Rezoning proposal heads to council

BANGOR – A proposal to rezone 50 acres near the ecologically sensitive Penjajawoc Marsh narrowly made it through the planning board Tuesday night.

After two failed attempts to delay action on the request, board members voted 3-2 to send the request on to the City Council, which is scheduled to make a decision during its next regular meeting June 28.

Voting to forward the request to the council were Chairman Robert Guerette, David Clark and Hal Wheeler. Ryan King and Nathaniel Rosenblatt opposed the measure.

At issue is the Irene L. Averill Estate’s request to rezone approximately 50 of the 70 acres it holds off Stillwater Avenue, near but not adjacent to the Penjajawoc Marsh and stream, which are located in a resource protection zone.

The land currently is zoned for rural residence and agricultural use. Cindy DeBeck of Newburgh, daughter of the late Irene Averill and executor of the estate, is asking that the city rezone the 50 acres for commercial use, specifically shopping and personal service.

Though the Averill estate has yet to see a firm proposal, DeBeck noted that the estate is being courted by at least three developers – two from Bangor and one from Massachusetts – interested in the site, which has been in DeBeck’s family since her great-grandparents bought it in the late 1800s.

Though not adjacent to the marsh, the 50 acres at issue are located in an undeveloped area near the Bangor Mall that’s being closely watched by members of Bangor Area Citizens for Responsible Development, or BACORD, the group that last year successfully opposed the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on a 28-acre parcel near the intersection of Stillwater Avenue and Gilman Road.

Wal-Mart’s development proposal touched off a rancorous battle that pitted environmentalists against mall-area landowners, many of whom view conservation attempts as a threat to their property rights. Chairman Guerette said he had similar concerns.

BACORD members and others seeking to protect the Penjajawoc from future development attended Tuesday’s meeting to urge the planning board to delay action until the city completes its overhaul of the 2000 comprehensive plan, or failing that, a Maine Audubon report on the issue expected to be ready in two months.

At least a dozen of them addressed the planning board during Tuesday’s public hearing. Most of them said rezoning without first determining how to best protect the marsh was bad policy and bad planning.

Though the proposed rezoning request was consistent with the latest version of the city’s comprehensive plan, much has been learned about the marsh since then and the plan has yet to be updated to reflect that.

Fred Costlow, former planning board member who closely followed the Wal-Mart issue, was among those who wanted a delay.

“A mistake at this point in time has dire consequences,” he said, later adding, “because you can’t undo it, once you do it. … No one’s saying no to this project, just not at this time.”

Though a development proposal has yet to be firmed up, DeBeck said her plans for the land include relocating the old family farmhouse from its current site behind Pet Quarters to the back of the parcel, near the former Veazie Railroad bed and a pond on the property.

She also said she hopes a nursing home one day will be built overlooking the marsh.

The trust, DeBeck said, is geared toward meeting the medical needs of DeBeck’s sister, who has multiple sclerosis and now resides at the Bangor House. The problem for DeBeck as the trust’s representative is that property taxes must be paid on the land, which because it is largely undeveloped is not generating much of an income.

She said she had to refinance her car payments at least twice to cover property taxes until the family farmhouse was sold to her son, providing some funds for expenses.