[Added 5-10-2006; amended 4-4-2007; 4-18-2007; 10-11-2017]
A.
The purpose of the Exit 7 Special Management District ("SMD") is
to establish design, density and dimensional criteria for a large-scale
commercial development in the area located at Exit 7 along Interstate
Route 95. It is the intent of this article to allow for a multi-year
phased development that promotes high-quality design, provides employment
opportunities and expands the Town's commercial tax base.
B.
The purpose of the SMD is to provide an area for economic development
in the community according to prescribed review and approval procedures,
and according to design standards particular to the SMD. The SMD is
intended to provide for a diversity of compatible land uses and development
densities, which will include a mixture of retail sales, office, restaurant
and hotel uses.
The Town Council, Planning Board and staff have found:
A.
The special management district to be consistent with the West Greenwich
Comprehensive Plan, as amended;
B.
The Centre of New England development project, located at Exit 7,
serves a regional purpose and consists of over 480 acres of land located
in the Towns of Coventry, East Greenwich and West Greenwich;
C.
The Centre of New England is one of the few undeveloped sites in
the Town of West Greenwich serviced by public water, public sewers
and natural gas; and
D.
That portion of the Centre of New England located in West Greenwich,
nearly 70 acres of a former gravel operation, is blighted.
All development within the SMD shall conform to the policies
and design guidelines as set forth in the Comprehensive Community
Plan. In order to demonstrate such conformity, the applicant shall
be required to submit a description of all proposed development to
the Planning Board as part of a district-wide master plan. This description
shall be a statement, in text, maps, illustrations or other media
of communication, that is designed to provide a basis for rational
decision-making regarding the long-term physical development of the
district.
Provisions of this article shall apply only to property located
in the zoning district entitled "Exit 7 Special Management District",
or SMD, which encompasses that area of the Town of West Greenwich
located within the Centre of New England and which shall be shown
on the Official Zoning Map.
A.
Development within the SMD shall be reviewed and approved by the
Planning Board as a major land development project as provided for
in this chapter, and as administered under the Land Development and
Subdivision Regulations.[1] A single application for a district-wide master plan shall
be submitted to the Planning Board for review and approval in accordance
with the Subdivision and Land Development Regulations. This application
shall make note of all existing uses as well as present and future
development plans for the entire area within the SMD, and the remaining
area of the entire Centre of New England.
A.
Permitted uses, and accessory uses. See attached Zone Use Matrix.
B.
Uses allowed by special use permit. See attached Zone Use Matrix.
C.
Drive-through windows are permitted in the SMD by special use permit.
D.
Parking garages are permitted as an accessory use.
E.
The Planning Board shall determine, at the time of review for approval of or amendment to a previously approved land development project within the SMD, that the proposed use is consistent with the Comprehensive Community Plan. Changes to an approved land development project shall be reviewed as provided in Chapter 450, Subdivision and Land Development Regulations, § 450-25.
F.
The Planning Board shall, in reviewing applications for development within the SMD, apply such controls and restrictions as may be necessary to achieve a synergetic proportion of total land that is devoted to different uses. The Board shall require that at least 80% of the total land in the entire SMD be used for commercial use. At least 10% of the total land area in the entire SMD shall be pervious and landscaped, as provided in § 450-36, Landscaping, below.
B.
Land development projects. Two or more commercial structures may
be located on the same lot in accordance with the following dimensional
regulations:
(1)
Dimensional regulations for commercial land development projects.
(a)
Density. No more than 25% of the gross floor area of the commercial
development shall be consumed by any one unit, and any one unit shall
not exceed 60,000 square feet; excepted from this requirement shall
be any hotel.
(b)
Minimum lot size, commercial: one acre.
(d)
Minimum separation between buildings: 25 feet between buildings.
(e)
Maximum percent of lot building coverage: 60%.
(f)
Maximum impervious area: 90% of total land area and 90% per
lot.
(g)
Maximum building height: No structure shall exceed 60 feet,
and no hotel shall exceed 90 feet; however, gables and other architectural
elements may extend above these dimensions.
(h)
Maximum accessory building height: 40 feet.
(i)
Two or more buildings are permitted on one parcel.
(j)
In the SMD, only wetlands, water bodies, and associated buffers
shall be considered land unsuitable for development and shall be subtracted
out of any density calculation.
B.
Landscaping. Parking lot landscaping for all uses within the SMD
shall be as provided in this chapter.
C.
Shared parking. Common parking areas shall be encouraged for mixed-use
developments which have different hours, days and/or seasons of peak
parking demand. The Planning Board may, in approving development within
the SMD, permit individual parking standards to be reduced for separate
uses where it can be demonstrated that adequate parking may be made
available on a shared basis. The Planning Board may require written
easements or other assurances as may be required to enforce shared
parking arrangements. Where reasonable and practicable, the Planning
Board shall require common driveways and interconnected parking lots
in order to facilitate shared parking.
D.
Required loading and service areas. When required, loading and other
service areas such as trash dumpsters shall be placed to the rear
or side of buildings in visually unobtrusive locations. Screening
and landscaping shall prevent direct views of the loading areas and
their driveways from adjacent properties or from public or private
streets used by the general public. Screening and buffering shall
be achieved through walls, fences and landscaping, and shall be visually
impervious.
E.
All outdoor refuse storage, collection and recycling areas shall
be enclosed and solidly screened, and shall extend on three sides
of such an area, with a gate or door on the fourth side. A brick wall,
if used, shall be capped at the top. The Planning Board may modify
this requirement if such area is not visible from abutting property
or streets and, in the opinion of the Planning Board, is not necessary
in order to screen or buffer abutting property or streets or to otherwise
meet the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan or this chapter.
F.
Parking GARAGES, above- or below ground, are permitted.
G.
Accessory parking areas for uses not located within the SMD are not
permitted; except the parking on Lot 4-6.
A.
A diversity of roof heights, gable orientations and volumes in new
buildings shall be considered. New buildings shall be designed with
traditional roof forms that are compatible with the character of the
Town and other small New England towns.
B.
Architectural elements such as dormers should be in proportion with
the overall building and should also be in keeping with the surrounding
building context. Exaggerated or excessively large (or small) architectural
elements shall be avoided. The Planning Board shall require traditional
New England style architectural drawings, or typical drawings, of
the exteriors of proposed new buildings to be submitted as part of
review of land development projects.
A.
The Planning Board shall require a submission of a comprehensive
signage plan for all uses, individual buildings or a complex of buildings
and uses as part of its review. The signage plan shall include conceptual
drawings and supporting information describing the proposed signage
for all major buildings and uses, including entrance signs, directional
signs, a typical lighting plan, etc. The applicant shall also provide
the Planning Board with a typical sign for all directory and directional
signs. Once the typical signage plan is approved, the Zoning Enforcement
Officer shall issue specific sign permits.
C.
For commercial uses in the SMD there may be up to 200 square feet
of wall-mounted sign for each use within a building.
D.
Permitted signs within the district may be illuminated or indirectly
illuminated.
E.
The Planning Board may approve two pylon signs for the commercial
portion of the SMD. One sign shall not exceed 135 feet in height,
nor exceed 3,500 square feet in surface area; the other sign shall
not exceed 100 feet in height and 400 square feet in surface area.
All proposed new uses in the SMD shall be serviced with public
sewer, public water service and natural gas. Electric and communications
lines shall be placed underground within a land development project;
except an extension of the aboveground main utility corridor may be
extended along Interstate Route 95 for the sole purpose of supplying
utilities to the interior underground utilities.
The Planning Board shall require vehicular traffic created by
development in the SMD to be integrated into the surrounding area
and to be compatible with abutting and nearby properties. If state
highways are involved, such improvements shall also be approved by
the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and federal agencies,
if applicable. In making this determination of the need for off-site
traffic improvements, the Planning Board may require a separate circulation
plan and traffic study to be submitted by the developer as part of
the master plan application for approval, and any other study or documentation
requested by the Planning Board.
A.
Streets, parking areas, pedestrian areas and other actively used
development in the SMD shall be provided with adequate lighting while
minimizing adverse impacts, such as glare and overhead sky glow, on
adjacent properties and public rights-of-way. Streetlights shall be
decorative and blend with the architectural style of buildings in
the SMD.
B.
The applicant shall submit a lighting plan at the preliminary stage
of review, designed and stamped by a Rhode Island licensed electrical
engineer.
As part of its review of development within the SMD, the Planning
Board shall require that adequate, safe and attractive pedestrian
and/or bicycle circulation be provided, which shall include a network
of sidewalks and the accommodation of mass transit, and which shall
be ADA accessible in accordance with state and federal standards.
Uses, activities or operations which violate any governmental
building, fire, safety, health, environmental or other standards or
regulations are prohibited. No nuisance shall be permitted to exist
or operate upon any lot so as to be offensive or detrimental to any
adjacent lot or property or to its occupants. A nuisance shall include,
but not be limited to, any of the following conditions:
A.
Any use, including careless construction activity, that emits dust,
sweepings, dirt, or cinders into the atmosphere, or discharges liquid,
solid wastes, or other matter into any street, property or wetland
which may adversely affect the health, safety, comfort of, or intended
use of their property by persons within or adjacent to the SMD.
B.
The escape or discharge of any fumes, odors, gases, vapors, steam,
acids or other substance into the atmosphere which may be detrimental
to the health, safety or welfare of any person or may interfere with
the comfort of persons within the SMD or which may be harmful to property
or vegetation.
C.
The radiation or discharge of intense glare or heat, or atomic, electromagnetic,
microwave, ultrasonic, laser or other radiation. Any operation producing
intense glare or heat or such other radiation shall be performed only
within an enclosed or screened building and then only in such a manner
that the glare, heat or radiation emitted will not be discernible
from any point exterior to the site or lot upon which said operation
is conducted.
D.
Excessive noise. No outside speaker or public address system shall be permitted without the express written consent of the Planning Board. At no point outside of any lot line shall the sound pressure level of any machine, device, or any combination of same, from any individual plant or operation, exceed the decibel levels set forth in Article VI.
E.
Storage of hazardous materials. No material of a hazardous character,
as defined by the Hazardous Substance Act (R.I.G.L. § 23-24-2)
shall be stored except within a building having roofing, walls and
floors constructed of such materials as to render said building weathertight,
and so as to prevent leakage of materials into the ground or release
into the atmosphere. Storage and use of such materials shall be in
strict compliance with the requirements of applicable local, state
and federal agencies governing such storage and use.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
A.
Development within the SMD shall be constructed in phases. In order
to regulate the development of new construction within the SMD, and
to prevent excessive development from exceeding the capacity of the
Town and/or other public or private agencies to provide essential
services and facilities, the Planning Board shall require that commercial
phasing shall be constructed over four consecutive calendar years.
B.
Minimum commercial phasing schedule (acceleration is permitted):
C.
Commercial Phase 1 shall commence in calendar year 2005.
