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Home My WebLink About1997-07-09 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes S COMMUNITY& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, July 9, 1997 @5:00 PM MINUTES COMMITTEE PRESENT: Councilor James Tyler Councilor Michael Aube Councilor Joseph Baldacci STAFF PRESENT: Councilor Patricia Blanchette Edward A. Barrett, City Manager - Stan Moses, Asst. C.D. Director Dan Wellington, Code Enforcement Officer John Lord, Planning Officer Steve Bolduc, Economic Development Officer Don Winslow, Police Dept. Norm Heitmann, Asst. City Solicitor OTHERS PRESENT: Central Street Business Owners Peter Libhart, Representative from Barigor Hydro Electric Company Residents of Highland Lane � Roxanne Saucier, BDN The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Councilor James Tyler at 5:00 PM. Committee Chair Tyler made a motion to hear Item#9 first. So moved. Chair Tyler then stated that he had a conflict of interest with Item#9 and that Councilor Blanchette would sit in as a voting member in his place on this item only. ITEM#9 -Bangor Hydro Electric Proposal for Central Street Lot Stan Moses, Asst. C.D. Director,updated the Committee and members of the audience on this item stating that since the Committee last addressed this issue, a meeting was held between the Central Street business owners and representatives from the Bangor Hydro Electric Company in order to answer concerns and take suggestions as well as in hopes of working out differences. The Hydro has come back to the Committee this evening with a new proposal whereby they wish instead of acquiring the Central Lot they would like to obtain an easement for use of the lot. Peter Libhart of the Hydro then spoke outlining the proposal. The business owners on Central Street adjacent to this lot, however, are not in favor of the Hydro being granted use for their equipment. After much discussion, a motion was made and seconded to refer this item to Council without recommendation. So voted. Asst. City Solicitor Norm Heitmann will prepare a Council Order to refer this to the Council for their meeting on Monday, July 14 at 7:30 PM. • Patricia Alcott presented to Councilor Blanchette a letter from Cheryl Wi:cson and asked that this be entered into the record. Councilor Blanchette so acknowledged. � 2/ A further motion was made and seconded to hear Item#3 at this time. So moved. ITEM#3 - Referral of Ordinance Amendment 97-291 - Parking Prohibited At All Times - Highland Lane Due to residents concerns of accessibility on Highland Lane it is recommended that all parking on this 12-foot wide street not be allowed. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this item as presented. So voted. ITEM#1 - Referral of Proposed Ordinance Amendment 97-289 -Parking Prohibited at All Times - Springer Drive,Longview Drive, Frost Drive, Hogan Road, Ridgewood Drive, Stillwater Ave.,Bangor Mall Blvd., Haskell Road, Gilman Road, ,Gilman Plaza and Penn Plaza This ordinance amendment will prohibit parking at all times on the subject streets. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this item as presented. So voted. � ITEM#2 -Referral of Proposed Ordinance Amendment 97-290 -Parking Prohibited at All Times - 14th Street Due to a resident's concern on 14th Street between Union and Ohio of lack of width for two-way traffic and parking, it is recommended that parking be allowed only on the north side of the street. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this item as presented. So voted. ITEM#4 -Authorizing Parking Lease Agreement- Columbia Street Deck- Chandler Bay Group The Chandler Bay Group has requested approval to lease parking spaces at the Columbia Street deck. They would like to lease 15 spaces for a term of 3 years at the rate of$40 per space. An agreement between the City and Chandler Bay Group was drafted by the City's Legal Dept. for 14 spaces (which is the actual available spaces) at$560 per month for 3 years. Lease terminates early if the Lessee vacates the premises. A motion was made and seconded to approve this item as presented. So voted. ' 3/ � ITEM#5 -Approval of a Contract with Interspace Airport Advertising Steve Bolduc presented a contract with Interspace Airport Advertising to rent at the Bangor Airport a display case on the upper level of the terminal and on the lower level a backlit display near the baggage claim. This will be a one-year contract at a rate of$6,700 for the two display areas. A motion was made and seconded to approve this item as presented. So voted. ITEM#6 -United Technology Center's Offer to Construct "Train Station" for Waterfront The United Technology Center has offered to construct on the Bangor Waterfront a train station to be used as a tourist attraction. The blueprints and construction project will be done by the students at the Center. A motion was made and seconded to approve this item as presented. So voted. ITEM#7 -Authorizing Agreement with John Bapst- Sandwich Board Sign in Right-of-Way A motion was made and seconded to approve this item as presented. So voted. � ITEM#8 -Authorizing Agreement with Penobscot Inn- Removal of Brush from City Property A motion was made and seconded to approve this item as presented. So voted. ITEM#10 - Economic Development Update Steve Bolduc, Economic Development Officer, updated the Committee on the construction process of the extension of the BanAir Road. Payment for road construction will be made part of the Fedex-Cargex construction package. The project will be overseen by the City's Engineering Department. At completion,the roadway will be accepted as a City street. Costs will be deducted from the selling price of the land parcel. A motion was made and seconded to approve the construction process for the BanAir Road as presented. So voted. ITEM#11 - Code Enforcement Update -Discussion of Downtown Contractor Permit Policy and Request for Loading Zone on State Street Dan Wellington reviewed for discussion purposes the issuing of contractor permits for use when major construction takes place in the downtown area. The current fee is $3.50 per day. � Permits are available in the Code Enforcement Office from 8 AM -4:30 PM and at the Police Dept. from 7 AM - 5 PM weekdays. 4/ • ITEM#12 - Planning Update John Lord, Planning Officer, stated that there is a correction to the original zone change to add a narrow strip of land(approximately 35 feet) across the rear of the parcel on Union Street (which is currently under option). This is necessary so that the entire parcel falls within the correct zoning. Also, there is included an additional area for the relocation of the existing propane storage tanks. With no further business at hand,the meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM. � � � �U�' 1�71 �i?�r�'�id�+��;�l �' ` � �U�tc. � �e 0`flCUS�r'/a� !�-/��''� �� r.�r� /1��°�1��f. �l�i� • To the esteemed members of the Bangor Community&Economic Development Council, I regret that I am unable to present these remarks to you personally. It is my desire to focus your attention on the historical significance of the Zoidis Park and its plantings. First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Cheryl A.Wixson, former owner of Gourmet to Go and Cafe Nouveau, two food-service businesses that were located directly across Central Street from the Zoidis Park. In addition to being the former proprietor of those two businesses that closed in 1994, I am also an agricultural engineer, a registered Professional Engineer, and the landscape architect that designed the Zoidis Park and has maintained it since 1993. First, a history on the significance of the property. In 1906, three young men immigrated from Albania to the promised land of America. The three brothers, Nicholas, • Gregory and John Zoidis, lived on Hancock Street, and found employment across the river at the Eastern Corporation. The work was hard and the pay was poor. To supplement their meager wages, they started peddling produce and fruit door-to-door to their neighbors. By the late 1920's they had accumulated the financial resources to purchase a building in the busy economic center of Bangor and they established the Zoidis Brothers Fruit Store. Gregory Zoidis left the business after a few years, but his son Paul maintained the family connection to food, and in 1940 on property adjacent to the Air Base, he opened a small restaurant known as the Pilot's Grill. The brothers closed the fruit business in late 1955, but two more generations of Zoidis have continued at the successful Bangor landmark now located on outer Hammond Street. After the building burned, the lot was vacant for several years. A restaurant used it for an outdoor cafe, and the Manna Food Kitchen attempted to place propane tanks on it but was denied a permit. In the spring of 1993, after discussions with Ken Gibb in which I • volunteered to design, plant and maintain a park, Roland Perry, the city forester, and I created the Zoidis Park. • The design of the Zoidis Park was to prove most challenging, as the shadows from the three surrounding buildings create an unusual micro-climate, and the area receives only 280 degrees of sunlight for short hours. While Bangor has a rich history of landscape architecture, most notably Mount Hope Cemetery, designed by Charles G. Bryant, this area is unusual as it is Bangor's only non-walk-through park. It was my vision to create a restful haven where one might escaped the frenzied pace of the office right in the middle of the city and to use plantings indigenous to the area. The design for the first year was modeled after a French kitchen garden. Once my clientele realized the City's intentions for the Park, there were many offers for historical plantings from other gardens throughout the region. The rheum officinale (rhubarb) originates from the Crockett family homestead built in Norway, Maine in the early 1800's. The two varieties of Iridacae are from the Freese estate via the Drummond-Freese home. Armoracea lapathifolia and levisticum of�icinale were donated from an old farmstead on � Essex Street. The fumariaceae originated at the Cutting-Kent double house on Penobscot Street, and many other herbaceous perennials were gathered from the older gardens of the city. As with any landscape garden, a design is never complete, but is a work in progress. After the second season I was able to judge the micro-climate more thoroughly and noted what survived the winters. Accordingly I purchased an unusual collection of wetland perennials from Windswept Gardens, and I note that have flourished in the past two years. This year, Patricia Alcott and Marilyn Ireland graciously volunteered to attend the maintenance of the Park, while I continue the design in progress. In closing, I must first note that the rendering presented by John Rohman, while a pretty picture, is not horticulturally possible. Trees, in real life, do not grow to look like lollipops, and linemen backing up bucket-trucks will eventually break their limbs. � Secondly, for almost ten years I worked as a Construction Supervisor for Nynex. I understand that working in the underground is not as efficient or productive as above • ground, but every major city in the world has its utilities: gas, power, telecommunications in the underground. It is a part of the business. Which leads me to my third point, which is a decision that the City of Bangor and her people need to make. Are we a major city? Or are we just a small town that offers a lot of services to the sunounding communities? I believe that Bangor has the potential to be a major city and I believe that decisions to move utilities above-ground establish a dangerous precedent. The landscape of Bangor is all ready scaned with poor decisions made during Urban Renewal. I urge you to consider the historical significance of our City and to reject this request. Thank you for your consideration. � • �`� .---�� Jt��L� -�-1�� /t�r. ��.�� -{� .� � � c}a�.. � �z c�K�,� ? ��'�f�srf- �� _�. , ..� � ' . .. � { �}��aY {��i t t a�� , �,��t `�, �2'� f2� �G�C t� v� C�`�`1� �`i-�.�.t�j�� -��'t � �tGr� "Jt� CT � U June 30, �9�7 � � l 1 SG� ' � ,�,tiL(,�� --�.-� � SUBJECT: Why there is s rong op osition to the permanent development of the Zoidis Lot on Gen#ra! St. by Bangor Hydro I will be presenting a signed petition showing that virtua!!y every business on Centra( St. is apposed ta a utiiity use of the Zoidis lat an Central St. This action would preciude future develapment of this central and historically retai! parce!_ Future possibiiities might be the use by a restaurant fiar aifresco seating or the construction ofi another building which could utilize the remaining sidewalls and cella�, creating an uninterrupted retaii avenue in Bangor's very center. The abutting buiiding is (isted in the Maine Register of Nistaric Places. This prime location is a bad choice fQr transformers. Far a modest one-time (ease payment the eity wou(d forfeit (1} a very pleasant alcave park, (2� any ability to have it become a retail space and (3} any tax revenues deriving from such use.. About a decade ago Bangor spent a large sum of money for a study of the downtown district. This was a comprehensive pian put forth in a book by Lane, Frenchman and Associates of Baston lauding the historic and noteworthy architectura! qualities of Bangor's Nistoric District. This particufar parce{ is mentioned. It was advised that a building is the best use of this lot. i recentiy cailed Por�land Gity Hai( and taiked with Liz Dar{ing, in charge of � dawntown development; Mike Collins, the electrica! inspector; and Deb Andrews, senior planner and historic preservation program coordinatar. They have no knowledge of any attempt by their electric uti(ity to bring equipment above graund in their downtown. In fact, they are currentiy getting any remaining above-ground equipment put underground. They have a strict preservation and review ordinance which is prabably why their Old Port Area has been such a success. lt seems the trend for most downtown communities is to keep the electric equipment underground and aut ofi site, especia((y in Historic Districts. Downtown Bangor is an Nistoric District. Other utility companies manage this activity continually. The care#u! and visua!!y eongruous use ofi Historic District parcels demand this ijrpe of sub levei (ocation. Most utilities in dawntowns across the nation dea! with subterranean locations. Bangor Hydro was encouraged to fook for another (ocation for these boxes at a recent meeting. An alternative is to update their equipment and keep it underground as 99% afi ai( ather downtowns require, historic or nat. I hope this informatian wil! be helpfu! in making these crucia! decisions for Bangar's Histaric Downtown. �i ereiy, . � �C C��- / ' �''' Patricia J. Alcott � d.b.a. Alcott Antiques 942-7706 ._