Zoning Board – Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 - 6:00 p.m.

Westerly Town Hall | Town Council Chambers

45 Broad Street, Westerly, RI 02891

(Pursuant to Governor Daniel J. McKee’s Executive Order 22-20, dated February 18, 2022

this meeting was held in person and via Zoom.)

 

A. CALL TO ORDER -

Mr. Cioppa called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. He read into the record from the Zoning Board Rules of Procedure for the administration of applications and conduct of public hearings.

 

B. ROLL CALL AND REVIEW OF STAFF ATTENDANCE

 

Members Present:     Vice Chair Larry Cioppa, and Members Doug Brockway, Jeffrey Russo, and James Torres, and Alternate Member Dawn Robinson. Ms. Robinson acted as a full member at this meeting.

 

Members Absent:      Chair Walter Pawelkiewicz

 

Staff Present:             Zoning Official Martin E. Loiselle, Jr., Assistant Solicitor for Planning & Zoning Scott Levesque, Minute Taker Stephanie LaSota, and Information Technology Technician Michael Harris

 

C. APPROVAL AND REVISION OF MINUTES

 

1. February 9, 2022 – Mr. Torres made a motion to approve the February 9, 2022 Zoning Board meeting minutes as presented. Mr. Brockway seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

D. CHANGES TO AGENDA - Consider, discuss, and act upon schedule changes for Applications.

 

There were no changes to the agenda.

 

E. APPROVAL OF DECISIONS - Consider, discuss, and act upon application decisions referred to staff for writing.

 

            There were no approval of decisions to discuss.

 

F. PUBLIC HEARINGS - Continued Business - Consider, discuss, and act upon application(s).

 

1. Jan Companies, Inc. (Burger King), 99 Franklin Street, AP ‘88’ Lot ‘3’ Installation of a second drive-thru lane (§260-34) Special Use Permit, (§260-33) Dimensional Variance Continued to April 13 public hearing, continued, and re-advertised for the April 20 public hearing

 

Mr. Loiselle explained that the application is still going through Planning review. Atty. Levesque said this and the three applications under agenda item J. will be re-noticed and readvertised for the April 20, 2022 Zoning Board meeting.

 

G. PUBLIC HEARINGS – Appeal to the Zoning Board of Review – Consider, discuss, and act upon appeals.

 

            There were not appeals to discuss.

 

H. PUBLIC HEARINGS – New Business – Consider, discuss, and act upon.

 

1. Golden Arch Ltd. Partnership (McDonalds), 135 Granite Street, AP ‘77’ Lot Installation of a second drive-thru lane (§260-34) Special Use Permit, (§260-33) Dimensional Variances

 

Jim Cranston, project engineer with Bohler Engineering, was present on behalf of the applicant and was sworn in for public testimony. Mr. Loiselle gave an overview of the proposal for the Zoning Board. He said the site was recently renovated and includes a single drive-thru lane from the northside entrance to the southside exit. He further described the existing conditions. The proposed reconfiguration centers around creating a second drive-thru lane, resulting in moving all parking spaces from the northside of the building. The total number of spaces will be reduced from 28 to 19 and the minimum required is 13 per the Zoning Ordinance. A second ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant space will be added to the site. He said the Zoning Department recommends the approval of the project. A Planning Board approval is included in the packet materials.

Mr. Cranston reviewed that the second drive-thru lane requires a Special Use Permit and Dimensional Variance approval. He said additional landscaping will offset the drive-thru improvements. Mr. Brockway asked what the hardship is for the Variances. Mr. Cranston explained that the distance of the drive-thru queueing to the street is an existing hardship and adding a second lane will mitigate the issue of cars lining up to the street. Mr. Loiselle clarified that the hardship is the building’s close location to the road. There was extensive discussion on cars exiting the parking lot and turning left, which is not allowed. Mr. Cranston said that a previous agreement stated that McDonald’s would add additional signage and striping to encourage right hand only turns. There was a brief review of previously approved McDonald’s applications. Mr. Russo said he disagrees with creating a block or strip to prevent left hand turns at the exit as it will create safety issues for trucks turning right. Ms. Robinson agreed with Mr. Russo. Mr. Brockway asked for more than signs at the exit. Mr. Cranston said he cannot commit to a solution tonight, but the applicant can revisit the topic. After some further discussion of the problems with people turning left at the exit, Board members agreed they would like to hear opinions from the Chief of Police and the Town Engineer. Atty. Levesque said the applicant could return with the commentary.

Jamie Cole, of 73 Cross Street, said she has worked at the McDonald’s facility for almost 8 years and said the existing drive-thru works fine and there are only certain times of the day where the traffic backs up, so the project is strictly for profit. Ms. Cole said she also lives behind the McDonald’s property and the buffer of trees needs to be better maintained and a broken fence has become an eyesore. She said she has contacted McDonald’s management several times about this and the loud mic system on the drive thru. Mr. Cranston responded that the proposed plan would solve the mic issue as the menu board and speaker are currently facing her property and under the proposed plan the speakers will face the property to the east and the sound will carry. Mr. Cranston said they can fix the fence if the pieces are broken or missing.

Susan Cavanna, of 71 Cross Street, shared comments about issues with entering and exiting the property. She asked about widening the curb cut to the left. Mr. Brockway said changing a curb cut involves State approvals as it is a state road. Ms. Cavanna said there should be a more substantial solution to impede left hand turns. She asked for clarity on the width of the proposed drive-thru lanes.  She shared concerns that the application is disruptive to the neighborhood as there will be two lanes of cars and there will be double the drive-thru activity and speakers. Mr. Loiselle said it will not necessarily increase the number of cars but will more quickly manage the existing clients using the drive-thru lanes. Mr. Cranston reviewed the location of the menu board now and in the proposal, everything will be directed to the right side of the site toward the abutting property. Ms. Cavanna reiterated that the Zoning Board is overlooking the neighborhood and the changes that the project will make there. Mr. Torres said there are Ordinances in the Town that control noise so if they are exceeding limits then that complaint goes to the police department. She asked Mr. Cranston to communicate to the applicant to heed the neighbors’ requests for repairs to the fence and maintenance of the wooded buffer. Mr. Brockway asked if the fence could be replaced to help block sound. Mr. Cranston said sound will be mitigated by a fence.

Robin Smith, of 75 Cross Street, said she also has an issue with the fence and trash blowing through it. She asked McDonald’s to fix it as they create changes to the site.

In a poll of the Board, Mr. Russo said he is in favor of approving the plan and including additional striping and signage at the property’s exit and collecting opinions from the Town Engineer and police department. Mr. Torres agreed with Mr. Russo. He requested that a condition of the project would be to maintain the property to help the charm and character expected of Westerly and that the applicant fix the fence. Ms. Robinson said the second drive-thru lane will help keep traffic off of Granite Street, agrees with adding striping to the exit, and thinks maintaining the vegetation between the fence and property line and fixing the fence would be good conditions of approval. Mr. Cioppa said he would vote to approve the application with the all the conditions mentioned. Mr. Brockway said he would like the Zoning Official to monitor the progress of this application.

Mr. Russo made a motion to close the McDonald’s public hearing at 7:19 p.m. Mr. Brockway seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

Mr. Brockway read into the record the details of the McDonald’s application to create a double drive-thru lane at 135 Granite Street, including the testimony heard at the public hearing and made a motion to approve the application with the conditions that the Zoning Officer, in concert with discussions with the Chief of Police, the Town Engineer, and the engineer from Bohler, Mr. Cranston, will discuss what additional steps beside painting and signs could be applied to materially impact the regular occurrence of people turning left on the exit, that the fence, the back property, the plantings across the property, existing and proposed, all need to be maintained on a consistent basis, kept up to date and made reflective of the style and reputation that McDonald’s would prefer, and that the Town of Westerly would require or insist on, and lastly, that the Zoning Officer will monitor the adherence to the plans, the Architectural Review Board conditions, the Planning Board conditions, these conditions, and make sure that progress is made and not left dormant as it has been in the past. Ms. Robinson seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

2. Petsalis, 197 Watch Hill Road, AP ‘173’ Lot ‘6-1” (§260-34) Special Use Permit to Raze existing structure and construct a single-family dwelling, increasing non-conforming use up to 25%. (§260-34) Special Use Permit

 

Mr. Russo made a motion that the Zoning Board hear the Petsalis application request before the Deboat realty, LLC application. Mr. Torres seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

Atty. Thomas Ligouri was present on behalf of the Petsalis application and requested that the matter be continued to the April 20 meeting because of a letter received today from the Watch Hill Conservancy. Mr. Cioppa said the Board did discuss this already and they have decided the April agenda is too full and they could move this matter to the May 11 meeting.  

Mr. Russo made a motion to continue the Petsalis application to the May 11, 2022 Zoning Board agenda. Mr. Brockway seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

3. Deboat Realty, LLC, 3 Fenway Road, AP ‘157’ Lot ‘40’ Raze existing structure and construct a single-family dwelling in existing footprint. (§260-33) Dimensional Variances

 

            Mr. Loiselle reviewed that the subject property contains 0.2 acres with 50 feet of frontage on Fenway Road. There are no wetlands on the property, and it is not in the flood zone. He reviewed that the house has existed for 150 years, and the applicant meets the requirements of the hardship standard, so he recommended the application be approved. Mr. Russo noted a typo on the Zoning narrative that the left side Variance should read 5.9 feet.

Attorney Thomas Ligouri was present on behalf of the application along with a team of consultants who can answer any questions the Board may have. Also present was project engineer Sergio Cherenzia, civil engineer Ken Wieber, and the builder Jeff Sweener. Real estate appraiser Tom Andolfo and structural Engineer Ernest George were also present. Atty. Ligouri said any new construction must meet the Zoning setbacks and regulations and in this instance that is impossible. He said what is proposed is to rebuild in the same footprint minus a couple square feet and extend the structure vertically in an area where there is an existing low ceiling to create 5 code compliant bedrooms instead of the 7 code noncompliant bedrooms. He said the project will have a new denitrification septic system that is RIDEM approved. He elaborated on the standards used for determining the Dimensional Variance approval. A document submitted to the Board titled “Nonconforming Structures Figure” was marked Applicant’s Exhibit 1. A document titled “Andolfo Appraisal Associates, Inc. Real Estate Survey of 3 Fenway Road” was submitted for the record and marked Applicant’s Exhibit 2.

Mr. Torres questioned why the application proposes the least relief necessary. Atty. Ligouri said the structure has existed there for over a century and there are no objections to the project. He explained that keeping what is there versus the potential of relocating a new building somewhere where an encroachment did not exist before is what makes it the least relief necessary. Mr. Loiselle said maintaining the character of the neighborhood goes hand in hand with the least relief necessary because creating a single ranch would be completely out of place. There was some further discussion on the dimensions of the proposal. There was brief discussion on an existing garage on the property, which is not included in any renovation plans.

            There was no public comment. In a poll of the Board members, all members were in favor of approving the application.

Mr. Brockway made a motion to close the public hearing at 8:33 p.m. Ms. Robinson seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.  

Ms. Robinson read into the record the details of the Deboat Realty, LLC. application including the information and testimony shared at the public hearing and the justification for the standards of approval and made a motion to approve the 5.9 left side yard Variance, 17-foot right side Variance, 8.4-foot front yard Variance and a 7.2 percent impervious surface Variance to raze and rebuild a home at 3 Fenway Road with no conditions. Mr. Brockway seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

I. STAFF COMMENTS –

There were no comments shared.

 

J. Applications Declared Complete, Waivers Granted and Scheduled for Public Hearing at the Wednesday, April 13, 2022, Zoning Board Meeting, continued and re-advertised for the April 20 Zoning Board Meeting. Informational no action to be taken.

 

1. Tricia Fiore, 56 Sherwood Drive, AP ‘120’ Lot ‘16’ Operation of a Home Occupation over 150 sq. ft. (§260-34) Special Use Permit. Continued and advertised for the April 20th public hearing

 

2. McCloskey, 46 Fisherman’s Avenue, AP ‘165’ Lot ‘60’ Addition to an existing structure (§260-33) Dimensional Variances Continued and advertised for the April 20th public hearing

 

3. Pasqualicchio, 8 Richmond Drive, AP ‘164’ Lot ‘99’ Addition of a second floor, expansion of existing deck. (§260-33) Dimensional Variance - Continued and advertised for the April 20th public hearing

 

K. ADJOURNMENT –

Mr. Russo made a motion to adjourn the Zoning Board meeting at 8:44 p.m. Mr. Brockway seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

 

Next Regular Meeting: April 13, 2022 6:00 P.M. at Westerly Town Hall and Zoom, continued and advertised for April 20, 2022 6:00 P.M. at Westerly Town Hall and Zoom.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Stephanie J. LaSota

Minute Taker

 

Approved by vote of the Board on April 20, 2022