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Home My WebLink About1995-09-06 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes � COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, Sept . 6, 1995 @ 5 : 00 PM MINUTES COMMITTEE PRESENT: Councilor Chris Popper, Chairman Councilor Gerard Baldacci Councilor Timothy Woodcock STAFF PRESENT: Edward Barrett, City Manager Kenneth Gibb, Director of Community & Economic Dev. T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator Dan Wellington, Code Enforcement Director John Lord, Planning Officer Jim Ring, City Engineer Don Winslow, Bangor Police Dept . Gary Jewell, Parking Dept . OTHERS : Residents of Howard Street / Mt . Hope Ave. Area (See attached list) Other Citizens The meeting was called to order at 5 : 10 PM by Committee . Chairman Chris Popper. Councilor Popper made the following statement for those citizens attending with respect to Items 1-5 : The following parking ordinance amendments will be discussed at the full City Council meeting on Monday, September 11, 1995; only the Council can officially pass these with a majority vote of 5 . The C&ED Committee reviews them to determine if they should be forwarded to the Council . AGENDA ITEM #1 - Parking Ordinance Amendment - Parking Prohibited At All Times - Garland Street This item proposes restricting parking to one side of Garland Street between Broadway and Center Streets . The reason for doing this is that Garland Street is narrow - 22' in width; it is currently a one-way street also. Staff has reviewed the street and agrees with this request . A resident of Garland Street spoke to the Committee requesting that also a handicapped parking space be provided on this street . . � 2� It was agreed among Staff and the Committee to have this issue handled separately. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this ; ordinance amendment (Chapter III, Art 6, Schedule I) as presented. So voted. � AGENDA ITEM #2 - Parking Ordinance Amendment - Parking Prohibited At All Times - Hammond Street . The owner of Hammond Street Exxon has requested that parking of cars in the vicinity of their business be prohibited as there is a visibility problem for customers entering and exiting their business on Hammond Street . Staff has reviewed this request and found that only 1 parking space would be lost which will not likely impact the neighborhood. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this ordinance amendment (Chapter III, Art 6, Schedule I) as presented. So voted. • AGENDA ITEM #3 - Parking Ordinance Amendment - Brown Street Staff stated that Frank' s Bakery located at 199 State Street, has requested that since the loading zone on Brown Street (adjacent to their store) is no longer used could it be discontinued for that use. Staff has reviewed the area and since there are no other businesses in the vicinity which would be impacted, they recommend this parking ordinance amendment as presented. t A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this ordinance amendment (Chapter III, Art 6, Schedule I) as presented. So voted. AGENDA ITEM #4 - Parking Ordinance Amendment - Parking Limited to One Hour - Main Street This amendment is requested by the owner of the Siam Restaurant in order to provide parking for their customers (approximately 4-5 spaces for an average 1 hour use) . . � 3/ Jon Dawson of ERA Dawson Real Estate, located at the corner of Sydney and Main Streets near the Siam Restaurant, stated that he is opposed to this ordinance amendment . His customers need to park on the street for periods ranging from 2-4 hours while looking at real estate and the current ordinance is best suited to his business needs . He also stated that when an ordinance change occurred for Sydney Street (side street adjacent to Mr. Dawson' s business) for one side parking only, it eliminated 4 valuable parking spaces; his business cannot afford to lose mor.e spaces. A motion was made and seconded to forward this item to the full City Council for further discussion without a recommendation from the C&ED Committee . So voted. AGENDA ITEM #5 - Parking Ordinance Amendment - Parking for Handicapped - State Street ERA Columbia Real Estate at 181 State Street has requested that two handicapped parking spaces be provided for their handicapped tenants. . Staff has reviewed the area and has found that space could be established. This change, however, would accommodate only 1 . handicapped parking space instead of the two requested due to a right-hand turning lane on State Street . Don Smaha, representing ERA Columbia who owns the property in question, spoke to the Committee stating that originally when the right-hand turn lane was constructed, there were two parking spaces lost in front of the building. Three out of their five tenants are handicapped and their request is sought for these tenants when entering and exiting their taxi cabs . Staff stat�ed that taxi cabs cannot use a handicapped space; that perhaps a "Loading Zone" sign would be more appropriate which taxi' s are allowed to use. Mr. Smaha acknowledged that this may be more appropriate since 2 of the 3 handicapped tenants do not have vehicles of their own. The third handicapped tenant has a handicapped license on her vehicle . A motion was made to recommend denial of this ordinance amendment as presented. The Committee voted 2-1 in favor of the motion to recommend denial . This will be continued at the City Council meeting on Monday, Sept . 11, 1995 . . • 4/ AGENDA ITEM #6 - Mt . Hope / Howard Street Traffic Counts City Engineer Jim Ring updated the Committee on this item. In the spring of this year several residents of the Howard Street / Mt . Hope Ave. area expressed to the City their concern with the volume of traffic on Howard Street . A traffic study by the City, over the daily/hourly course of a week, followed. The results showed that traffic heading toward Stillwater Ave. from State Street onto Howard Street is slightly higher then coming from Stillwater back to State Street - a 20-25o differential . There has been a general increase in the amount of traffic in the area since the last study data of 1982 . However, the study showed that there were no significant highs and lows for any given hour of any given day. The data pattern shows that traffic is locally generated with no correlation with respect to the larger employer' s business hours in that locale . These counts are very similar to other sections of the City; part is due to population increase but there also are more drivers per household than there were 20 years ago. Questions and comments were taken from the residents of the areas in question. . A small sampling of traffic counts on Fern and Garland Streets were done also and the results showed that it was almost identical in the numbers as the Howard/Stillwater Ave. volume . Staff pointed out that the entire residential area involved has a population of 6-8, 000 people so that even if the thru-traffic were eliminated there would still be a high volume of traffic on the thru streets just going to and from work,. shopping, etc. Staff offered some alternatives to the traffic volume problem: 1) prohibit left turns onto Howard Street from State Street; 2) the lower block between Howard and Garland Streets could be made one-way either north bound or south bound. The impact of these alternatives are unknown at this time; further consideration by Staff and Committee has to be discussed before finalizing any changes . Residents presented their various thoughts as to how to solve the heavy traffic counts such as one-way streets on several residential streets, dead end streets and speed bumps (which are not legal on public streets) . Further discussions will continue on this subject at a later time after Staff has further looked into the proposed alternatives . . .� . . • 5/ ;s ;; As a side issue, a resident asked Staff as to the status of the proposed off-ramp from I-95 onto Stillwater Ave. Staff replied that there' s a study underway by the agency obtained by the State � and when that is completed the City will be informed as to the State' s decision. Also, either in late September or early October , of this year MDOT will be holding an informational meeting on this issue -- it will be well published as to date, time and location. AGENDA ITEM #7 - Planning / Code. Enforcement Update - West Side Parking Recommendations Meetings were held recently with the residents of the area from lower Main Street and Lincoln Streets as far up as Fifth Street to show them the criteria involved with either making the streets two-way traffic with no parking or one-way with parking on one side . Because of the length and slopes of some of these streets, however, it was felt that one way traffic would restrict � the residents. After recalculating the various criteria there are . some streets where parking on one side is possible but that other streets have yet to be decided and will require further review by . Staff. Ken Gibb stated that a solution to the remaining streets should be found soon; that a meeting with the residents needs to be held in October where at Staff will present their recommendations . Another topic is that there will be a follow up meeting on the one-way traffic on Pearl and Fruit Streets . Questionnaires were sent out to those residents; they are currently being received back. The meeting has been scheduled at Garland Street School cafeteria on Thursday, September 21st at 7 PM. - Sears Island Cargoport Testimony Ken Gibb` stated that he planned to testify on Tuesday, September 12th in support of the Sears Island Cargoport Facility. Ken briefed the Committee on what he would say at this hearing. A copy of his statement would be forwarded to the City Council on _ Monday, Sept . llth. - Business Directional Signs Ken updated the Committee on this item. Initially a letter was received this past summer from a Mr. Taylor (President of the company that owns The Colonial House of Pancakes, Hogan Road) . He has asked the City to reconsider the current City restriction on business directional information signs (also known as travel • information signs) . He' d like the City to consider permitting such signs in the City of Bangor. � 6/ Ken stated that the current Maine law allows up to 6 directional signs per business. Some communities set their own criteria with a limited number of signs with restrictions; in other communities (usually larger cities with a sizeable number of businesses) the signs are completely restricted; and then others follow the state law. Ken indicated that, as an example in Bangor, the number of businesses in the Hogan Road area is about 315 establishments . This becomes a problem with respect to logistics . If businesses are to be allowed to have these signs in the this area there would be intense competition for sign location and insufficient room for every business to be accommodated. There are also aesthetic issues that should be considered. The consensus of Staff and Committee at this time, however, is that Mr. Taylor' s request should not be approved due to logistics and the high number of businesses in the Hogan Road/Mall area which are also likely to request this signage. Staff will communicate this by letter. AGENDA ITEM #8 - Community Development Residential Rehabilitation . Loan - 213 Falvey Street, Single Family T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator, presented this loan request to the Committee. A motion was made and seconded to approve this request as presented. So voted. AGENDA ITEM #9 - Mobile Home Relocation Loan T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator, presented this item to the Committee . This issue results from the relocation of residents of the Queen City Mobile Home Park on Stillwater Ave . , Bangor. This particular resident has encountered some additional expenses in the process of moving their mobile home to another park. A City Council Ordinance states that Staff can approve up to $3 , 000 for these residents' relocation costs; any costs above and beyond th.is has to come before the C&ED Committee for approval . The additional costs for this particular resident come to $1, 540 . 55 . Their application meets all criteria with respect to empl�yment and income, good credit rating; financial security in the mobile home (no other mortgage on it) . � � �/ A motion was made and seconded to approve this loan request as presented. So voted. AGENDA ITEM #10 - Distance Limitation on Mobile Home Relocation Loans Ken Gibb introduced this item; it comes before the Committee at the request of Councilor Pat Blanchette as a result of an ad from a Milo, Maine mobile home park owner soliciting Queen City residents to relocate to their park. Councilor Blanchette is concerned that limitations as to distance need to be clarified with regard to the relocation of the Queen City Mobile Home Park residents . Staff stated that in the original ordinance on this issue of relocation that 15 miles out of the City of Bangor was given as a basic limitation. However, this 15 mile limit was not intended to discourage these particular residents who have no choice but to relocate. Staff reiterated that the residents can move wherever they wish but that the City will only pay for relocation costs up • to the 15 miles -- anything beyond that the resident has to pay for. With no further business at hand, the meeting was adj ourned at approximately 7 : 00 PM. rp � � � ,t� � '� `_ '�� Z��ea��C� _ ._. _.�._..;:.. ,�i'i.�. ,, � __._ -- ;: : �- ,,,�,u.�� _ _,S"�'..�.,�'��r�o��S7`"---- _ g�'z �'�z 7 :; .. ___ _ ._... ___. _ : - -:;,� ;:; :t _ : . . :y. -!r,...._.,_..._.._...._,�_»..v,..�.._. '; ,....._._.: I�01.7t�'d'� ./fL: _ _.. .,. _ ._...._._ �...__�.._.._._. - ..._ _ ____----....._......_..... _._......___._....... . -...._�._.._._�w..� ,._._..__.�__�'.'".'�___...___....--..__2..s. ,,.. 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