Google Groups May 18Th Review: I Support the Rezoning Needed For
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Google Groups May 18th review: I support the ReZoning needed for Cold Storage Building on West Commercial Street Jenny Potter Scheu <[email protected]> May 16, 2017 10:29 AM Posted in group: Planning Board To: Elizabeth Boepple, Sean Dundon, David Eaton, Brandon Mazer, Carol Morrissette, Maggie Stanley, and Lisa Whited Dear Portland Planning Board, I am writing to support the rezoning which needs to happen in order go forward with the construction of a large new Cold Storage building on West Commercial Street. I strongly support the construction of this building as a very important addition to the waterfront/city economy. Where I live near the eastern end of the Portland waterfront, we have dealt with critics who do not support any development which blocks views of the harbor. I favor thoughtful new development, and submit that there are many existing protections for views. ( I would be glad if such a building was built on the east end of Commercial Street! ) The important addition of this proposed Cold Storage Building trumps any concerns for it’s blocking some of the views from the western neighborhood. I am sorry that I cannot attend the May 18th site review and workshop, and wanted to express my support for this very important development opportunity. Thanks so much to each of you and the Planning staff for your steady hard work for the city and all citizens. Best wishes, Jenny Scheu [email protected] Home: 29 Waterville Street, #3, Portland ME 04101 Business: Redhouse Architects, 61 Pleasant Street, Studio 104C, Portland ME 04101 Google Groups Comment on proposed cold storage Carson, Keith <[email protected]> May 16, 2017 11:40 AM Posted in group: Planning Board Morning all, I know you’ve received plenty of public comment on this matter so I’ll keep it short: I’m a “fringe west ender” living on York street and this proposed zoning would not impact my views in any way; as such I feel I’m more neutral when assessing this proposal. Here’s what I think: 1. No great waterfront city builds structures like this in the middle of a boom. I lived in Plattsburgh, NY for a number of years; in comparison to their neighbors across Lake Champlain (Burlington, VT), Plattsburgh was a very ugly town. Why? Poor use of waterfront space. They chose to build warehouses and even a McDonalds on their side of the lake, while Burlington protected and nurtured their waterfront. We have to think ahead here, Portland Yacht Services looks like it fits with Portland…a giant warehouse does not. 2. We can continue to grow the port without the excessive height. I read the studies and reports on both sides and it appears as though Americold is looking well into the future and predicting they might need more space. I certainly understand that front a business perspective, but who knows how volume will actually pan out, and if growth IS as fast as projected…where does it stop? Do they ask for 90 feet in 10 years? At some point Portland has to stay true to scale...it’s not a big city. 3. It defeats the purpose of zoning. Portland is going wild with residential construction; something I welcome. But how would it be received if the builders on Rufus Deering wanted to go 80 feet? Poorly, I’d say. Zoning is there for a reason, to give residents and businesses a reasonable idea of what to expect around them, and in this case, in front of them. As I stated before my view is NOT impacted, but I admit that I would feel a bit betrayed by the city if they suddenly let the building in front of me change their zoning by 30 feet. I know this is a difficult decision, and one that isn’t easy. I appreciate you hearing my comments. Keith Carson Meteorologist WCSHTV/WLBZTV [email protected] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ryan Houghton <[email protected]> Date: Tue, May 16, 2017 at 2:02 PM Subject: Support for the proposed cold storage facility To: [email protected] To whom it may concern, While I'm unable to attend the discussions this week, I'm writing to acknowledge support from The Hop Yard, LLC for a modern cold storage warehouse on Portland's waterfront. This is actually a problem for our business today, as we grow our crop (hops) outside of the city but our major storage and distribution need is in and around greater Portland where the bulk of the craft breweries that we supply are. Needing to store outside of the city causes us increased logistical costs and effort. We'd love the opportunity to have something available in town, where most of our owners and employees live and where the bulk of our product goes. Thanks, Ryan Houghton The Hop Yard [email protected] 207-838-6850 www.TheHopYard.com Google Groups Cold Storage Shed Meeting Thursday Night Sarah Boucher <[email protected]> May 16, 2017 2:53 PM Posted in group: Planning Board HI there, I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed amendments to Division 18.5, Waterfront Port Development Zone. I have lived on Salem Street for my entire life. My home is located directly above the proposed location for the cold storage shed on Commercial Street. This waterfront property on Commercial Street is one of the last of its kind in the city and I understand the desire to develop that area. My concern is with the proposed height of the structure that this amendment would allow. 75+ feet is enormous and would dramatically change the landscape of the waterfront as well as the views from Salem Street and the West End. I worry what further structures would be allowed to be added to this area and how things would change. Traffic on Commercial Street is already very busy and I'm sure this will not get better with this building. Another major concern that I have is with the noise. Currently the activity in that area by Eimskip is very noisy. Several nights per week, I am woken up by the creaking and smashing sounds of storage containers being moved and transported. This will get infinitely worse with such a large unit. I understand that the landscape of Portland is changing, and accept that some type of storage unit will be created in this area that will surely affect the traffic, views, and noise of the neighborhood. However, these factors will be dramatically worse with a building of this size. I hope that the planning board will be sensitive to the concerns of community members, in coming to an agreement on this amendment. I love Portland and support the growth of the economy and am proud of the working waterfront, but I think we need to take a hard look and see if a 75 foot warehouse on the waterfront is really necessary Thank you so much! Sincerely, Sarah Boucher (Connolly) Google Groups Proposed Commercial Street Cold Storage Facility Joshua Baston <[email protected]> Apr 26, 2017 6:33 PM Posted in group: Planning Board Portland Planning, I'm a property owner at 42 Munjoy Street and I wanted to write to you to express my strong support for the proposed cold storage facility on commercial street. Portland is certainly an evolving city and its an exciting time to be a resident. While hotels, condominiums, and restaurants have been a boon for the city, I feel like we need to maintain a diversified economy and part of both that economy and of the tradition of the city is a strong working waterfront. Eimskip has been great not only for the City but for the State of Maine as a whole. They are situated in exactly the right space for their type of commercial marine development and I think the cold storage facility is a natural expansion of the established use there. We're not talking about putting it next to the Casco Bay Ferry terminal. I understand the concerns of West End residents about impacts on their views, but I don't feel this should really be a deciding factor on this type of project. I was in strong support of the Portland company expansion here on the East End for the same reason; I don't feel like a minority of residents should be able to stop a project that is good for the city as a whole. These West End residents all bought their property with views looking across to the South Portland tank farm, could you imagine if those were going up today? If we are worried about public views then we should be far more concerned with the density of buildings going up in the India Street neighborhood and the corridor effect that development will create vs the effect on the views on outer Commercial in the shadow of the Casco Bay bridge. The views in the India Street neighborhood are certainly much more public than the few private views which would be impacted by the cold storage project. I understand that projects like this often attract a vocal minority of property owners who feel that the project in some way diminishes their quality of life while a majority of residents who may support a project may stay silent. I want to make sure this project gets my voice of support as I feel this type of diversified development is good for the City as a whole. If Portland wants to promote itself as a business friendly city, projects like this need to approved.