05/13/09 (updated 05/30/09)
Business district rewrite tabled
to June 8 Town Council meeting
After nearly two hours of public testimony Monday, May 11, 2009, the Town Council voted unanimously to defer decision on new standards for the town's Business A zone to next month.
Councilor David Backer moved, and the rest of the Town Council agreed, to table the proposed set of amendments to the zoning ordinance, and to discuss the comments made at the May 11 public hearing at a future workshop.
The workshop has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21, 2009, at Town Hall. An additional workshop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, 2009, also at Town Hall. The proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance are an attempt, as directed by the 2007 comprehensive plan, to create a business district in Cape Elizabeth to serve the needs of their neighborhoods.
There are two Business A Districts in town, one along a stretch of Route 77 between Broad Cove Road and the Kettle Cove dairy bar, and the other along Shore Road near the boundary with South Portland.
The amendments include elements that have been under discussion since as early as 2003, when business owners along the Route 77 district sought to revise wetland regulations in the area to allow some expansion and development on existing footprints.
While the 41 speakers at the May 11 hearing covered an array of aspects of the new proposal, most focused on the Shore Road business district, and a controversial proposal to include in the district the property at 553 Shore Road.
Two Lights Road resident Lee Wilson is seeking to develop the 100-year-old, Victorian style home into a property with mixed uses, including a small retail store with possibly an apartment on the third floor.
"These are all quiet, low-impact and appropriate uses for this part of Shore Road and the town," said architect John Mitchell, representing Wilson. Wilson recently completed a restoration of the building, "maintaining the architectural character while preserving the neighborhood fabric," Mitchell said.
Bordering properties on the north and the west sides are also zoned for business, Mitchell said, and he and others who spoke said they believed that including the home in the Business A District made sense.
Others, however, said that retaining the residential zoning of 553 Shore Road made more sense.
"The problem is proximity," said Charles Road resident David Freeman, who lives in the residential area behind the building. Another Charles Road resident, David Sanford, said all abuttors oppose the rezoning, and referred to a petition with 46-48 signatures to prove it.
Neighbor Harry Hardy of 6 Charles Road said he believed the residents of his street and of neighboring Warren Avenue were not being taken seriously. "I don't think anybody in favor of (the rezoning) is within sight of this building," Hardy said. To those who suggest 553 Shore Road is surrounded by business, Hardy said, "I suggest that person go and look again."
By contrast, many neighbors who live near the Business A District on Route 77 thanked the Town Council, specifically its ordinance subcommittee, for addressing their concerns about hours of operation, seating and service of alcohol. One neighbor, Ocean House Road resident Gail Schmader, was especially supportive of restrictions on businesses within 100 feet of a residential zone.
Still, others said they felt some of the standards too restrictive. Julie Barnes, an Ocean House Road resident who is leasing Rudy's of the Cape in the Route 77 business district, said she would like to see a return to the Planning Board's original recommendation to allow businesses to stay open until 10 p.m. "We had two occasions where there was a ballgame on and unfortunately we had to tell the customers they had to leave in the middle of the game," Barnes said.
She also said she believed the limit of eight seats at a counter, while perhaps meant to discourage a "bar" atmosphere, was too limiting for eating areas.
Other speakers in general said they supported more business activity in town. Carl Dittrich, another resident of Ocean House Road, said Cape Elizabeth residents spend too much gas and time traveling to other communities for services. "We've got the best education, the well-to-do town - why don't we have well-to-do businesses for our good little people?" Dittrich said.
The vote to table the business A zoning amendments to the June 8, 2009 council meeting was unanimous. The motion to table included scheduling a workshop "to discuss and debate all the comments we've heard and make our best efforts to tweak where tweaking is appropriate, and accept where accepting is appropriate, and come back with a version in June that is modified, based on the comments we've heard tonight," said councilor David Backer
The council had held a previous workshop on the amendments, which were also reviewed during seven meetings of the council's ordinance subcommittee. "It's my hope that we can come up with a compromise that is palatable for everyone," said councilor and ordinance committee chairman Sara Lennon.
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