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City of Bangor, ME
Penobscot County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[Amended 4-11-2011 by Ord. No. 11-100; 11-13-2019 by Ord. No. 19-416]
On a corner lot in any district, except the Downtown Development District, Waterfront Development District, and Bass Park District, in order to provide adequate vehicular visual clearance, no building or structure may be erected and no vegetation other than shade trees may be placed, grown or maintained between the heights of 2 1/2 feet and 10 feet above the curb level, or its equivalent, and no parking space shall be created or used, within the triangular space formed by two intersecting street lines or their projections and a line joining points on such street lines located a minimum of 20 feet from the point of intersection of street lot lines.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by Ord. No. 09-027]
After the street line of a planned future street is placed on the Official Map of the City of Bangor, buildings and other structures thereafter constructed shall be set back from such line as though it were an existing street line, in accordance with the front yard requirements of the applicable zoning district. Properties abutting an interstate highway and related access and egress ramp rights-of-way shall maintain the minimum building setback from the right-of-way for rear yards based on the zoning district in which they are located. All other development standards, including parking, buffers, display, and others, shall remain as a front yard.
Wherever a side yard is adjacent to a street, the regulations for front yard setback shall apply to the side yard.
Where a parcel of land is to be occupied by more than one building, other than an accessory building, each principal building shall be treated as though on a separate lot, unless the Planning Board, after site development review, authorizes a redistribution of required yard space in harmony with the intent and purpose of this chapter.
[Amended 6-26-2006 by Ord. No. 06-223; 4-9-2007 by Ord. No. 07-97; 4-11-2011 by Ord. No. 11-100; 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-027]
Where the side or rear lot line of a lot in a Neighborhood Service District (NSD), Urban Service District (USD), Airport Development District (ADD), Urban Industry District (UID), Government and Institutional Service District (G & ISD), Shopping and Personal Service District (S & PS), General Commercial and Service District (GC & S), Industry and Service District (I & S), Technology & Service District (T & S), or Bass Park District (BPD) abuts any residential district, Resource Protection District (RP) or Park and Open Space District (P & O), a transitional yard will be established in accordance with the district development standards, and any applicable side or rear yard building setback shall either be increased by 20 feet with at least a Buffer Yard A (as defined in § 165-135D) established, or be increased by 10 feet with at least a Buffer Yard B established. Any applicable side or rear parking setback shall be governed by § 165-73D(1).
[Added 7-28-1997 by Ord. No. 97-312]
Any outdoor display of goods, materials, merchandise or other stock-in-trade intended for sale, exchange or trade and any outdoor storage of goods, materials or merchandise used in an industrial process or as stock-in-trade shall be subject to the following requirements:
A. 
All outdoor display and storage areas shall meet the minimum setback requirements for parking areas in the district in which they are situated in accordance with the standards set forth in Article X, § 165-73B.
B. 
All outdoor display and storage areas shall meet the minimum screening requirements for parking areas in accordance with the standards set forth in Article X, § 165-73D.
Each lot for which a minimum lot width is required shall have a minimum frontage on a street not less than 50 feet, except as follows:
A. 
Where a lot is located to the rear of another lot or lots which front on an improved public street, such lot may be used for uses permitted in the zone, provided that:
(1) 
There exists an unobstructed access to the rear lot from the public street over land which is not needed to meet the minimum requirements of the district for the front lot.
(2) 
Such access is at least 25 feet in width for the full distance along the front yard and from the public street to the rear lot.
(3) 
Such access strip shall not be used in the computation of minimum area and dimensional requirements of the district for said rear lot.
(4) 
Such rear lot meets the requirements of the district in which it lies (other than the exemption of this section with regard to frontage). For the purposes of area and yard requirements, the front yard setback line of such lots will be deemed to be at the prescribed setback distance from the deepest rear property line of the lot or lots between said rear lot and the nearest public street.
(5) 
The provisions of this section shall apply to lots lacking the necessary street frontage on the date of passage hereof and not to any new lots created hereafter, unless such lot or lots are developed under other provisions of this chapter as part of a group development approved under Article XVI.
B. 
Flag lots. Subject to approval under Article XVI, meeting the requirements of Article XVIII, the Planning Board may allow the creation of so-called "flag lots" in any district, provided that:
(1) 
Such lot meets the minimum street frontage requirement of this section of 50 feet.
(2) 
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B(2), providing that a lot must meet the requirements of the district in which it lies, was repealed 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026. See now Subsection B(4).
(3) 
Such access strip shall not be used in the computation of minimum area and dimensional requirements of the district for said rear lot.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(4) 
Such rear lot meets the requirements of the district in which it lies (other than the exemption of this section with regard to frontage). For the purposes of area and yard requirements, the front yard setback line of such lots will be deemed to be at the prescribed setback distance from the deepest rear property line of the lot or lots between said rear lot and the nearest public street.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(5) 
Only one tier of such rear lots shall be permitted behind the tier of lots fronting on the street.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(6) 
The access strip shall maintain a minimum width of 50 feet to such rear portion of such lot and shall not exceed 200 feet in length.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(7) 
Lots zoned in the Rural Residence and Agriculture District may exceed the 200-foot length requirement for the access strip requirement subject to the following conditions:
[Added 6-27-2022 by Ord. No. 22-215[2]]
(a) 
The entirety or majority of the subject property and the resulting lot shall be in the RR & A District.
(b) 
The subject lot shall not create any violations of the Code as a result of the creation of the flag lot.
(c) 
All structures on the subject lot shall meet the front yard setback provision of RR & A concerning the access strip of the flag lot.
(d) 
The location of the curb cut on the public street is subject to review and approval by the City Engineer.
[2]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former Subsection B(7) through (9) as Subsection B(8) through (10), respectively.
(8) 
Flag lots shall not be created as part of a subdivision when located on a proposed roadway, but may be proposed on existing roadways.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(9) 
Applications for flag lot approval shall be stamped by a professional land surveyor.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(10) 
Notwithstanding § 165-113, flag lot approval shall not expire if the land is not conveyed or built upon within the limitations of § 165-113D.
[Added 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 13-026]
(11) 
The approved plan and Planning Board decision shall be recorded in the Penobscot Registry of Deeds within 90 days of Planning Board approval. Evidence of recording shall be provided to the Code Enforcement Officer before the issuance of any permits for the subject property and the resulting approved flag lot. Approved plans and decisions that are not recorded shall be voided.
[Added 6-27-2022 by Ord. No. 22-215]
A planned development for any residential or commercial complex permitted under other provisions of this chapter shall be considered as one site development parcel under the applicable site development standards of the zoning district in which it lies and for subdivision purposes, regardless of the proposed method of ownership for the land area, buildings, portions of buildings, site improvements or any combination thereof, provided that:
A. 
The planned development shall not create increases in prescribed densities and/or lot coverage or reduce the required area for yards and off-street parking or violate any other site development standards applicable to the district.
B. 
Any method of ownership for the land area, buildings, portions of buildings, site improvements or any combination thereof shall afford those acquiring such ownership interests access to and use of such other portions of the planned development as are necessary for:
(1) 
Access to all portions of the planned development from a public right-of-way;
(2) 
Access to the parking areas required under this chapter;
(3) 
Access to the common areas of the planned development, including the yards and open spaces required under this chapter; or
(4) 
Compliance with the site development standards required under this chapter in the district in which such group development lies.
C. 
The applicant shall have the burden of demonstrating that the proposed method of ownership complies with the foregoing requirements. To that end, the applicant shall submit, as part of the land development review process, copies of all proposed documents relating to the creation of ownership interests, the dedication of all common areas or elements and the organizational arrangements for the ownership, maintenance, use and preservation of all common areas or elements of the planned development.
D. 
A planned development must receive site development approval in accordance with Article XVI of this chapter.
E. 
Where two adjoining properties are merged via a planned group development, 50% of the applicable common side yards and buffer plantings shall be redistributed to the internal parking green space and/or remaining perimeter buffer plantings in accordance with Articles X and XIX of this chapter.
[Added 4-9-2007 by Ord. No. 07-97]
[Amended 1-11-1993 by Ord. No. 93-59; 11-13-2019 by Ord. No. 19-416]
Notwithstanding the area and yard requirements for the various zoning districts in Article XIII (Zoning Districts URD-1, URD-2, M & SD, NSD, USD, DDD, WDD, ADD, UID and G & ISD only), as enumerated in Article XIX of this chapter, and, in all zoning districts, the parking buffer requirements in §§ 165-62 and 165-73B, the Code Enforcement Officer may allow the following variations from district standards after first notifying abutting property owners of record:
A. 
Front yard setback may be reduced to the average setback of the primary use structures on the two lots on either side of the subject parcel and in continuous frontage with said parcel.
B. 
A reduction of up to 10% of the applicable side and/or rear yard minimum setback requirement.
C. 
A reduction in lot area or lot width or an increase in maximum height or maximum lot coverage of up to 5% of the applicable district standard, and in no case will additional variations in development standards be permitted which would allow the cumulative variation to exceed the limits prescribed in Subsections A through C.
D. 
A reduction in the side yard and/or rear yard minimum setback requirements for freestanding accessory use buildings to not less than five feet in the URD-1, URD-2 and M & SD Zoning Districts only.
E. 
A reduction or elimination of the parking setback requirements found in § 165-73B. Such variation may also reduce the width of required buffer plantings in § 165-73D as a result. The parking setback reduction or elimination may only be allowed if all the following conditions are met:
(1) 
The subject parking area is not fronting a major or minor arterial street.
(2) 
The setback reduction is for a setback between the subject parking area and a City street.
(3) 
A buffer area at least 1/2 of the otherwise required setback width is maintained between the subject parking area and the closest paved portion of the right-of-way, whether sidewalk or street.
[Added 9-28-1998 by Ord. No. 98-365]
A legally established site development containing three or more primary use structures, built prior to September of 1971, may be lotted into individual parcels and given subdivision approval by the Planning Board under this chapter, provided that:
A. 
The creation of site nonconformities (which are assumed to be preexisting under the provisions of this section) shall be kept to the minimum necessary to create viable lotting, including the provision of adequate minimum rights-of-way for any public streets.
B. 
The Planning Board shall find that the resulting parcelization does not negatively impact the area in which it is located.
C. 
Lots created under such subdivision approval shall be made to conform to the standards of the district in which they are located, to the degree practicable, and such lots, once the subdivision is approved by the Planning Board, shall be considered legally grandfathered under the Land Development Code.
[Added 8-11-2008 by Ord. No. 08-250]
A. 
Notwithstanding the requirements of this chapter, an open space parcel, as defined, may be exempted from area, width, frontage, and other requirements of the Land Development Code, provided that it meets the following standards.
B. 
Planning Board review and approval required. An open space parcel shall be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board. If the open space parcel is part of a major subdivision under review, the open space subdivision standards under § 165-128 of the Land Development Code shall apply. Where consideration of such parcel takes place outside of major subdivision review, the following guidelines should be followed.
C. 
Determination of suitability. For an open space parcel to be exempted from requirements of this chapter, the Planning Board must find that it meets the following conditions:
(1) 
Be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Bangor;
(2) 
Be consistent with the open space plan of the City of Bangor;
(3) 
Be protected in perpetuity from development that is inconsistent with the intended long-range use of the open space; and
(4) 
Provide for one or more people or organizations to be responsible for any necessary maintenance, taxes, and insurance on the lot or parcel.
D. 
Submission requirements. Applicants shall provide the Planning Board with all information necessary for the Board to evaluate the lot or parcel to be conserved, including, but not limited to:
(1) 
A boundary survey, stamped by a professional land surveyor, of the lot or parcel covered by the conservation easement or deed restriction.
(2) 
Currently available published data on significant surface features such as:
(a) 
Topography.
(b) 
Wetlands.
(c) 
Vernal pools.
(d) 
Streams.
(e) 
Stone walls.
(f) 
Land cover.
(g) 
Soils mapping.
(h) 
Historic or archaeological information.
(i) 
Wildlife habitat.
(3) 
Conservation easements, deed restrictions, or other instruments to preserve the parcel as open space.
E. 
Other conditions. Conservation easements, deed restrictions, and other instruments preserving land as open space must be approved by the City Solicitor's Office and be executed and delivered to the Planning Division within 120 days of approval.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
[Added 1-14-2019 by Ord. No. 19-053]
Notwithstanding the minimum yard depths set forth in Schedules A, B, and C of this Chapter 165,[1] no setback shall be required on the property of an abutter of property owned by a company which operates a railroad from the property line between the two properties if:
A. 
An active track is located on the railroad property; and
B. 
The track is located within 25 feet of the property line between the two properties.
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedules A, B, and C are included as attachments to this chapter.