Berlin mayor, council refine  their request for proposals for sale of two parcels

By Greg Ellison

(Oct. 21, 2021) Berlin inched closer to unloading parcels 57 and 410 in Heron Park, along with $200,00 in associated annual debt service, after fine-tuning a draft request for proposals during its Oct. 12 meeting.

Mayor Zach Tyndall said research was required to craft a document to solicit lease or purchase offers for the combined 16-acre sections of the 63-acre Heron Park.

“I reached out to Mayor Jake Day in Salisbury,” he said.

Day provided Berlin officials with past RFPs from Salisbury to serve as a basis for producing the document Tyndall presented for Town Council review.

Planning Director Dave Engelhart raised zoning issues that could limit development proposals due to both park sections being designated R-1 residential.

Short of re-zoning, development of either the six-acre parcel 57 or nearly 10-acre parcel 410, which are the park sections closest to Old Ocean City Boulevard, would be limited mostly to building single-family homes.

“You can’t have a mixed-use building there,” he said. “You can’t have  townhouse developments unless a planned unit development was done.”

Engelhart said the zoning code allows just two reasons for rezoning approval, a significant change in the neighborhood or a mistake in existing zoning.

“We zoned [the parcels] R-1 after the purchase of the properties because that’s where parks are allowed in our zoning code,” he said. “We needed to make it R-1 so you could call it a park and not have the previous industrial use.”

Berlin purchased Heron Park for roughly $2.5 million in 2015 from Berlin Properties North, which counts Councilman Troy Purnell among its ownership.

Berlin is paying $200,000 annually through 2045 to clear the debt incurred from purchasing the former Tyson operating plant located on Old Ocean City Boulevard.

“The thought was it would be a park regardless of what we did with the building,” he said.

Chicken-processing buildings are located on parcel 57, with parcel 410 consisting of largely green space and outbuildings.

Engelhart said potential bidders could be deterred if given the impression development is restricted to single-family homes.

“People may say, ‘It’s R-1, I don’t want anything to do with it,’” he said. “It would have to be highly contingent on the buyer.”

Procedural steps to re-zone or approve planned-use developments start with a public hearing before the Berlin Planning Commission, which forwards a recommendation to the mayor and council for consideration.

“Any discussion on planned use will have to involve the Planning Commission by town code,” he said.

Councilman Troy Purnell said changing the R-1 status seems inevitable.

“It’s going to have to be rezoned,” he said.

Purnell said either rezoning criteria could apply, with reasonable questions surrounding past designations, besides obvious changes to the character of the neighborhood in recent years.

“I think it was a mistake to build a chicken plant in the middle of town,” he said.

Councilman Jay Knerr questioned which edits would be appropriate to assure the parcel’s current zoning would not limit proposals.

“What language needs to go in the RFP so we’re not pigeonholed by R-1 zoning?” he said.

Engelhart said a contingency clause should be added.

“You would need to put language in there that says beyond the R-1 permitted uses would require a rezoning or planned-use development,” he said. “That’s all you could do.”

Councilman Dean Burrell said an associated RFP scoring criteria to rank proposals should be applied equally.

“It should be communicated to bidders,” he said.

Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood recommended adding RFP language to specify developers are responsible for any on site hazardous findings.

“I believe the grounds on parcel 57 are clean. However, there’s a lot underground piping,” he said.

Other environmental issues tied to the spillage of an undisclosed amount of sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda, in June 2019 still linger.

Berlin ponied up more than $300,000 to address the chemical spill, which shut down the park through May 2020.

“We still have not closed out with the EPA,” he said. “It will happen when they get ready.”

Tyndall raised the issue of ensuring the town retains park access roadways.

“We want to keep the existing roadway,” he said.

Fleetwood proposed including language requiring the town to have standard road access on site.

Engelhart said the town typically avoids having infrastructure or roadways tied to development projects under its purview.

“That’s a sustainability thing,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure we don’t have things to repair and maintain 30 years down the road.”

Town officials are anticipating news by December about a strategic demolition grant to remove the chicken processing structure on parcel 57.

Fleetwood asked if offers could be submitted for only one of the parcels in question.

Tyndall confirmed the RFP would cover both sale contingencies, but preference would be given to acquiring both plots.

“Bidding on both parcels is seen as more favorable than bidding on one,” he said.

Tyndall said RFP language revisions discussed would be completed, with the final draft ready for approval during the next council meeting on Oct. 25.