Rezoning plan for Union Place on city agenda

BANGOR – City councilors on Monday will consider a rezoning proposal that is part of an effort to redevelop what was once one of Bangor’s seediest neighborhoods.

City councilors have been working to get the area developed for several years, largely because of its strategic location. Union Place sits just above a five-way intersection that many consider a prime gateway to the city’s downtown.

Proposed is a contract zone change for six parcels located at 251 Union St. and 7, 8, 12, 14 and 16 Union Place from their current urban residence zoning designation to contract multi-family and service.

The rezoning will go before the council with a 5-0 ought-to-pass recommendation from the city’s planning board, which conducted a public hearing on the matter on Tuesday that drew no comments.

During their meeting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, councilors will consider a contract zone change aimed at paving the way for the rehabilitation of an existing four-unit apartment building and the construction of two new buildings housing four units each.

The project goes back to 1998, when councilors rezoned several properties at the corner at the request of Rite Aid, which planned to build a store there.

The pharmacy chain announced a few months later, however, that it had dropped that plan. It later moved into a commercial property across the street.

During the public hearings on the rezoning, however, residents and neighbors pleaded with the city to save their neighborhood.

To that end, the city in subsequent years acquired several properties at the corner of Hammond and Union streets, adopted a revitalization plan for the area and committed a portion of its Community Development Block Grant funds toward the project. It tore down several extremely rundown buildings. Today, all that remains are a .83-acre parcel of land and one repairable building.

During a meeting in June, city councilors agreed to give local developer John Karnes first dibs on the property through Oct. 1.

Under his option agreement with the city, Karnes must invest at least $822,751 in the project and pay $6,000 for the land. According to city documents, Karnes must begin work on both the existing and new units by Oct. 1.

The deadline for rehabilitating the existing units is May 31, with the exception of approved exterior work, which must be completed by July 1, 2007. The new buildings would have to be completed by Aug. 1, 2007.