Planning Board – Special Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - 5:30 p.m.

Westerly Town Hall | Town Council Chambers 45 Broad Street, Westerly, RI 02891

 

 

A. PLANNING BOARD CALL TO ORDER -

Mr. Hopkins called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

 

B. PLANNING BOARD ROLL CALL

 

Members present:           Chair Justin M. Hopkins, IV, Vice Chair Richard W. Constantine, Secretary Christopher K. Lawlor, and Members Joseph M. Montesano, Andrew Delisio, and Tabitha Harkin

 

Members absent:             Member Kevin Lowther

 

Staff present:                   Assistant Solicitor for Planning & Zoning Atty. Scott Levesque, Town Planner Nancy Letendre, Information Technology Technician Lanny Fuller, and Minute Taker Stephanie J. LaSota

 

Planning Board’s Town Council Liaison Phillip M. Overton was present at the meeting and left about 7:01 p.m. This was a joint meeting of the Planning Board and Economic Development Commission (EDC). EDC members in attendance were Chair James Torres, Vice Chair Doug Brockway, Secretary Timothy S. McLaughlin, and Members Daniel Lathrop, Ralph M. Abruzzese, Mary Scialabba, and Lucy Wang, and Alternate Member Joseph Montesano. EDC’s Town Council Liaison Brian McCuin was absent.

 

C. PLANNING BOARD APPROVAL OF MINUTES

 

1.      April 5, 2022 Special Meeting – Mr. Lawlor made a motion to approve as presented the April 5, 2022 Planning Board meeting minutes as presented. Mr. Montesano seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

D. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA –

Review, discussion, and possible action by the Planning Board on changes to the agenda, including known continuances and the order in which items will be heard.

 

            There were no changes to the agenda.

 

E. OLD BUSINESS –

There was no old business to discuss.

 

F. NEW BUSINESS

 

1.      Route One Corridor Plan – Presentation & Discussion Weston & Sampson will discuss the Route One Corridor study process, findings and recommendations as provided in the First Draft of the Route One Corridor Plan.  Proposed revisions to the Westerly Zoning Ordinance will be presented and the Planning Board and EDC will be engaged in discussion. A timeline for concluding amendment drafting and a workshop with the Planning Board will be established.

 

Mr. Torres introduced Weston & Sampson consultants Jim Riordan, team leader, and Caroline Wells, senior project manager. He also listed the members of the Route 1 Corridor Committee (ROCC) who have been instrumental in the development of the plan, along with Planning Office staff. Mr. Torres reviewed the timeline of the study which will be before the Planning Board in July for review, along with Zoning Ordinance amendments. The Planning Board will present a recommendation to the Town Council, who will review the plan and amendments in August and September. By the end of September, Town Council will provide public notice for a formal plan and revised Zoning Ordinances for possible action at a mid-October meeting.  

Mr. Riordan shared the agenda for the workshop with the objective to build a consensus to ensure that what is in the Route 1 Corridor Plan is acceptable to all parties. He described the project’s background and goal of creating a vision for the Route 1 corridor. Mr. Brockway noted that the study came from the work that he and Mr. Abruzzese did because of the Comprehensive Plan action items. Route 1 Corridor Plan goals include enhancing economic opportunities, improving aesthetics, creating housing diversity, improving traffic and pedestrian safety, and strengthening community character. Meeting attendees had extensive discussion about the topics in the plan: economics, housing, aesthetics, zoning, travel, infrastructure. The meeting’s structure of discussion was existing conditions, issues of concern, goals and objectives, and action items for Route 1.

Mr. Riordan explained the principles of transect planning, which is used to identify spatial locations with defining characteristics. Ms. Letendre said transect planning is applicable to any community when speaking of development and it is a good tool for the development of Route 1 to identify commonalities in neighborhoods and plan around those. A description of transect plans included: transect 1 - neighborhood mixed-use from Vose Street to the Wells Street intersection, transect 2 -professional commercial mixed use from the Wells Street intersection to the east side of Chamber Way, transect 3 - neighborhood edge – from the east side of Chamber Way to the east side of Old Post Road, transect 4 - office/retail mixed use – from the east side of Old Post Road to about 500 feet east of South Woody Hill Road, transect 5 - neighborhood edge about 500 feet east of South Woody Hill Road to the Charlestown town line. There was general discussion about the qualities of each transect.

Meeting attendees discussed the goals of the plan and how to attract new businesses to match needs, fill real estate vacancies, and encourage mixed uses and larger scale. The consensus was that an action item needed is flexible Zoning with design requirements that support business. Mr. Lathrop said the plan needs to incorporate measurable metrics for achieving the goal. Ms. Letendre said an action item might be to do that type of analysis. She noted that the goals and action items for economic development are supported by the preliminary study that EDC did. Mr. Montesano commented that the baseline for a metric has already been established through analysis of consumer sales. He said current available consumer information says that Westerly is losing a lot of potential sales, and this is an incredible opportunity to attract more people in Town and outside of Town. Ms. Letendre suggested a land use solution to incentivize owners/developers to move to Route 1. Mr. Montesano said the seasonality of Westerly was considered in the study. There was discussion on the free market and strategies for encouraging economic growth.   

Meeting attendees discussed the existing conditions and concerns with housing, including the diversity of use and how to guide the creation of housing. Regarding the aesthetics of Route 1, there were concerns that a lack of landscaping detracts from the navigability of roadways and parking lots. The goal is to have a more cohesive multifunctional landscape that defines travel areas and parking lot navigation. Action items in the plan incentivize screening and multifunctional landscapes. There was discussion on how to help alter the landscape through the development plan review (DPR) process and conversations with business owners.

Ms. Letendre said Weston & Sampson identified opportunity areas for redevelopment along the corridors. Various maps hanging on the walls in Council Chambers displayed areas of Route 1.

One of the plan’s goals is to replace signs that are deteriorated, reduce clutter, and create sign standards, aligning them with the five transects. The Architectural Review Board (ARB) will help create those standards. There was general discussion on establishing design standards. The Planning Board called for a recess at 7:01 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:12 p.m. Mr. Overton left the meeting at this time.

Ms. Letendre led discussion on Zoning conditions. She said there are concerns that the current Zoning does not align with business or housing needs. The goals are to leverage the uniqueness of each neighborhood. Ms. Letendre said an action item is to revise the highway commercial zone to reflect the proposed transects, remove the bed and breakfast overlay, and revise the subdivision regulations and allow for streamlined permitting. The meeting attendees reviewed the existing Zoning Table. Ms. Letendre said new goals would be to define an area based on its characteristics and infrastructure availability, and then to look at a mix of uses to be identified based on the demographic and economic development analysis. There was extensive discussion on this topic.

Mr. Riordan introduced the topic of travel in the corridor. The plan has goals to properly regulate traffic for changes in the road layout, to reduce curb cuts, and to clarify signage. There was discussion about creative and green solutions for making Route 1 feel less expansive. Existing conditions and concerns were reviewed.

During infrastructure dialogue, action items included updating the subdivision and development regulations to require green stormwater infrastructure to better protect the water supply, creating “exceptional” broadband availability, and creating a telecommunications plan, which includes incentivizing underground electrical lines.

There was a consensus of support for transect planning. Mr. Lathrop shared concerns for determining design standards and asked how those regulations could be structured so the Town does not infringe on property owners’ freedoms. It was clarified that the single-family neighborhoods included in the Route 1 Corridor Study area would not be included in the “corridor district,” as they were questioned for the purpose of studying citizen interaction in the corridor.

There was more general discussion on the use of overlay districts in the Route 1 corridor. Meeting attendees asked Town staff to investigate the State’s “unified review” which is an action item in the plan. Mr. Brockway said whatever process is used must have reasonable access for the public to interact. Meeting attendees discussed Overlay District versus Special Management District. Mr. Constantine said creating an example along Route 1 would be helpful. Ms. Letendre said they must keep the airport and aquifer overlays as they are specific to environmental and safety concerns. There was a consensus to draw an example of the corridor as if it were a Special Management District. Ms. Letendre said before this gets incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance itself, every property owner within the district would need to be notified. She said the created schedule allows for the advertising for that purpose. Mr. Lathrop said a list needs to be made of what one can do now versus what may happen in the future so people can see the potential changes.

It was reported that the consultants will have a report draft completed by May 26 and a June 6 draft report for the Web site and Town Council. On June 16 there will be a facilitated public engagement event. Meeting attendees expressed the need for another workshop meeting before the draft was published. It was decided the final schedule can be a ROCC decision.

Mr. Torres asked Mr. McLaughlin to gather updates from members for the EDC project list.

 

G. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S REPORT –

There was no report given.

 

H. ASSISTANT SOLICITOR FOR PLANNING AND ZONING’S REPORT –

There was no report given.

 

I. CONFIRMATION OF QUORUM FOR NEXT REGULAR PLANNING BOARD MEETING

 

1.      May 17, 2022 Regular Meeting Members of the Planning Board are asked to notify the Administrative Officer if they will not be present at the next special meeting. The following topics are anticipated to be discussed:

 

· Harbor Ridge Condominiums – 165 East Ave – MJLD Preliminary Cont’d

· Cozi, LLC Commercial Development – 92-100 Granite St – MJLD Master

· Starbucks – 156 Granite St – DPR Preliminary

· Other matters

 

It was reviewed that Mr. Constantine and Mr. Hopkins would be absent. Mr. Lowther said he would possibly be absent.  

 

J. PLANNING BOARD ADJOURNMENT –

Mr. Lawlor made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:08 p.m. Mr. Delisio seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Stephanie J. LaSota

Minute Taker

 

 

Approved by vote of the Board on June 21, 2022