The redevelopment of the former chicken plant will be done in phases, beginning with the northern building on the parcel.

The redevelopment of the former chicken plant will be done in phases, beginning with the northern building on the parcel.

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Citing a change in the neighborhood’s character and a previous zoning designation mistake, Berlin’s Planning Commission is recommending rezoning parcel 57 at Heron Park from R-1, residential, to B-2, shopping and retail.

 The reclassification, approved by the commission last Wednesday, will allow for the space’s redevelopment providing the Town Council agrees.

The designation will pave the way for Palmer and Sandy Gillis of Coastal Ventures Properties (CVP) to rehab the former poultry processing plant building for commercial use.

CVP entered into a contract to purchase parcel 57 from the Town of Berlin in April. The property is the former site of the old Tyson Foods poultry processing plant, which is now non-operational.

The arrangement’s conditions include the rezoning request. If parcel 57 remains R-1, the attorney for the Gillises, Mark Cropper, said the agreement will not close, and the project will not go forward.

However, the town’s planning commission is recommending the reclassification, which the town council is expected to greenlight at an upcoming meeting.

“I am in full support of this project as a town resident and a council member,” said Jay Knerr, a councilman in attendance at the planning commission meeting. “We firmly believe CVP will do a great job rehabbing this derelict property. It will be a nice addition to the Town of Berlin. We want to see it happen.”

The commission asked Knerr if he believed his endorsement to be the council’s majority opinion. Knerr responded, “That is my belief, yes.”

While the establishments to enter the space have yet to be determined, Cropper noted that the area will likely see office and/ or retail space.

Still, the Berlin Town Council has included a list in the contract that dictates what can and cannot operate on the property. Prohibited uses of the site are pawn shops, gun shops, tanning salons, massage parlors, adult video and book shops, adult entertainment facilities, check cashing facilities, tattoo parlors, liquor stores, and gambling facilities.

“Quite honestly, we don’t know yet what’s going to go there, but it will be consistent with the provisions,” Palmer Gillis said.

If the council follows the planning commission’s recommendation, parcel 57’s status as an R-1 residential site will be modified to B-2 shopping and retail. Cropper argued at last week’s meeting that the change is necessary as the neighborhood’s character has changed.

“As far as a change in the character of the neighborhood…you have a residentially zoned parcel of land on which there has been an industrial use which is now owned by the Town of Berlin,” Cropper said. “The Town of Berlin has no intention of continuing the industrial use on that property. In fact, it is going to be utilized much, much differently.”

Specifically, the attorney cites the abandonment of the former poultry processing plant.

“Part of the proposed redevelopment of the chosen property is parcel 57, which is under contract by CVP for retail/ commercial uses,” Cropper continued. “So, there has been a change in the character of the neighborhood to the extent you had a very significant industrial use on the property, which has been dormant now for many years. It’s never going to resume being an industrial use. It’s only going to be utilized as approved by the Town of Berlin, and part of the principal reuse of the property is essentially retail and commercial, so that in and of itself is a change in the character of the neighborhood that would warrant the rezoning.”

Cropper added that the rezoning should take place as the current classification as residential was likely a mistake, considering the property used to be home to an industrial site.

“With regards to the mistake argument, I think that’s a very easy argument under the circumstances because this property has been utilized as the Tyson processing plant for decades and yet it’s zoned R-1 residential,” he said. “The use that has been on this property for decades is industrial, but it is zoned residential. I believe that is a mistake.”

Cropper said he was “stunned” when he realized the parcel’s current zoning was R-1.

“I actually didn’t believe it at first that we were seeking a change of zoning from R-1…for the very reason Tyson’s plant has been there for as long as I can remember, I mean a long time,” he noted.

Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said that Berlin purchased the property in early 2016. At this time, it was rezoned R-1, as the municipality intended to turn it into a park. That mission was never realized, but the residential distinction remained.

The Berlin Planning Commission is thus recommending the parcel 57 rezoning request. The body noted that in addition to the classification mistake and the neighborhood’s character change, the town’s comprehensive plan aims to promote businesses and job opportunities. The property’s redevelopment to retail and office space would propel this objective.

Earlier this spring, CVP and the town entered into an agreement to purchase parcel 57, consisting of approximately 9.35 acres of land area, for $1,200,000. The purchase price includes the allocation of 15 sewer Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) to the property. Furthermore, Gillis committed to constructing at least one office or retail building in the designated space within two years of closing as part of the redevelopment plans. CVP is responsible for the re-engineering costs associated with the site.

The agreement notes that Gillis plans to construct an office building on the rear end of the property, denoted as “Phase I,” and a retail space along Old Ocean City Boulevard, designated as “Phase II.”

The Berlin Town Council will soon hold a public hearing on the rezoning request and then vote to approve or disapprove it.