Planning Commission Agenda Loaded With Applications

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On the Charlestown Planning Commission’s June 23rd meeting agenda are three major land developments – “Village Walk”, “Summer Winds”, and “Rippy’s Garages”  – along with other applications.

You can review materials submitted by the applicants and the agenda for the entire June 23rd meeting at the Charlestown website. The meeting packet is not long, because most of the materials for these applications are in packets from earlier meetings. We have links to materials submitted earlier at the bottom of this post. You can join the live Webex meeting on June 23 at 7 p.m. where these applications will be reviewed.

Planning Commission agendas are determined by time clocks set by State law. The commission must place the application on an agenda within a certain number of days of receiving a complete application, and they also must render a decision within a certain number of days. Planning Commission decisions can be appealed by the applicant or neighbors. Most appeals go first to the Zoning Board and then to Superior Court. Appeals of applications that are filed under the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act go directly to the RI State Housing Appeals Board (SHAB).

“Village Walk”: 20 condominium units on 2 acres – corner of Old Post Road and Narrow Lane

This application is proposed under the provisions of the Rhode Island Low and Moderate Income Housing Act. Proposed are 8 market-rate units, and 12 units would be reserved for those making up to 120% of the area median income (AMI). As of June 2020, Rhode Island Housing would allow a maximum price of $325,000.00 for affordable units for two-person households, although the applicant could charge less. Since the last meeting (May), the applicant has proposed modified architectural plans for the condominium buildings. Those new building renderings are in the meeting packet.

Village Walk site plan
“Village Walk” site plan above

“Summer Winds”: Old Post Road next to Ninigret Park and near Ninigret Pond (37 lots)

The first image below is the “Yield Plan” that is used to calculate the number of buildable lots on the parcel. The coastal buffer and other wetland buffers along with steep slopes are used to make up the minimum 2 acre area for many of the lots.

"Summer Winds" yield plan
“Summer Winds” yield plan above

Using the number of lots from the Yield Plan, the applicant has placed the same number of lots, but at a smaller size closer to Old Post Road in the next plan below. Charlestown’s zoning ordinance requires that major subdivisions be clustered into smaller lots to leave some of the land permanently undeveloped and to move development away from wetlands. But even after clustering the lots, some lots still contain wetlands and wetland buffers.

"Summer Winds" Master Plan
“Summer Winds” Master Plan for cluster subdivision above

“Rippy’s Garages”: 4158 South County Trail (two 5,000 Square Foot Buildings)

This is a Pre-Application discussion, no votes will be taken.

Rippy's Garages Site Plan
Rippy’s Garages Site Plan

In addition to the three major land developments, there is another subdivision on the agenda – “Mill Road Minor Subdivision” – but this applicant has in the past asked for continuations pending review by the RI Department of Environmental Management. Because there are no new materials in the packet, it is assumed the applicant will likely be requesting another continuance.

Links to earlier meeting materials:

Virginia Lee
Virginia Lee

Virginia Lee, the author of this post, was President of the Charlestown Town Council for the recent two terms that she served on the Council (2014 to 2020). She was the Town Council liaison to the Agricultural Commission, the Waste Water Management Commission, Coastal Pond Management Commission, Zoning Board of Review, Charlestown Potable Water Working Group, the Historical Society and the committee updating the Harbor Management Plan. She is a former member of South Kingstown’s Town Council, Zoning Board, and Conservation Commission. She is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the South Kingstown Land Trust and a former member of the Board of Directors of Save the Bay. She retired from the URI Coastal Resources Center in 2012. Virginia plans to write occasionally about the work of the Charlestown Planning Commission over the next year or so.