Report of Planning and Zoning Commission on POCD March 18, 2019
Bruce Tyler, Chair; Chantal Foster, member
A.1, Action Item 6: Review Zoning Regulations – it is a separate zone called the Village District. Planning and Zoning is looking at regulations that would allow for increased density. Setbacks present a challenge that will require a change in regulations to build up to the property line so that it will appear that the town looks more like a village than a residential zone with some conversions to commercial buildings. The Commission will probably keep the 35-foot maximum building height the same. A minor adjustment in the regulations was made regarding the Elmcrest/Brainerd Place property as long as the developer includes commercial properties on first floor of the buildings. The goal is to attract businesses to that area and zoning regulations allow for greater density, but do not attract the construction of new buildings. Chantal Foster noted that expanding the sides of the building does block access to parking areas behind the buildings.
A.2, Action Item 5: Expand the “village district” - Planning and Zoning is in favor of including Brainerd Place but not necessarily the remainder of properties on Route 66. The Commission is trying to create different types of business zones in Portland. The Route 66 area is not an historic district, but a village district which is more regulated than a regular business zone. Changing regulations is a complex process based on State laws. The property owners must want change and then Planning and Zoning can change the regulations. Planning and Zoning cannot force a property owner to change. The developer of Brainerd Place developed his site plan with the advice of Planning and Zoning.
A.2, Action Item7: Revisit building heights - Planning and Zoning will keep building height regulations at 35 feet. The developer wanted 3 floors of apartments at 42 feet. Planning and Zoning advised the developer could only do that if there were commercial properties on the first floor of the buildings. The developer will construct both commercial and residential properties at the same time in two or three phases.
Frank Winiski asked if there would be a problem if someone on Main Street wanted to do the same thing as the developer regarding the 35 feet versus 42 feet restrictions. Bruce Tyler advised yes it would be a problem. The Brainerd Place permit is a special permit to afford the developer adjustments to the zoning regulations.
Chantal Foster advised the land on Route 66 is graded from front to back about 36 feet. When viewing the building from Route 66 it will not look as tall because on the lower graded area there is a lower floor. Bruce Tyler noted we don’t want one building to overpower another neighbor on Main Street.
A.3: Humanizing the streetscape - this is mostly the Town’s responsibility as opposed to Planning and Zoning. Other Town Commissions are looking at what can be done in terms of this. Angela Hammond, a member of the Committee stated she is a co-chair of the Town Beautification Committee.
A.4: Improve Vehicular and Parking Amenities - this is a big problem for Planning and Zoning because while there is parking in the center of Town, it is mostly controlled by private businesses. In the Village District there are 656 parking places. The public parking lots are across the street from one another, behind medical building and on the side of the Police Dept. There is limited parking on the street. Brainerd Place will have 756 parking spaces for both residential and commercial purposes. It was noted that an option which could be proposed would address the loss of parking spaces behind commercial buildings whereby all the business owners would have parking behind their businesses shared across these lots with access at select points if the setback causes a loss of direct access to the parking lots. There is sufficient parking for most businesses on Main Street and the distance from the public parking lots is not significant. The perception of the parking situation is the problem, not the reality of the spaces and their locations. Do we expand parking and hope people come or wait for people to come and then create more parking?
Chairman Knous said the point about parking is we’d like to get the people there first. First Selectwoman Bransfield said we need to continue to expand on our niche businesses in Town. If you review the history of the work done in the ‘70s regarding the paving behind some of the buildings on Main St. There was a
gentleman’s agreement that parking could be used by the public based on the cost have been provided for by a grant. The Town has not pursued use of the property based on the verbal agreement. Planning and Zoning doesn’t see an overwhelming need to expand parking at this time.
Additional items discussed related to parking and Main Street - the public parking signage is not particularly helpful at the Police Dept. and the Medical Building. The Beautification Committee concurs with Chantal’s point, future use of the TD Bank building, and consideration of a median down the center of Main St. First Selectwoman Bransfield reported that the Town did investigate the option of installing a median but budget, public safety vehicle access, paving, and snow removal issues associated with a median are prohibitive.
B.1: Promote Appropriate Redevelopment of Elmcrest - Planning and Zoning noted action is complete. Demolition will be soon to be followed by construction.
C.1,C.2, and C.3: Continue to Enhance the Riverfront - Planning and Zoning stated that the Commission will be a partner on these items, but responsibility lied mostly with the Town. First Selectwoman Bransfield said she’d be responding to a number of the action items on these topics in her report.
D.1: Address Industrial Zoning - Planning and Zoning reported that there is no water or sewer in the industrial zone so attracting businesses there is difficult. Installation of water and sewer lines presents budget challenges. Planning and Zoning and the Town would like to develop business properties along the Connecticut River to offer increased recreation and entertainment opportunities.
Chairman Knous asked if here are any items of more importance that have presented themselves. Planning and Zoning referenced the Brainerd Park project and stated that the Town will have to provide oversight to ensure that the developer follows the elements of the special permit they were granted for the property.
E.1: Air Line Trail – Chairman Knous asked Chantal Foster who the Committee should meet with from the Air Line Trail Committee. She suggested that Rosario Rizzo would be the key contact for the Trail Committee. She gave a brief report on the status of the projects under way in association with the Trail.
First Selectwoman Bransfield suggested the Committee utilize the Sustainable CT excel spreadsheet format for tracking the elements of the plan and their progress.