Make a New Year’s resolution to be more engaged, attend or watch town meetings, speak up when things violate your values, and join a community of residents who feel it is worthwhile protecting what we have and working to build a future we will be happy with and which we can feel we helped shape.
Currently, the Planning Commission does not have enforceable standards for commercial development. It still won’t have. The Town Council insisted that the required zoning ordinance language would not be included in the consultants’ work; it was just to be a design document. This leaves us at the mercy of a developer to follow or not follow these guidelines.
Frances Topping was at Ninigret Park on May 12 and from a distance saw a whitish haze on the rough broken parking area next to the Naval Air Memorial. On closer inspection, this turned out to be a large area covered with native Bluet flowers blooming in an otherwise very difficult area. They are a treat to see! Bluets are delicate, low-growing plants, mostly found in grassy areas so seeing them here was unexpected but a joy to behold.
Testimony was given by experts Jim Riordan of Weston and Sampson, a planner and water expert; Lorraine Joubert, a water expert at URI; Matt Dowling, the Town’s Wastewater Manager and Environmental Scientist; and Jane Weidman our professional and experienced Town Planner. They focused mainly on the important benefits of undisturbed land, and the reduction of impervious surfaces to benefit quantity and quality of groundwater.
We can be very proud of our town. The last 12 to 14 years have been good, with elected representatives endorsed by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance prominent. The town has had stable government, open space preserved, some affordable housing created, civil discourse promoted, threats averted and taxes kept low. This has led to some complacency among residents quite happy to leave the business of the town in able hands. Social media has caused tempers to run high on certain issues which are often not fully understood. More is at stake than a few temporary hot issues.
On July 11 at 7 pm, the Charlestown Town Council will hold a public hearing to consider replacing the town’s current cluster design ordinance (mandatory for land development projects with more than five homes) with what is called Conservation Cluster Design (CCD). Conventional subdivision is still available for subdivisions of five lots or fewer.
Now that the plan has been approved, the Planning Commission can begin the process of addressing issues that the town faces along with residents’ concerns. The staff, boards, commissions and committees now have a solid footing for making their decisions. State agencies still have to make final approval of the plan, but their reviews so far have been extremely good.
