06/10/2014

Council receives Town Center Plan draft update, refers to September workshop

The Town Council on June 9, 2014 voted to receive a draft update to the Town Center Plan, and referred it to their September workshop for discussion.

In the meantime, the town will continue accepting public input, and to gather information surrounding the seven recommendations the Town Center Plan Committee has made to develop "an identifiable, vibrant town center."

The draft is an update to a 1993 town center plan, crafted by an eight-member committee appointed in February 2013. The committee met 17 times since then, including a site walk and meeting with the planning committee for a new Thomas Memorial Library, also located in the town center. The committee conducted a survey, held a public forum, and provided opportunities for public input at each meeting, said Stephanie Carver, committee chair.

The draft includes a vision for the town center that is similar to the current one, but it expands the envisioned retail customer base from residents to "residents and visitors", consistent with the 2007 comprehensive plan's goal for the town center as the primary commercial area of Cape Elizabeth. The draft has five goals and seven recommendations, focusing both new and existing recommendations into a more organized, easy-to-understand document, Carver said.

The current plan from 1993 had 37 recommendations. Twenty of them have been implemented, but the remainder, including sidewalks, stormwater infrastructure and a village green, have not. "The committee recognizes that financial constraints were the chief obstacle to a fuller implementation of the 1993 plan," according to the draft's executive summary. "Consequently, this plan includes specific recommendations to finance infrastructure improvements and to be open to public/private partnership opportunities."

Village Green, wetland proposal

A carry-over recommendation from the 1993 plan that has generated the most interest is a proposal for a village green, and a related proposal change wetland regulations in 144-acre town center district.

At a public forum last October, a representative of Peter Haffenreffer, who owns property in the town center on the south side of the town hall, offered to discuss a village green as part of a private commercial development, Carver said. A concept plan for the development was presented to the committee in February, she said. "In the end, the committee recommended pursuing the village green option and possibly looking at a wetland amendment, just in the town center area," Carver said.

Included in the recommendation for a village green is a suggestion that the town amend its zoning ordinance to allow alteration of wetland in the town-center zone "where a substantial public benefit is created", such as creation of a publicly accessible village green.

Speakers at the June 9 hearing took exception to the wetlands proposal. "I do not oppose a town green within the town center boundary, but I see no reason to alter our wetland restrictions within the town center to accomplish the town green concept," said Shore Road resident Suzanne McGinn.

McGinn was one of nine speakers who said they opposed the wetland proposal, reminding the council of the community's long-standing commitment to strict environmental protection. Another speaker, Trundy Road resident Sheila Mayberry, presented a petition opposing the wetlands proposal, and Angell Point Road resident Anne Carney, who said she is an attorney, faulted the proposal for not having the precision and detail typical of other standards in the zoning ordinance.

Others speakers questioned a recommendation that the town develop a tax-increment financing district (TIF), for the town center. According to the draft, the TIF would dedicate increases in tax revenue collected in the town center to infrastructure improvements within the town center. "The increase in property values in the Town Center would also be sheltered from inclusion in state municipal revenue sharing, state aid to education and county tax calculations," the draft plan says.

Oakview Drive resident Paul Seidman questioned the recommendation, "never once stating what any negative implications of it might be to us," he said.

Only one speaker, Broad Cove resident Valerie Hall, said she supported the plan. "I would love to see a town green next to the town hall ... it would set off our town hall in a way that is very attractive," she said. "We've seen that the land could be developed now ... We could wind up with a town hall surrounded by pavement and buildings," she said.

The concept plan Carver said was presented to the planning committee in February calls for a one-story retail and three, two-story office and residential buildings on 4.5 acres, which includes 3,500 square feet of wetland. An acre of the lot, Carver said, would be conveyed as a town green along Route 77, with the wetland incorporated into a pond or rain garden.

Carver contrasted the concept plan with two 1997 plans for a 3.5-story medical office building submitted for the same area: One with no wetland alteration, the other with alterations currently allowed under the ordinance. Both offered only limited green space, Carver said. "This is not sacred land, there are (development) options."

Council review to begin in September

After some discussion, town councilors agreed to begin reviewing the draft recommendations in September, rather than try to schedule a summer workshop. By that time other council business, including draft plans for the Thomas Memorial Library, will be finished and councilors will be able to give their full attention to the town center.

Town Manager Michael McGovern added he was uncomfortable rushing to a workshop when the town has not been formally approached about development for the Haffenreffer property. He also said he shared many of the questions speakers presented, especially about the tax-increment financing district.

He said officials will continue to accept public comment, and gather information about the proposals.