The time is now 6.06 p.m.

And we are here.

Today's date is July 8th, 2026.

And we are here for a work session with the planning board to discuss the comprehensive plan update and the possible integration of the urban redevelopment plan with amendments into the zoning ordinance.

Now do we have a particular order we're gonna go in?

Perfect.

Excellent.

And good evening to the planning board members.

Thank you for being here.

I know it's an exceptionally busy and hot time of year, so it's great to see you all.

Uh thank thank you, uh Alex, appreciate that.

Um we wanted uh we appreciate your willingness to schedule a work session on these two issues.

Uh we're gonna do the urban redevelopment uh ordinance first and then do the comp plan second.

Um you'll recol the you'll recollect that we had previously had a uh an initial meeting on the uh urban redevelopment um ordinance.

Um we left with some work to do, that work has been done.

We wanted to bring it back to you tonight.

There are some high level issues that we would hope that you would give some direction on before uh we finish on that, and then we'll turn over to the comp plan.

So, Jill, I guess I'll ask you to introduce uh first of all subject if you have anything you else you want to say on the subject, and then introduce the consultants that are here tonight.

Thank you, Mr.

Kellyanne.

Uh no, I think you covered it well.

We have uh, as you may recall, we met almost a year ago, it was August of last year on this topic, and we had Weston Sampson had done the Ullman's work we provided you sort of a working draft.

I think we uh we also provided you the iterative draft, which is about 800 pages where it should they showed you how they came about to where they are now.

Um, and there were a couple of decision points then, so we're back following around with that.

I it would be really great to sort of wrap up with the consultant and then be able at the end to give the planning board direction to be able to move forward um as a team on at the staff level.

And so let me let me just before you introduce them, Joe.

Would you just mention uh the um just kind of a headline on the grant that is supporting the work that's been done here?

Sure.

It was the uh it was a state, it was a state grant, it was a site readiness grant from 2024.

Um it was awarded uh we applied for it and we received it.

It was the council, previous council approved it.

Um, and so we've been working on this, it's been around since um 2024.

So that's another reason we'd like to be able to wrap up this grant and um with the consultant and but also take the work uh into the hands of the planning board.

So the consultant hired was Weston and Sampson.

Um you may recall you met Sue Mara last summer.

We have Jay Parker here, I believe he's right behind me.

Um, and he's gonna go ahead and sort of lead this conversation again today, and uh feel free to ask questions as we move along.

There we go.

How's that?

Thank you, Mr.

President, members of the council, uh Mr.

Chairman, members of the planning board, uh, staff, public.

Thank you very much for having me.

My name is Jay Parker.

I'm a professional planner and certified floodplain manager with Weston and Sampson.

Um I'm very fortunate to be here with you tonight and working with you all.

I started my career here almost 20 years ago in the community development department, and I am excited to be coming back and working and helping out the town.

Uh if you recall, last August uh this project was presented to you.

Um it involves the Narragansett Pier Urban Renewal Area is a little bit of a history there.

Um the area was adopted at 19.

The plan was adopted in 1969 and was subsequently amended 11 times.

I went back into some of the the previous comprehensive plans, and from what I could tell, there was there was a little bit of struggle with development in the area, and that led to some of the amendments.

Uh the town, we we were hired to take the existing language which uh was existed outside of the ordinance but was referenced, I believe, in a one or two sensed in paragraph, uh, and bring it into the ordinance for consistent consistency with uh your existing language.

So we took the existing URP language, and because the language didn't read exactly like your existing ordinance, there's a level of uh continuity that you would want to establish so that your regulations read accordingly.

So the Galilee Speci Special District was used as a model simply to try to build some structure that is familiar with the existing language that you guys already use.

Uh with that model, we then took the exact language from the UR plan, brought it over and used it to the extent that it was feasible.

There were some sections that might have needed a little explanation just to kind of smooth out the sentence and make it read better, but all in all, the document is the same as it was, except for the four points that uh we'll be discussing in a little bit.

So we reviewed the original redevelopment plan, transcribed it into the Word document, and then made each successive amendment one at a time building off of each other.

Uh once we had that, we compared it with the existing code and again modified the language to align it with that structural framework that I had mentioned previously.

Uh from there, we integrated some recommended changes into the ordinance and then identified some areas where the URP needed modification.