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Town of West Greenwich, RI
Kent County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (2) Index
A. 
Prior recorded lots. A lot or parcel of land having a lot width or area of lesser amounts than required in Article II of this chapter may be considered as coming within the minimum requirements of Article II, provided such lot or parcel of land was shown on a recorded plat or on a recorded deed on the effective date of this chapter and did not at such time adjoin other land of the same owner.
B. 
Contiguous lot under single ownership.
(1) 
If two or more contiguous lots are under single ownership on the effective date of this chapter, such lots shall be considered to be an undivided parcel of land for the purpose of this chapter, and no single lot or portion thereof shall be used in violation of the requirements of Article II as to width and area.
(2) 
Neither the area nor the frontage of a lot may be reduced or diminished so that the yards or total lot area shall be less than the minimum requirements prescribed in this chapter. No required yard or other area of one lot shall be considered as providing the minimum area or frontage required for any other lot. No zoning permit shall be issued to the owner of a lot, the area or frontage of which lot has been made to conform to the minimum requirements prescribed by this chapter by virtue of having obtained sufficient area or frontage by rendering an adjacent lot substandard, or more substandard, either with regard to the minimum area, yard or frontage requirements.
C. 
Merger prohibited for certain lots. The merger of lots shall not be required when the substandard lot of record has an area equal to or greater than the area of 50% of the lots within 200 feet of the subject lot, as confirmed by the Zoning Enforcement Officer.
[Added 12-13-2023]
D. 
Notwithstanding the failure of a single substandard lot of record or contiguous lots of record to meet the dimensional and/or quantitative requirements of this zoning ordinance, and/or road frontage or other access requirements applicable to the district as stated in the ordinance, a substandard lot of record shall not be required to seek any zoning relief based solely on the failure to meet minimum lot size requirements of the district in which such lot is located. The setback, frontage, and/or lot width requirements for a structure under this section shall be reduced and the maximum building coverage requirements shall be increased by the same proportion as the lot area of the substandard lot is to the minimum lot area requirement of the zoning district in which the lot is located. All proposals exceeding such reduced requirement shall proceed with a modification request or a dimensional variance request, whichever is applicable.
[Added 12-13-2023]
The space in a required front, side or rear setback shall be open and unobstructed, with the following exceptions:
A. 
Projection of window sills, cornices, and other ornamental features may extend not more than one foot into a yard.
B. 
Landscape features such as trees, fences, poles, shrubs, and terraces may be placed in any setback area, subject to the provisions of § 400-120.
C. 
No accessory structure may be erected within the front setback lines except as provided in Subsection E of this section. An accessory structure to a permitted use may be placed no closer than the following distance to a side or rear lot line, subject to authorization granted by the Zoning Enforcement Officer:
Minimum Yard Requirements
District
Side
(width in feet)
Rear
(depth in feet)
RFR-2
19
38
RFR-1
15
30
Neighborhood Business
15
30
Highway Business
19
38
Industrial A and B
23
30
D. 
Open, unenclosed porches or platforms may extend into the rear or side setbacks not more than 10 feet.
E. 
In Neighborhood Business, Highway Business or Industrial Zones, parking facilities, signs, and filling station pumps may be located in a front setback area.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
On any corner lot and at street intersections in all districts, no wall, fence, structure or building shall be erected, and no hedge, tree, shrub, or other vegetation shall be maintained between the heights of three feet and 10 feet above street level within the triangle formed by the two street lines and a third line joining points on the street lines 20 feet from the intersection of the street lines.
Spires, towers, belfries, steeples, flagpoles, chimneys, water standing pipes, communications antennas, silos or similar structures may be erected above the maximum height specified for each district.
Sewage disposal facilities which are designed to leach wastes into the soil shall be located not less than 200 feet from the edge of any pond or stream within the Town of West Greenwich.
Where a lot is divided by a zoning district boundary, the regulations for either zoning district shall apply; except that no district shall, in effect, be extended more than 30 feet into an adjoining district.
No building permit shall be issued by the Building Official for construction of a nonresidential building or the use of land requiring an accessway onto a Town or state highway until the Building Official receives the approval, in writing, of the West Greenwich Highway Supervisor or the State Department of Transportation, as applicable.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
In the Rural, Farming, Residential District, the parking or storage of more than two unregistered cars or trucks is prohibited unless such parked or stored vehicle is suitably screened from abutting properties and the street.
In the Rural, Farming, Residential District, street frontage may be reduced to not less than 150 feet for those lots fronting entirely on turnarounds or culs-de-sac. The frontage shall be measured between the two side lot lines at the required front yard depth.
No freshwater wetlands, as defined by R.I.G.L. §§ 2-1-18 through 2-1-24, relating to freshwater wetlands, shall be excavated, drained, or filled, nor shall any extraneous materials be placed in these wetlands or water flow diverted out of or any other change be made to the natural condition of any freshwater wetland without prior approval of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the West Greenwich Town Council in accordance with the provision of said statute.
[Amended 12-13-2023]
No building, structure, or land shall be used except for those purposes noted in the Use Matrix. Any use not listed shall be construed to be prohibited; provided that to the extent a proposed land use is not specifically listed in the Zone Use Matrix, the property owner may submit a written request to the Zoning Inspector for an evaluation and determination of whether the proposed use is of a similar type, character, and intensity as a listed use requiring a special-use permit. The Zoning Inspector will have 30 days to provide a written evaluation to the property owner. Upon such determination, the proposed use may be considered to be a use requiring a special-use permit.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Use Matrix is included as an attachment to this chapter.