licensing needed for hotels – many communities do this registration. Owner- occupied was also heard “loud and clear.” Allowances for certain areas if not owner- occupied. The Board discussed that short-term rentals and long-term rentals are not defined uses. The code is silent on the topic of residential rental properties, and doesn’t distinguish between owner-occupied and renter-occupied, or length of term of rental. Assuring safety of rental occupants should not be limited to short-term rentals only – all residential rental properties should be registered and inspected. Non-Bangor resident ownership or long-term rentals and group homes – would present the same concerns regarding contacting owner for problem resolution, location of ownership should be uniformed for all rental properties. Disruptive activities concern neighbor, connected with short term rentals, can also happen with long-term and owner-occupied residential properties. People work different shifts, noise all hours of the day and night. Concern for affordable housing, obligation to address should be borne by the entire community, not the individuals attempting to sell their homes. Discussion regarding the need of local ownership for these rental properties. Page 3 | 4 Planning Board Meeting Minutes – January 18, 2022 Direction moving in general is good; liked seeing what other community approaches were –ex; Portland. When an owner is on the property, they can be reached, spoken to and will typically respond. When an owner is out of state, that creates a barrier -prevents problems from being solved properly/easily. Vice Chair Perkins refers to the apartment mapping link sent out to members –over URD- 1 zoning –you’ll see that URD-1 is full of apartments within this City. No solution that has been proposed that fixes this problem – zoned as URD-1 and turn them into multi-family homes, or they’re already multifamily homes, and they’re trying to rezone them. No mechanism to handle these, with exception of removing URD-1. 3. Comprehensive Plan Update Bird-Safe building discussion last week, this week Community Land Trusts Affordable Housing Workgroup Plan, and Parks & Recreation Master Plan – URL was sent out to members Livable Communities – Working on recommendation to make parks more accessible, more benches, etc. Consultants working on data sets for all the chapters Comprehensive Plan site is up – on the City’s webpage 4. Annual Training – Provided by Planning Officer Krieg Additionally, the Board welcomedAlison. 5. Meeting Minutes of December 21, 2021 and January 4, 2022 st December 21 –all members in favor, none opposed th Jan 4 –all members in favor, none opposed 6. Adjournment – 8:20 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Melissa L. Bickford Development Assistant Planning Department Page 4 | 4