Waterfront Working Group

Waterfront Working Group 14th Meeting Agenda June13, 2019 Room 24, City Hall 3:00pm to 5:00pm ************************************* 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Review Meeting Notes from Meeting 13 5­30­2019 Meeting Notes attached Commercial Berthing Presentation, 5­30­19 attached 3. Storm Water Overview Nancy Gallinaro, Water Resources Manager 4. Enforcement: Potential Approaches encouraging zoning compliance. Ann Machado, Zoning Administrator City Council Meeting, June 17, 2019. Anticipated process, 5. amendments, … 6. Next steps 7. Future meeting items (July 11, tentative date) * Marine Access: Portland Pier/Custom House Wharf Alley, Case study Jennifer Thompson, Associate Corporation Counsel * Parking: Wrap up on Water Dependent Use Parking  Waterfront Working Group 14th Meeting Agenda June13, 2019 Room 24, City Hall 3:00pm to 5:00pm *************************************  Agenda 2 Meeting 13 Notes May 30, 2019 City of Portland Waterfront Working Group Meeting #13 Thursday, May 30, 2019 -- 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Attendance: PWWG: Mike Alfiero, Bill Coopersmith, Steve DiMillo, Cyrus Hagge, Keith Lane, Willis Spear, Becky Rand, Dory Waxman Staff: Jon Jennings, Bill Needleman, Greg Mitchell Meeting Summary: This meeting focused on two subjects: a) explanation and discussion of existing and potential commercial berthing in the WCZ and, b) the upcoming City Council Meeting on Monday, June 3. Future dredging projects, as they are inextricably linked to berthing, and the as yet to be concluded traffic study were also discussed. Mr. Jennings reconfirmed that Councilor Ray will bring forward the amendment that was not approved by the Planning Board to shrink the overlay zone to 125 feet from 150 feet, consistent with the staff recommendation. Also, the proposed resolution (calling for the two studies – Waterfront Development and State of the Marine Economy) was taken off the Council meeting agenda; Councilor Ray will bring this back into the meeting as a non-agenda item. It was agreed by staff that they would try to have Nancy Gallinaro from Public Works attend the next PWWG meeting to offer a tutorial/presentation on pier issues regarding maintenance, runoff categories and dredging impacts and for her to receive feedback from the PWWG. The next PWWG meeting will be Thursday, June 13 from 3 to 5 pm. Commercial Berthing and Access - Existing and Potential The slides presented at the meeting regarding berthing in the WCZ are available at the PWWG website -- in summary there exists or is the potential for: About 790 feet of berthing currently in use About 150 feet more available after dredging Some berths are shallow and limit the type of vessel that can be berthed Potential to gain almost 800 feet of berthing if it were dredged (almost doubling the inventory) There are questions concerning aggregate holdings and the width between certain piers -- can these piers be double berthed or not? This will need further study.  Agenda 2 Meeting 13 Notes May 30, 2019 Additionally: Hobsons -- does not have significant dredge need USGS - primary berthing is for the U.S. Coast Guard Fish Pier - areas of dock are not designed to be berthed and some boats are being worked on at the pier. Also, the fish exchange is transient. Merrills Wharf - Pierce Atwood Union Wharf - expansion capabilities depend on water depth Long Wharf (DiMillos) - mostly recreational berthing, a few commercial Portland Pier is a diverse property with multiple owners and is therefore more difficult to work with. There is some commercial berthing here with floats used for storage. In conclusion, there is a +/- 26% loss due to sedimentation that can be regained through dredging. The City of Portland is meeting with the City of South Portland and is also working toward federal grant and other funding solutions. It will take about a year to start dredging for the CAD, then another year to start dredging the piers. One significant point is that dredging doesn’t provide a lot of incentive to build or reconfigure wharves. The above data is for the CWZ only, there is an additional 11,000 feet of berthing on the Portland waterfront beyond the CWZ. Discussion and Dialog RE: Berthing BC: I would like to see the inventory of berthing feet for fishermen only. I have concerns regarding dredging. Where (he?) has berthed has never been dredged. Can private property owners be compelled to maintain their piers by the City? Fisherman can’t compel maintenance, but the City can. Boats carrying lobster bait (pogies) will be coming in, where will they tie up? They have no place to go. Just like parking for more people coming to Portland, same for boats. JJ: A subset of this group should meet with Bill to discuss this issue. BN: There is also a robust growth in the tour boat industry that will not likely slow down. WS: The western part of Commercial St. is not good for commercial berthing because it’s exposed and cold. If it’s dredged the boats will come.  Agenda 2 Meeting 13 Notes May 30, 2019 BN: Tell the story -- we need to be able to describe to the Federal and State governments “why.” Working with you to tell this story is what we want to do. There are monies available through various sources to build a modest dock in Portland Fish Pier, but this will require working with property owners. KL: Public landing in Portland is paltry. SD: What about dredging at the head of the piers? BN: The status of dredge design right now is assuming a 2 to 1 side slope -- every dredge window will need to be individually designed and will need cooperation of pier owners. Pier owners are responsible for additional engineering to accommodate slope, etc. (This is complicated) KL: The cost might be prohibitive for some pier owners BN: The cost includes dredging and CAD. There will be a “pay to play” fee for tipping, but it will be far less than the cost to dredge. The more money we get from all sources the lower the tipping fee will be. We have to keep the fees low - it won’t be zero, but it will be low. BC: This is maintenance dredging -- it never goes away. How long after dredging will you need to dredge again? BN: It depends -- we;re upping the game to control road sand runoff. JJ: Now we’re sweeping all the time whereas we used to sweep only once per winter. BC: The wharves will fill in again sometime -- and new fishing boats coming in will need berthing as the fishing industry is growing. SD: When dredging has to be done again depends on neighboring wharves. BR: How many outflows are there? Does every wharf have one? (no) BN: Some are public, some are private -- some are stormwater some are sewer some are overflow. JJ: Can Nancy G (from Public Works) come to meeting to give a tutorial/presentation on the impact of all this? presentation and q & a on these issues? Feedback from this group to Nancy would be beneficial. Dialog/Discussion RE: Monday, June 3 City Council Meeting  Agenda 2 Meeting 13 Notes May 30, 2019 CH: Has Corporation Council reviewed the proposed amendment? BN: Yes, mostly. I’ll touch base with Jennifer Thompson tomorrow. CH: With this being such a wild card, is there an opportunity for the PWWG to compromise so that when we go to Council we present a unified front. I don’t want this to go on forever without resolution. The potential for future litigation if 300 feet is granted as an exception to one vs. 125 for everywhere else is a concern. Can we just close this one gap? DW: The caveat is that this gets reviewed every 2 or so years to see how the 125 works from both fishermen and pier owner perspectives. Let’s keep this a working group. Let’s keep giving input to the City Manager and development departments and study what impact 25 feet of difference has. Then evaluate as a group and report to staff. JJ: We believe this has been a very good process -- not perfect -- but as a working process, very effective. MA: This has been a great learning experience -- I see both sides from my position. 125 is a compromise that we can live with. I don’t understand why Fisherman’s is at 125 and Long has 300, but I’m ok with it. Fisherman’s Wharf is the elephant in the room/lightning rod…. JJ: It’s been mixed forever. That’s why the City was against zero nmouz. There needs to be some development and a defined space for the fishing/working waterfront. The WCZ is so unique -- but some appropriate development can occur on Commercial Street. We will be taking a look at this on a regular basis WS: We’ll continue to work with the owners/developers/architects, etc. We insisted on open space to relieve traffic congestion -- we’re sticking with what they told us in good faith. BR: Can we take Fishermen’s Wharf and turn it into a public pier? It’s the perfect location for something public. BN: No. There has to be a compelling reason. MA: How much longer will we be frustrated with traffic? Do we have a timeline? BN: The consultants have material framed for decision making; we’ve asked for choices vs. randomized issues. There are good issues -- maybe by end of June, more likely mid July before we get it out to the public. JJ: I plan to insert myself earlier -- I want to see it by next week. MA: Will PWWG get to see it?  Agenda 2 Meeting 13 Notes May 30, 2019 BN: Yes. JJ: The draft product is important to bring to this group. Things that will be included in the draft are a reduction in the number of crosswalks and improved travel time down the corridor. There are “brains” in certain traffic signals that take about 2 months to analyze patterns. As soon as the study is in working order we’ll get it to you.  Waterfront Working Group Meeting # 13 May 30, 2019 City Hall Room 209 3:00- 5:00pm 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Review Meeting Notes from Meeting 12, 5-16-19. 3. Berthing: Existing and Potential 4. Next Steps Potential Berthing Expansion