Ruddertowne Archictural Committee Meetings

Standing Room Only crowd
Town Hall Forum
Television & Print Media coverage high
Jim Baeurle was representing Highway One
Commissioner Mike Eisenhauer chaired the Committee along with Commissioner Claire Walsh
Committee members in attendance were Bronie Zopher (DBCL), Paul Bauer (DBCL), Carol Everhart (Chamber of Commerce), Bill Dwyer, Anna Lagates, and Vivian Barry.

This was an overall positive meeting in which there was discussion of a Public-Private partnership being formed. Our Town Attorney, John Brady, will look into the specifics & what next steps could be. The challenge will be raising the millions of dollars to get this done.

It was refreshing to see a key businesses owner & the town sit down & have an open dialogue. This was a long overdue discussion.

Obviously, Highway One can exercise their rights as property owners as long as they stay within the current zoning laws. The Comprehensive Plan is proposing to make this property RB-1 which is a Mixed use combination of Commercial & Residential in a single dwelling.

Committee members voiced their "wish list" of items that they would like to see happen. These included:

Parking to help Commercial Businesses increase traffic
Keeping the Baycenter as a town Convention Center
Public Restrooms
A Parking Garage to replace to 200 parking spaces lost in the
Ruddertowne build out.

No one wants to see the teardown of Ruddertowne happen but time is of the essence to get things done quickly.

The tear down of Venus on the Halfshell will be moving forward and was not open to discussion.

There are 8 phases to the construction plans. Phase 1, in which permits have been issued, will begin at the corner of Van Dyke and Route 1.

The area where Crabbers Cove, The Lighthouse, and the Baycenter are located is Phase 7 & The Rusty Rudder area is planned for Phase 8. It will be a couple of years until these phases are underway but are currently in the design stage.

One of the major issues facing Highway One is the instability, created with each new elected administration. In any given year there could be Zoning changes, Noise ordinances or taxes to move tables to convert from a restaurant to a bar. It is difficult to make long term investments in this environment.

Commissioner Eisenhauer

Carol Everhart (Chamber of Commerce)

Bronie Zolpher (Civic League)

Diane Hanson (Civic League)

Paul Bauer (Civic League)

Vivian Barry not present.

Highway One was represented by Jim Baeurle & Chris Weeks

Commissioner Fitzgerald

Jim Baeurle made a presentation on Highway One's Construction Plans and Options

The current site plan for construction is moving forward.

Highway One has paid their $46,000 for permits.

The site plan calls for 30 units along the South side of Dickinson Street and 18 along the Rusty Rudder side

Phase I calls for 6 units to be constructed starting at the Southeast corner of Van Dyke street and Route 1

There was a proposal that was presented to the Committee

Highway One could modify their site plan to do construction at the Bayside of Van Dyke street for 3 Bayfront Units that would house 6 Condominiums, 1 on top of each other, and parking underneath.

This would give the Town the ability to purchase 1 large continuous tract of land that is approximately 60,000 square feet. This property would be what we know as the parking lot in front of Booksandcoffee and the Sunnyside Restaurant.

Highway One is offering to give the Town up to 12 months to get financing in place and perhaps find a developer that would want to develop the larger parcel of land. If they build as their current site plan describes, the parcel of land would be smaller and perhaps less attractive to a developer.

In order to do this, the Town would need to make a concession to Highway One. The current restriction calls for x # of parking spaces for x # of square foot of business operation.

If the Town would grant them relief of 8-10 Parking Spaces they would adjust their site plan for Phase 1 to be the 6 Bayfront Condominiums instead of construction at Route 1 and van Dyke Street.

The Town can say No but that would mean that site plans continue as drawn up and the businesses close down.

Highway One will get the property appraised and negotiations can continue if that is what the Town wants to do.

Final negotiations must be approved by Highway One's lender which is Wilmington Trust.

An Interesting Option that could be considered......

There was a site drawing which showed what the Town and/or Developer could do with the Property if the Town could see fit to approve the height variance. There is currently a 35 foot restriction that would obviously prevent anything over 3 stories tall to be built.

Picture yourself standing in the middle of Dickinson Street at Route One and you are facing the Bay.

The Baycenter is to your left and the Rusty Rudder is to your right.

The site drawing shows a potential to put a Parking Garage with a Hotel on top of it lengthwise along the Dickinson Street line. It would be 5 stories tall with shops along the street level. The New Baycenter and Rusty Rudder could be built where the current Rusty Rudder sits. There would be a 22 foot set back from Dickinson Street, 10 foot in the back and 12 foot from the sides. This would fit the Mixed use Zoning that the Comprehensive Plan describes for this property and could potentially be the Centerpiece that our Town would like to have. Having a nice, high end, Hotel in town would also be attractive option.

It is however not consistent to the responses to the Comprehensive Plan whereby a majority of residents do not want taller structures than what we have today.

A critical challenge that our town has is how can we create enough parking spaces to handle visitors yet not having the land to put it on. The choices are to build Up or build Down so something has to give.

These are the tough choices that we are facing as we are at a critical juncture in the development of our town.

The Committee voted to recommend to the Commissioners to draft an Ordinance to allow Highway One the parking relief so they can still legally operate their businesses. The Commissioners will discuss and Vote at the March Town Council meeting.

Mayor Tush advised that this should go to the Board of Adjustment before it can be placed on the Agenda and discussed at the Town Council meeting.

Dale Cooke believes the Town Attorney should review whether the Board of Adjustments needs to approve this. It will take 2 to 3 weeks to convene the Board of Adjustment group so it would probably not be ready for the March Town Council meeting.

In Summary, there are some tough choices that are being made.

If the Goal of the Committee was to keep the Central business District open, it has voted it's recommendation to the Council to grant the Parking Relief to keep the businesses open while, as a town, we figure out what we are able to do, or not be able to do, with the property.

As this issue is important to all of us, the Civic League will be polling our members to find out your opinions and feedback.

Please keep checking our site and we keep doing our best to keep you informed.

Reviews of Ruddertowne Architectural Committee Meetings
December 26, 2006	Standing Room Only crowd Town Hall Forum Television & Print Media coverage high Jim Baeurle was representing Highway One Commissioner Mike Eisenhauer chaired the Committee along with Commissioner Claire Walsh Committee members in attendance were Bronie Zopher (DBCL), Paul Bauer (DBCL), Carol Everhart (Chamber of Commerce), Bill Dwyer, Anna Lagates, and Vivian Barry. This was an overall positive meeting in which there was discussion of a Public-Private partnership being formed. Our Town Attorney, John Brady, will look into the specifics & what next steps could be. The challenge will be raising the millions of dollars to get this done. It was refreshing to see a key businesses owner & the town sit down & have an open dialogue. This was a long overdue discussion. Obviously, Highway One can exercise their rights as property owners as long as they stay within the current zoning laws. The Comprehensive Plan is proposing to make this property RB-1 which is a Mixed use combination of Commercial & Residential in a single dwelling. Committee members voiced their "wish list" of items that they would like to see happen. These included: Parking to help Commercial Businesses increase traffic Keeping the Baycenter as a town Convention Center Public Restrooms A Parking Garage to replace to 200 parking spaces lost in the Ruddertowne build out. No one wants to see the teardown of Ruddertowne happen but time is of the essence to get things done quickly. The tear down of Venus on the Halfshell will be moving forward and was not open to discussion. There are 8 phases to the construction plans. Phase 1, in which permits have been issued, will begin at the corner of Van Dyke and Route 1. The area where Crabbers Cove, The Lighthouse, and the Baycenter are located is Phase 7 & The Rusty Rudder area is planned for Phase 8. It will be a couple of years until these phases are underway but are currently in the design stage. One of the major issues facing Highway One is the instability, created with each new elected administration. In any given year there could be Zoning changes, Noise ordinances or taxes to move tables to convert from a restaurant to a bar. It is difficult to make long term investments in this environment.
February 16, 2007	In Attendance Commissioner Eisenhauer Commission Walsh Carol Everhart (Chamber of Commerce) Anna Legates Rick Dryer Bronie Zolpher (Civic League) Diane Hanson (Civic League) Paul Bauer (Civic League) Vivian Barry not present. Highway One was represented by Jim Baeurle & Chris Weeks Audience Mayor Tush Commissioner Fitzgerald Commissioner Cooke Jim Baeurle made a presentation on Highway One's Construction Plans and Options The current site plan for construction is moving forward. Highway One has paid their $46,000 for permits. The site plan calls for 30 units along the South side of Dickinson Street and 18 along the Rusty Rudder side Phase I calls for 6 units to be constructed starting at the Southeast corner of Van Dyke street and Route 1 There was a proposal that was presented to the Committee Highway One could modify their site plan to do construction at the Bayside of Van Dyke street for 3 Bayfront Units that would house 6 Condominiums, 1 on top of each other, and parking underneath. This would give the Town the ability to purchase 1 large continuous tract of land that is approximately 60,000 square feet. This property would be what we know as the parking lot in front of Booksandcoffee and the Sunnyside Restaurant. Highway One is offering to give the Town up to 12 months to get financing in place and perhaps find a developer that would want to develop the larger parcel of land. If they build as their current site plan describes, the parcel of land would be smaller and perhaps less attractive to a developer. In order to do this, the Town would need to make a concession to Highway One. The current restriction calls for x # of parking spaces for x # of square foot of business operation. If the Town would grant them relief of 8-10 Parking Spaces they would adjust their site plan for Phase 1 to be the 6 Bayfront Condominiums instead of construction at Route 1 and van Dyke Street. The Town can say No but that would mean that site plans continue as drawn up and the businesses close down. Highway One will get the property appraised and negotiations can continue if that is what the Town wants to do. Final negotiations must be approved by Highway One's lender which is Wilmington Trust. An Interesting Option that could be considered...... There was a site drawing which showed what the Town and/or Developer could do with the Property if the Town could see fit to approve the height variance. There is currently a 35 foot restriction that would obviously prevent anything over 3 stories tall to be built. Picture yourself standing in the middle of Dickinson Street at Route One and you are facing the Bay. The Baycenter is to your left and the Rusty Rudder is to your right. The site drawing shows a potential to put a Parking Garage with a Hotel on top of it lengthwise along the Dickinson Street line. It would be 5 stories tall with shops along the street level. The New Baycenter and Rusty Rudder could be built where the current Rusty Rudder sits. There would be a 22 foot set back from Dickinson Street, 10 foot in the back and 12 foot from the sides. This would fit the Mixed use Zoning that the Comprehensive Plan describes for this property and could potentially be the Centerpiece that our Town would like to have. Having a nice, high end, Hotel in town would also be attractive option. It is however not consistent to the responses to the Comprehensive Plan whereby a majority of residents do not want taller structures than what we have today. A critical challenge that our town has is how can we create enough parking spaces to handle visitors yet not having the land to put it on. The choices are to build Up or build Down so something has to give. These are the tough choices that we are facing as we are at a critical juncture in the development of our town. The Committee voted to recommend to the Commissioners to draft an Ordinance to allow Highway One the parking relief so they can still legally operate their businesses. The Commissioners will discuss and Vote at the March Town Council meeting. Mayor Tush advised that this should go to the Board of Adjustment before it can be placed on the Agenda and discussed at the Town Council meeting. Dale Cooke believes the Town Attorney should review whether the Board of Adjustments needs to approve this. It will take 2 to 3 weeks to convene the Board of Adjustment group so it would probably not be ready for the March Town Council meeting. In Summary, there are some tough choices that are being made. If the Goal of the Committee was to keep the Central business District open, it has voted it's recommendation to the Council to grant the Parking Relief to keep the businesses open while, as a town, we figure out what we are able to do, or not be able to do, with the property. As this issue is important to all of us, the Civic League will be polling our members to find out your opinions and feedback. Please keep checking our site and we keep doing our best to keep you informed.
June 24, 2007	Present at the meeting were Committe Members: Commissioner Eisenhauer Commissioner Walsh Steve Montgomery Vivian Barry Carol Everhart Anna Legates Diane Hanson Paul Bauer Harvey Hanna & Associates has a contract in place to purchase the parcel of land between Dickinson and VanDyke streets that is between Route 1 and the bay. The Attorney for Harvey and Hanna, Shawn Tucker, made a presentation on who they are and a resume of other development projects that they had done. We also got to meet and hear from Tom Harvey. They had a list of suggestions that they had heard that we wanted for the town and had done a good amount of research into our Comprehensive Plan. They described a central business district concept for this development that would help attract more year round businesses, offered variety, had sufficient parking and was walkable. The suggestions discussed were an Expanded BayCenter Expanded Retail Baywalk Movie Theatre Fitness Center/Spa Funland Grocery Store Pharmacy Welcome Center with Public Bathrooms DayCare Center Tom Harvey mentioned that the Lighthouse and Crabbers Cove are part of their plan to keep them right where they are. They have scheduled 3 future meetings dates with our Committee, Fridays June 15th, 22nd, & 29th (if needed) to present and discuss their ideas and designs. Each meeting is scheduled for 7:00 and are open to the public for their input. A Zoning meeting was suggested for July 31st and if everything proceeds, this should be ready for a Commissioners Vote at the September 14th Council Meeting. It appears that Harvey & Hanna will be looking for an amendment to the RB1 zoning and will be looking at consideration to increase the 35 foot Height Limitation. In order to build out the business district they believe they need to at least maintain the # of parking spaces that currently exist. They are planning to have 1st floor retail around the perimeter with parking hidden behind the shops in the interior. They should be able to present thir initial plans at the June 15th meeting. The Committee agreed to survey the community for input and help in prioritizing what types of businesses the Town should consider for this project.

Reviews of Ruddertowne Architectural Committee Meetings