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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-04 Planning Board Minutes � = � , r��l �� _ '�'���1/��,..�� ��'�``� � �'���'���'� ,� , . � .. �TM --� o �1EV�� L���EI'`��I' �� �ITY �� BANG+C�R. PLANVUII�IG DIVIS[C7V�7 PLANNING BOARD TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2023, 7:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 3RD FLOOR CITY HALL ALSO; ATTENDANCE VIA ZOOM MEETING MINUTES Board Members Present: Chair Reese Perkins Vice Chair Ted Brush Ken Huhn Don Meagher Trish Hayes Jonathan Boucher Michael Bazinet Citv Staff Present: Anne Krieg, Planning Officer/Development Director Anja Collette, Planning Analyst David Szewczyk, City Solicitor John Theriault, City Engineer Chair Perkins called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. LAND DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 1. Land Develoament Permit Aaalication—Site Develoament Plan—123 Center Street—Maa- Lot 040-100 - Land Development Permit Application — Site Development Plan to transfer to a different legally non-conforming use (professional office to mixed commercial residential, the commercial use being a massage therapy business) at property located at 123 Center Street, Map-Lot 040-100, in the Urban Residence 1 District (URD-1). Applicant: Mark Kunstman. Mark Kunstman, applicant, presented to the podium. Recently bought 123 Center Street; is currently rehabilitating it. Applying for a change from one non-conforming use to another. The plan is for his girlfriend and 1 or 2 other people to live upstairs and work downstairs as part of a massage therapy business. Center Street is a busy street with several other businesses already. Would be pretty quiet and have minimal impact on neighborhood. The maximum number of customers at a time would be 3. Hoping Planning Board will say it's okay for them to use the 5 parking spaces they have on site and not have to continue leasing the parking spaces across the street. Development Director Krieg added that this request is a little different than previous requests with a traditional site plan because the finding here is whether the new use will have a greater impact than the previous use. Chair Perkins asked about the parking; Krieg said she thought it was adequate. Perkins asked about the number of apartments on the 2�d floor. Applicant said it would be just one. 73 HARLOW STREET,BANGOR,ME 04401 TELEPHONE: (207)992-4280 FAX: (207) 945-4447 WWW.BANGORMAINE.GOV City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 Jeff Gray, 100 Lancaster Ave, approached the podium. Owns the building at 114 Center Street, right across the street. Said the law firm that's been there has been a great neighbor. The proposed use sounds great on paper, but he has become leery of some of the proposed zone changes in the neighborhood. Has seen 2 homeless shelters pop up on either side of them. The Maine Historical Association considers this to be a historically significant building. Sits next to the Jewish chapel at 118 Center Street. The chapel is only used for funerals so there's hardly anyone there except for homeless people. People who come there to worship have to step over waste to get to services. Very cautious about zoning changes in the area. What happens if it doesn't work out? Then the zoning has changed on the building forever. The neighborhood has had a lot of investment, but the investment will dry up if we don't clean up the homeless problem. Wanted to bring that to the Board's attention. Thinks this will be fine, but hopes [the applicant] knows what they're getting into. Member Bazinet asked Gray if he'd reached out to Bangor PD, what kind of response he's gotten. Gray said yes, they'll come if they have time, but they don't want to have to arrest them. Bazinet said that's not really what they were hired to do- they're not hired to be social workers or outreach workers; but was wondering what kind of response Gray had gotten when he made a call; is the issue resolved immediately or are they camping out on Gray's doorstep or the tenant's doorstep? Gray said they keep their front lobby locked most of the time now. It's become a serious issue for his tenants. Has gotten really bad in the past 4-5 years. The Police go by there quite a few times a day, but they're not social workers. Perkins interjected — understands the concerns and questions from Bazinet, but if you live in Bangor, you've probably experienced this some time or another. There are groups within the City that are doing tremendous things to help fix this problem; certainly the Police are well aware of it and doing what they can, but they're very limited. Doesn't want to turn this meeting into a discussion of homelessness. Bazinet stated he was asking to see if Jeff as a landlord could get an immediate resolution to his problem. Krieg asked Gray if he thinks that the proposed use if activated will be detrimental to the neighborhood. Gray said no, he just wants them to know what they're getting into. Member of the public, Pauline Decessory, approached the podium. Lives at 112 Center Street. Talked about the homelessness problem becoming much bigger when the warming shelters opened. Perkins reiterated that they're trying to focus on the proposed change of use. Asked Decessory if she had any issues with that; Decessory said no. Perkins talked about unresolved question of the parking and whether the applicant could go with just the 5 on site. Bazinet and Huhn expressed satisfaction with that. John Theriault said he thought it would be sufficient. Member Hayes asked for clarification on the use, whether it was medical or commercial. Krieg clarified that the massage therapy use is a personal service use, which is a different use than what's there, which is why they need the non-conformity to be transferred over. Member Huhn moved to approve the Land Development Permit Application - Site Development Plan for 123 Center Street, Map-Lot 040-100, for mixed commercial residential use, with the provision that the previous 8 parking spaces can be reduced down to 5. Member Meagher seconded. All in favor, none opposed. Page 2� 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 2. Land Develoament Permit Aaalication — Site Develoament Plan. Minor Subdivision Modification. and Minor SLODA revision — Haskell Road — Maa-Lots R70-001. R69- 005. & R70-001-P - Land Development Permit Application — Site Development Plan, Minor Subdivision Modification, and Minor SLODA revision to remove Map-Lot R69-005 and a portion of Map-Lot R70-001 from the Rolling Meadows subdivision and Site Location permit, to amend the Haskell Road Subdivision by splitting Map-Lot R70-001-P, and to construct a 500kW-AC solar array and associated access drive on Map-Lots R70- 001 and R70-001-P, located off Haskell Road in the Low Density Residential District (LDR). The area of the fenced array will be approximately 2.81 acres and the total new impervious area will be approximately 0.53 acres. Applicant: Haskell Road Solar Array, LLC Jim Kiser presented the application on Zoom and described the project. The access road to the site will improve the stream crossing of Meadow Brook and create an open span on that rather than a culvert to restore the streamflow through the area, as well as upgrade the road width of the access road into the solar array. The project will require a DEP stormwater permit because part of the site is in an impaired stream watershed. Member Bazinet asked about the remediation portion of the solar array; read the schedule for the remediation at the end of life and was wondering where those numbers came from. Kiser said those come through the solar company and there's been a publication put out in New York determining some end-of-use life for these things, but the numbers were actually bumped up after recommendation from City Engineer Theriault, so they're actually higher than the publicized numbers. Thinks it's probably a best guess on the whole thing because you're looking 20 years into the future. It does give some surety and money up front that does cover those activities if needed. Bazinet asked for confirmation on total number, fast forward 30 or 40 years, which is actually how long it might last. Have we factored in inflation? Theriault said it gets reviewed every 5 years; Krieg confirmed. Theriault said these numbers were consistent with what we have for the larger projects even though this is a smaller project. Is comfortable that 25,000 is a very good starting point and then it will get re- assessed. As solar projects hit their life expectancy, we may be getting very different estimates as far as what can be re-used and recycled. Bazinet asked what happens if it doubles. Theriault said when it gets reassessed, the property owner would have to add additional money into escrow if that occurred. Kiser said there's no accommodation in there for any recycled materials that may come out of the panels; DEP has provided some ability to reduce that based on recycling of the materials. It's not like they're abandoning the fields, but that's what the decommissioning bond is for. Perkins asked for Kiser to clarify the new stream crossing; is it a culvert? Kiser said no, it would be an open- bottom culvert/bridge scenario. Would be removing the existing culvert, re-forming the stream, and put in the culvert. Explained the different culvert options. Could also do a low-use crossing option that would still meet the needs of the Fire Department. Will work with the contractor on the best one for their installation criteria. Perkins asked Theriault for his feedback. Theriault said this is the preferred method to allow a natural bottom to re-establish in the channel. Page 3� 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 Perkins asked about the buffer with Rolling Meadows, if there was any consideration for what may happen in the future there. Kiser said this is right next to a power line, so there was an open area there already. If additional lots were created in Rolling Meadows, he doesn't envision it going that far in, but if they do, they would probably create their own buffer. Tried to leave the buffers in on the sides closest to the array. The field itself is quite a distance from the end of the Rolling Meadows Drive cul-de-sac. Anne Marie Quin, 11 Chatham Street, asked how much land is getting covered with solar panels. Kiser said the land area inside the fence is about 2.7 acres. The actual field area with array cells on top of it is probably about '/2 to 3/4 of an acre. Boucher commented about land use- thinks this is appropriate with where we're going with our comprehensive plan, but thinks it would've been nice if this land was used for housing development. Anne said this property is kind of a transitional area between Rolling Meadows and the commercial area on Haskell and the 95 corridor, so it's a funny spot as far as the land use. There are a lot of other solar projects that are in areas between residential and commercial areas. Patricia Quirk approached the podium to speak. Said that she and her husband and partner developed Rolling Meadows; this is the land left over. This location would not be desirable for residential use; is behind the hotel and near the interstate, so it's more of a commercial area, right on the Haskell Road cul-de-sac. Built 70 houses on Rolling Meadows; plan to do more at some point, but wouldn't be in that area, would be more centralized as far as where the subdivision is now. Member Brush moved to approve the Land Development Permit Application for Site Development Plan, Minor Subdivision Modification, and Minor SLODA revision on Haskell Road, Map-Lots R70-001, R69-005, and R70- 001-P. Member Bazinet seconded. All in favor, none opposed. OTHER BUSINESS 3. Workshop to discuss proposed zoning text change— multifamily and mixed commercial- residential in S&PS and GC&S Planning Analyst Collette presented the proposed text change. Is a staff-led proposal to add high density multi- family residential and mixed commercial residential to S&PS and GC&S, which are our primary commercial areas. S&PS is a lot of the area around the mall and GC&S is areas like Haskell Road and some areas along Broadway and Union Street—and some of that is S&PS too. Perkins asked about Outer Hammond — Collette said we are excluding Outer Hammond from this since it's mainly an industrial area, so not probably not a good fit for use-we do have to make a minor modification to the CORD that was in the packets to reflect that. Would allow for redevelopment especially in the mall area; we've gotten a lot of feedback from people in the comp plan that they want to see that kind of development in the mall area. Collette added that staff are planning to add in some bike parking requirements; didn't have time to add that before this meeting. Boucher asked for clarification on this. Collette said it would mean for any new development going in, they would have to provide a certain number of bike parking spaces, or bike storage. Page 4� 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 Perkins stated he thought it was right in line with the Comprehensive Plan in terms of adding more housing. No further comments from Planning Board members. 4. Comprehensive Plan Check-in — Final Plan Draft and Public Comment Consultant Francisco Gomes presented the comprehensive plan final draft. Perkins agreed on the urgency needed on the plan; hopefully it will help us start addressing these problems like homelessness soon. Member Brush asked if it would be possible to use more hyperlinks in the plan so it's easier to move around the plan, like making a hyperlink from the table of contents to the respective section in the plan. Gomes said he would relay that back to the graphic design team; sometimes they wait to make sure the document won't be touched until they make those changes. Brush asked if there was a discussion of promulgation; how does [Gomes] envision the plan being promulgated, getting it out to the public. Gomes said it would definitely be posted on the website and would provide that to the City so it could be provided in very prominent locations on the City's website. Would probably be appropriate to post it on the City's social media accounts. Regarding engagement on the plan, their scope of services is coming to an end, but is sure Krieg's department would be interested in promoting the plan. Perkins mentioned Huhn's idea of calling it the 2023 plan; thought that was a great idea. Thinks as Boucher mentioned earlier, as we address these issues we have each meeting, we keep in mind what the Comprehensive Plan says. Thinks that's a good thing to do while making decisions as a Planning Board. Perkins asked members of the public to direct comments on the Comprehensive Plan. Would like to keep on- topic. Joe Pickering approached the podium. Thinks the plan needs to be significantly improved because there are significant gaps. If a citizen has difficulty reading the plan, they're not going to be able to give input. The City rightly values the investment it gives to City facilities, but one of his concerns is that there's not a single mention of the historic districts. Perkins responded and said there was quite a bit in the plan on the historic districts. Krieg said staff could send Pickering the sections. Pickering mentioned the point on maintaining the City's low density residential districts outside the growth boundary; can support that, but also thinks it shouldn't be at the expense of the more urban areas exclusively. Doesn't think it makes sense to make the urban part of the City more dense. In terms of the historic districts, don't develop in the more dense areas; shouldn't have land abuse or residential abuse. Under Policy 7, to increase the supply of housing while protecting the integrity of the City's neighborhoods- certainly hopes that will happen. City has done an abominable job in his area of Whitney Park. Needs to recognize that some parts of the historic districts are more urbanized; there needs to be more green space. One of the points he's concerned about is that there's such an interest in the more Page 5� 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 urban areas of Bangor taking all the changes while the less urban areas taking less of the changes. Have to take into account the mental health of the people. Kelley Hashey approached the podium. Has been to a fair amount of ineetings, but it's really hard to hear people speaking. Said Krieg's microphone seemed fine, but other people's were not loud enough. It's hard to make a comment when you can't hear what's going on. Also added that she tries to email and attend meetings, but doesn't feel that all the citizens are listened to. Read the last comprehensive plan and it doesn't seem like it was followed. How much is the new one going to be followed? Feels discouraged. Perkins said that Board members try to speak up, but since COVID, everything changed and the sound has kind of gotten stolen by the TV. It's being worked on by the City staff to balance the sound so people in the room can hear as well as people on Zoom. It has gotten better, but it could get better. Asked Hashey to please don't get discouraged. Things can take a long time with City government, but this is an excellent plan. Have taken a lot of public comment. Everything is a balance though. How do we fix housing and how do we have all the green space we need? Mentioned Pickering's comments on developing in the rural areas; the problem is we don't have utilities in those areas, so it would cost the City a lot of dollars to expand services out there. So this plan is a balance; it won't satisfy everyone and it won't fix all the open space areas. But believes Bangor is a great city and it will continue to get better, but it's not going to be perfect. Hopes Hashey keeps that in mind. Kay Surplus, Court Street, approached the podium to comment. Said ditto on the small print and the hearing. Wants to make 3 comments/observations. Really enjoys the Bangor State Fair; Bangor's the county seat, thinks it's great there's a fairground and racetrack right in the City; hope the plan will value that. Secondly, the plan has several policy areas devoted to open space and green space, and devoted to development. Wants to throw down a caution flag because she hopes the City can balance those things. The need for green space is real. There's space even in the downtown areas; hopes the push for housing doesn't destroy the neighborhoods and the livable spaces. Hope there will be some more opportunities for making suggestions on the plan. Third point is on policy 24, talking about transportation modes. One of the items refers to a transition to electric vehicles; thinking particularly of emergency vehicles—thinks the City should maintain a back-up fleet in case the City loses power. Also asked for information on what a micromobility system is. Gomes responded and said the market and regulations are moving us in the direction of electric vehicles anyway; can rest assured that any City fleet would have sufficient reserves to power those vehicles in case of a power outage. Also noted that gas stations would go down in case of a power outage too. With respect to micromobility, it comprises any tiny vehicle that's self-powered, like electric bicycles, shared bicycles, electric scooters. That form of transportation is being explored in many cities; while more popular in warmer cities, there are many cold weather cities using that type of transportation year-round. Surplus also mentioned the value of neighborhoods. There are people that live there and contribute to the life of the neighborhood. When any type of development goes in, we want to be very careful about not damaging the neighborhood just for the sake of development. Hopes that the other values of neighborhoods and neighbors will be kept in mind as well. Page 6 � 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 Joe Pickering approached the podium again. Was trying to say that if we take that approach that we're never going to expand beyond a particular boundary, the urban neighborhoods will always bear the brunt. Urban neighborhoods need to be part of the long range planning. How can we expand beyond the areas we have now as urban so people in urban neighborhoods aren't always bearing the burden. Has lived on Pond Street for 40 years; there's some needed improvement on that part of Bangor. Anne Marie Quin approached the podium again. Has participated in a lot of the Zoom meetings the last couple of years and has counted the number of people participating in those meetings and thinks it's less than 1% of the population of Bangor. In Augusta, they reached 73% of their population. Thinks it's important to get feedback. Another important thing Augusta did was say that their next comprehensive plan would involve neighboring communities. Thinks it would be good to involve the contributions of neighboring communities in this plan. Perkins said the Comprehensive Plan was partially based on feedback from the 2019 plan, which had a lot of feedback and was very focused on neighborhoods. As far as percentages go, it's hard if you can't get people interested or excited, but has a hard time believing that we were less than 1% and Augusta's was 73%. Krieg said she'd be interested to see if Augusta's was done pre-pandemic. Bazinet said he just went on their site and the most recent one they had posted was from 2007, so doesn't know if they have something in the works right now. Krieg said she was friends with their planner so she can ask him. Gomes said 73% would be an astounding rate and would probably indicate that most of the kids and the infirm were engaged in the process. Despite our efforts to engage people, and the pandemic certainly complicated things, we didn't get the engagement we hoped for. Did greatly promote the materials. The plan doesn't stand alone though; it stands on other plans that had their own outreach efforts and reached a diversity of residents. For that reason, thinks that it is representative of the community's concerns. The community's needs are front and center in the plan. We are frequently asked about outreach and surveys and whether it's scientifically valid because of the participation we had. We've gone back through survey results and other community engagement and we find very consistent results, consistent issues and concerns that are brought to the forefront. Whether we're confronting a large group of people or a small number, we get very consistent feedback. Perkins said he thinks one of the other things too that's been said is that this is a working document. If issues come up that the City identifies, the Comprehensive Plan can be adjusted. Member Boucher spoke about implementation evaluation- monitoring and auditing. Anne said they spent a lot of time trying to come up with standards for evaluation. It's important to come up with standards, but it depends on what the action is. Perkins mentioned action items that say "consider" —that would be a different type of evaluation than say implementing the standards of LD 2003. 5. Meeting Minutes - March 21, 2023 Member Huhn motioned to approve meeting minutes. Member Meagher seconded. All voting members in favor, none opposed. Page �� 8 City of Bangor Planning Division Planning Board Meeting Minutes —Tuesday,Apri14, 2023 6. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 8:47 pm. Respectfully submitted, Anja Collette, Planning Analyst Planning Division Page 8 � 8