(March 24, 2016) Business is booming in Berlin, as is evidenced by an unusually large number of developments currently coming together, including several new shops, restaurants, apartment complexes and other expansions, both downtown and on the outskirts of town.
During a public meeting on March 14 at Town Hall, the mayor and council approved a rezoning request that would allow a new mixed-use building with retail space and apartments on 15 Gay Street.
Patrick Vorsteg, who purchased that property, said he plans to develop it into a building similar to other brick storefronts on Main Street in the downtown area.
Earlier this month, the historic district commission approved the demolition of a home on 21 Jefferson Street that would lead to a similar mixed-use development, by Habitat for Humanity of Worcester County.
Habitat introduced the idea for the project in August, proposing a 6,000-square-foot building with ground-floor retail spaces and second-floor apartments, which would ideally become art studios and attached housing for artists.
The lot on Jefferson, roughly 3,800 square feet, is smaller than what Habitat originally brought before the council. Planning Director Dave Engelhart said the project was still in the early stages, and that site and other plans would have to pass through the town’s planning and historic district commissions.
Also this month, the planning commission recommended rezoning the former Merial Select property on the north end of Main Street. SonRise Church, conditionally agreed to buy the property, with one of the conditions being a rezoning from light industrial to B-2 commercial.
The planning commission also granted a request, by SonRise, for a text amendment to town code to allow churches in B-2 zones.
Engelhart said both matters would be advertised, and then go to a public hearing during a mayor and council meeting, likely on April 11.
If all goes well, SonRise hopes to build a church and several athletic fields there, and subdivide the remaining portion of the property into space for a fast food restaurant, a chain restaurant and a hotel. McDonald’s and Cracker Barrel were mentioned as possibilities during the commission meeting.
Elsewhere, Engelhard said he met on March 8 with developers who are working on an Arby’s and Royal Farms near Ocean Gateway and Seahawk Road. The fast food chain is moving across the street from its current location to make way for the convenience store.
He said the developers cleared a stormwater hurdle, and that he expected permitting to start “shortly.”
Developer Oxford Chase, who hopes to build a Dollar General store near the intersection of Flower Street and Bay Street next to where Berlin plans to build a new police station, is still working on an environmental site design. Stormwater issues there have not been addressed “to the town’s satisfaction,” Engelhart said.
The town is also reviewing engineering, stormwater and site plans for the Ocean’s East apartment complex on Seahawk Road, near Stephen Decatur High School.
“I haven’t seen building plans for that yet – actual blueprints for the buildings. It’s still in the engineering stage,” Engelhart said on March 14. He added that the developer, Rinnier Development Company, is targeting a construction start this summer.
Previous plans shown to the mayor and council suggested full build-out of Ocean’s East could include more than 700 units, although the town has only approved the first phase of that.
During a public meeting on March 14 at Town Hall, the mayor and council approved a rezoning request that would allow a new mixed-use building with retail space and apartments on 15 Gay Street.
Patrick Vorsteg, who purchased that property, said he plans to develop it into a building similar to other brick storefronts on Main Street in the downtown area.
Earlier this month, the historic district commission approved the demolition of a home on 21 Jefferson Street that would lead to a similar mixed-use development, by Habitat for Humanity of Worcester County.
Habitat introduced the idea for the project in August, proposing a 6,000-square-foot building with ground-floor retail spaces and second-floor apartments, which would ideally become art studios and attached housing for artists.
The lot on Jefferson, roughly 3,800 square feet, is smaller than what Habitat originally brought before the council. Planning Director Dave Engelhart said the project was still in the early stages, and that site and other plans would have to pass through the town’s planning and historic district commissions.
Also this month, the planning commission recommended rezoning the former Merial Select property on the north end of Main Street. SonRise Church, conditionally agreed to buy the property, with one of the conditions being a rezoning from light industrial to B-2 commercial.
The planning commission also granted a request, by SonRise, for a text amendment to town code to allow churches in B-2 zones.
Engelhart said both matters would be advertised, and then go to a public hearing during a mayor and council meeting, likely on April 11.
If all goes well, SonRise hopes to build a church and several athletic fields there, and subdivide the remaining portion of the property into space for a fast food restaurant, a chain restaurant and a hotel. McDonald’s and Cracker Barrel were mentioned as possibilities during the commission meeting.
Elsewhere, Engelhard said he met on March 8 with developers who are working on an Arby’s and Royal Farms near Ocean Gateway and Seahawk Road. The fast food chain is moving across the street from its current location to make way for the convenience store.
He said the developers cleared a stormwater hurdle, and that he expected permitting to start “shortly.”
Developer Oxford Chase, who hopes to build a Dollar General store near the intersection of Flower Street and Bay Street next to where Berlin plans to build a new police station, is still working on an environmental site design. Stormwater issues there have not been addressed “to the town’s satisfaction,” Engelhart said.
The town is also reviewing engineering, stormwater and site plans for the Ocean’s East apartment complex on Seahawk Road, near Stephen Decatur High School.
“I haven’t seen building plans for that yet – actual blueprints for the buildings. It’s still in the engineering stage,” Engelhart said on March 14. He added that the developer, Rinnier Development Company, is targeting a construction start this summer.
Previous plans shown to the mayor and council suggested full build-out of Ocean’s East could include more than 700 units, although the town has only approved the first phase of that.