Councilors in midst of waterfront development review

BANGOR – Since the city put into effect a 90-day moratorium on waterfront development, city councilors have met several times to review existing land use and zoning rules and to suggest changes.

The idea is to create an atmosphere that maintains public access, but also provides for quality living for current and future residents of that area.

“The concept all along is that the waterfront is a vibrant public area,” City Planning Officer David Gould said during a meeting last week of the council’s transportation and infrastructure committee.

But not so vibrant that it will adversely affect the people who live there now and who will live there in the future, noted Councilor Richard Stone. Stone proposed the moratorium this summer as a way to get a better handle on where the waterfront is heading, in terms of development.

The moratorium, which expires next month, affects both city property and privately owned property between Lincoln Street and the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and from Main Street to the Penobscot River.

The work so far has been a balancing act, as councilors consider expanding some uses of waterfront property while looking to exert more control on others.

To that end, the first batch of suggested changes will go before councilors during their next regular meeting, set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The six proposed ordinance amendments, however, won’t be discussed at that time. Rather, four will be referred to the planning board and two back to the transportation and infrastructure committee for further review.

Issues tackled to date include:

. Limiting out-of-scale or inappropriate signage.

. Encouraging public uses on the first floors of buildings. To that end, the city is thinking about barring residential uses, medical or dental clinics or businesses and professional offices on the first floor of buildings within 250 feet of the Penobscot River’s mean water line.

. Limiting operating hours to control after-hours noise and nuisance complaints. One proposed change would treat businesses open from 1 to 5 a.m. as conditional uses and as such subject to several conditions aimed at minimizing noise and other disruptions.

. Linking parking standards to the availability of parking spots.

. Providing for controlled drive-through uses. The councilors are considering allowing drive-throughs for banks and accessory retail sales, such as for drugstores, but not for fast food or beverage sales. The drive-up windows would have to be reached from side streets.

. Including design guidelines for the waterfront development district for the planning board to apply.

One of the topics covered so far involves fencing around waterfront establishments.

“I do not want to see the public limited by fencing,” City Councilor Gerry Palmer said during a meeting last week of the council’s transportation and infrastructure committee. “They bought and paid for it and I think that is something we should include.”