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Home My WebLink About2024-12-18 Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes ACREIHR Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Wednesday, December 18, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers Members Present: Chair Liana Fellis, Vice Chair Katie Brydon, Member Jason Canniff, Member Gabrielle Wiley Members not present: Member Julie Davis, Member Andre Chasse, Member Theron Letterlough, Student Rep. Rebecca Jones, Student Rep. Evelyn Marasco, Member Melissa Bulcholz, Member Kathryn Robinson City of Bangor staff and guests present: City Manager, Debbie Laurie; City Planner, Anja Collette; Marie Robinson, Superintendent of Schools Call to Order Call to order at 6:05pm Introduction of advisory board members and city members present Minutes Unable to approve the minutes; no quorum Education Land Development Update Land Use Code Presentation from Chris Jennette, Camiros Blueprint Bangor www.blueprintban�or.com Goal of this work is to implement the 2022 Comprehensive Plan that was recently adopted Acts as a guide for our zoning; breaks our city up into zones (industrial, commercial, housing, etc.) • National zoning processes, working with Bath and Portland, ME • Goal: a code for Bangor should address Bangor's issues specifically, not a dogmatic approach • Comprehensive plan: increase housing diversity and expand options in downtown o Expand the city's tools to consider adaptive reuse, conversion, and other tools like cluster development, SRO, tiny homes, etc. • Needs to protect environmentally sensitive areas and direct growth o Evaluate and update landscape, heat island effect, runoff, etc. • Zoning tools to consider: Zone Based Code • Support pathways to entrepreneurship in Bangor, commercial zoning, making Bangor flexible to market shifts • Transport accessibility: would like to make it more walkable • Services that fully benefit vulnerable populations; how do we continue to be a service hub and make sure it 'makes sense.' Observations • Code in a way that makes sense for Bangor • Create a more graphic orientation • Clear definitions and measurement methodologies • Need to consolidate and reorganize use standards; clarify temporary vs. accessory uses • Make the code more acutely acknowledge uses of industrial food service, like coffee roasting, artisans, etc. • Evaluate and update standards about mobile and tiny home parks • Look at lot sizes, consider need for additional urban districts, align with future land use • Going to simplify the code, like yard type and variations Parking and site development • Update parking ratios, consider additional parking flexibility • Addressing parking lot landscape • Bring in buffer yards, lighting standards not currently in the code i Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Wednesday, December 18, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers Still in Phase 1: Evaluation • Going to synthesize a technical review report and public presentation • Want to build consensus before moving into drafting phase • Drafts will be reviewed internally and externally in Phase 2: Drafting • Phase 3: Adoption, moves to public hearing and adoptions Questions: What's next? Working with city groups like neighborhood meetings, city council, Penobscot Climate Action, landlords, realtor groups, tribal communities, etc. Held public meetings to share/ask feedback in Fairmount, region around Bangor High, area around Northern Light, EMCC, Tree Streets, Capehart/BGCB, at the election, at the Sidewalk Art Fest. • All feedback being compiled by city planners to share with council and the engineering/public works teams • Goal: to evaluate Complete Streets, get public facing areas out for feedback and review Can we have student involvement and feedback; what do students want to see? Need specific young family involvement and disability involvement Spoke with the Livable Communities Committee about aging populations Affordable housing impact? • Bring diversity of housing into the neighborhoods where they have more recently been excluded • Goal: to get zoning out of the way Technical review will be available to review in the spring; public process to review in summer/fall 2025 that addresses more direct questions/goals. Then will need to move to public comment for feedback to address the changes the public wants to see Some of these coding changes were addressed by LD2003 to diversity housing options Want to focus on walkability, 15-minute cities, etc. How can we improve upon mixed used space? Policy No new updates State of the Committee Two new members approved to start in 2025: Mark Roth and Shane Boyes (three year terms) Vice Chair Brydon approved for three year term Vacancies: one additional member, high school rep., higher learning rep. • Interviews are currently happening with new members and the councils Will move state of the committee and ordinance feedback with Council Chair Pelletier To evaluate: • State of working meetings • Evaluate in a workshop setting what needs to happen next • Determine working meetings and public meeting cadence Other Items MLK Breakfast; working to move to the Cross Center in 2025 • Opportunities to expand the work beyond just the breakfast • Goal: to broaden the audience and provide more partnership opportunities z Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Wednesday, December 18, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers • City of Bangor can sponsor the breakfast by making partnership with the Chamber of Commerce City Manager Laurie will invite Bangor Historical Society to join ACRE meetings to review street, parks and rec facilities naming; opportunity to host the meetings in their space • Goals to move, do work within the community • Opportunity for our group to demonstrate commitment to build partnerships by having meetings with partners in their space (at the Historical Society, at the Wabnaki Public Health Center, etc.) City Manager Updates Move the date to close Camp Hope to February • Waiting to have housing units available and online • Closed by the 'By Name' list ARPA funds • Need to be reevaluated because the projects are not meeting the timeline to use the federal funds • 4 million dollars will be on Council agenda next week to evaluate how to these funds are redistributed o City Council 2.8 million for housing infrastructure; 1.2 million for waste water treatment upgrades • New state law allows mobile home parks match the bid of a private company to match the bid of someone coming to buy their mobile home park o City of Bangor will support funds to match this bid for Cedar Falls Park 0 129 residents • Need to upgrade waste water pump station from Longview to Chase Road and over to Stillwater to create more expansion in the underdeveloped Bangor Mall area City of Bangor filed motion in the courts for compliance with the ordinances currently being ignored by the Bangor Mall End Year Report due in January 2025 Superintendent Update • Campaign for belonging with students and Director of Communications at the high school • Updating HR processes to ensure more equitable practices • School DEIB developed internal and external groups with staff(for buy-in) and with community thought- leaders • Quarterly updates of the DEIB work being done at school committee meetings Call to adjourn Adjourned at 7:47p 3