Bates Area Civic Association

The Bates Area Civic Association Board would appreciate your comments on the below guiding principles. The board drafted the guiding principles to assist the board in advocating consistently and in accordance with views shared generally by BACA members. These principles should be thought of as guideposts and they touch on three key areas (1) development, (2) parking, and (3) alcohol.  Beyond the policy-setting advantages these offer the board, they will also serve as a useful signal to individuals and organizations looking to enter the community. In other words, these will let prospective developers, retailers, and others know where BACA stands with respect to these common issues. Of course, they may change over time.

We would like your views on this draft. We will take comments and adjust these so that they reflect the views of all residents. Comments on the draft below should be submitted to: batesareacivic@gmail.com by Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The Board will review all comments and submit to the association a consolidated proposal for member approval this summer.

If you have questions, please direct them to Kyle Thomas, Bates Area Civic Association President at the email above.  We look forward to your comments!

Development

BACA supports responsible, thoughtful, and appropriate residential and commercial development. Our priorities, with respect to development, are:

• Increasing the density and diversity of our neighborhood. A vibrant and livable community includes residents from all races, backgrounds, and income levels.
• Development of vacant lots or blighted properties is encouraged and prioritized.
• Large scale, multi-family developments should include at least X [seeking comment] percent designated as affordable.
• Higher quality, and more affordable housing in our neighborhood is a priority.
• Support commercial development, particularly the types of commercial operations that are currently limited. Examples include food and beverage retailers, hardware and dry-goods stores, and retail grocery developments.

Parking

BACA understands that parking concerns are a quality of life issue and warrant due consideration. Our priorities, with respect to parking-related inquiries, are:

• New real estate developments are encouraged to propose creative solutions that alleviate parking challenges.
• New developments will not be opposed solely on the expectation of future parking challenges unless there are special exceptions determined by the Board.
• Commercial operations that have an impact on the immediate area’s parking availability will be encouraged to identify and implement practices that mitigate parking attrition.
• The association will support local efforts to restrict parking through the city’s residential parking permit program.

Alcohol

BACA supports increasing business and economic activity in the neighborhood. However, BACA  will actively engage in the application process of all new and renewals of alcoholic beverage licenses in order to balance those economic interests with the social well-being of residents. In general, BACA will:

• Oppose single-sales and will attempt to include such limitations in any settlement agreements,
• Enforce existing settlement agreements and will protest renewals of existing licenses when the applicant has failed to abide by provisions in preexisting settlement agreements or if pre-existing settlements do not ban single-sales,
• Support the applications of businesses that demonstrate a commitment to community engagement and make good-faith efforts to operate in a neighborly manner,
• Evaluate the impact additional licenses may have on schools and school-aged children.