North Kingstown Planning Commission Meeting Summary – October 5, 2021

The North Kingstown Planning Commission met on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Offices Court Room, 100 Fairway Dr., North Kingstown, RI. The main focus was a detailed review of proposed amendments to Zoning Ordinance Sections 21-186 and 21-187 concerning groundwater recharge and wellhead protection overlay districts. The commission also approved a corrected construction cost/surety amount for Schooner Landing and reviewed draft minutes from August 17, 2021.

Construction Cost Estimate – Schooner Landing

• The commission reviewed a revised estimate from BKSLC. Staff reported line-item quantity corrections: highway line item 12 had a duplicated quantity, and drainage line item 29 was listed at 21,786 but should have been closer to 6,800.
• The corrected grand total was $1,763,603.79.
• Tracey moved to accept the amended surety amount, Bob seconded, and the motion carried 6-0.

Discussion: Amendments to Sections 21-186 and 21-187

• The proposed redline used strikeouts, underlines, and green text. Staff explained the green text had no special meaning; it resulted from Word’s document-comparison tool.
• The commission went through the ordinance section by section. The findings and purpose emphasize that groundwater is the town’s critical resource and that the land above recharge areas matters.
• Criteria language updates rely on RIDEM-related definitions, but members said GAA and other terms must be defined earlier in the text. Wellhead protection areas are narrower in some respects because non-community wells have been removed, but some boundaries expanded due to updated science. Groundwater recharge overlay areas remain similar to the old zone two.
• Reservoir areas are being removed from wellhead protection while remaining within recharge areas. Staff described the town strategy as focusing on acquiring or protecting 11-to-12-acre parcels near infrastructure that could actually support future wells, instead of placing wellhead-level burdens on parcels that could never be used.
• Permitted use standards would shift from dwelling counts to bedroom counts, for example four bedrooms per two acres. New development in wellhead protection areas would need RIDEM-approved nitrogen-reducing onsite wastewater treatment or sewer service. Members questioned the Post Road district limitation and suggested using broader language such as development connected to a centralized sewer system.
• Nutrient loading coefficients are based on University of Rhode Island research in South County and are higher than previous values. Several members recommended placing all coefficients in a single referenced table, including data source and review cycle, so future updates would not require rewriting the ordinance.
• The prohibited uses list includes 23 items with endnotes. Multiple members found the endnote structure confusing and suggested either restoring the table format or moving endnotes directly under each item. They also asked for clearer separation between prohibited uses and regulated uses and for terms consistent with the rest of the zoning ordinance, such as permitted, not permitted, and special use permit.
• Administrative review was discussed as a new option for minor changes that do not warrant public notice, such as a parking-lot light pole or a window change. Members urged a clear appeal path, with staff approval or referral to the commission rather than a staff denial.
• Other requested edits included defining process wastewater and hazardous materials, removing escape clauses such as to the extent possible, clarifying excavation and monitoring-well requirements, standardizing nitrate terminology, citing current stormwater and best-available-control-technology references, avoiding trademarked names such as Minute Clinic, placing definitions at the front of the section, and adding source dates to maps.
• Staff noted that implementation will require documenting existing nonconforming uses. A mass mailing to potentially affected property owners was discussed but opposed because it could create an unwanted legal precedent for future zoning changes.

Public Comments & Testimony

• John McGinn, chairperson of the Groundwater Committee, said the committee endorsed the proposed ordinance’s overall stronger protection. He requested two additions: if a larger parcel has multiple groundwater designations, the most restrictive designation should apply; and designated groundwater reservoir areas should receive the same protection as wellhead protection areas. He said the intent was to keep existing protections, not add new ones, and that downgrading reservoir areas would include 14 table changes, generally from prohibited to special use, with a couple from special use to permitted. He referenced an August 30 letter and a September 14 Conservation Commission motion supporting the same two points.
• Kevin Maloney of 78 Wickham Road agreed with the Groundwater Committee and Conservation Commission. He called removing reservoir protections a huge mistake, argued reservoirs are the only practical locations for future or relocated public wells, and noted RIDEM’s GAA classification lists groundwater reservoirs as suitable for public drinking water without treatment. He also recommended referencing DEM’s online maps rather than redrawing them so the town stays current automatically.

Traffic Impact Assessment Parameters

• Agenda item 3.c was listed, but no discussion of this item appears in the available transcript.

Minutes – August 17, 2021

• The commission reviewed the draft minutes from Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Proposed corrections included clarifying a sentence about a proposed ramp and the building-code one-inch-per-12 requirement, changing loan to lot, and recording that the board required pre-development runoff calculations instead of merely suggesting them.
• The transcript ends while the chair was asking for a motion to approve the minutes as amended; the final vote is not captured in the transcript.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the Schooner Landing amended surety amount of $1,763,603.79 by a 6-0 vote.
• Took no final vote on the groundwater ordinance amendments; the commission expected the revised draft to return as a finished document with a narrative recommendation for an up-or-down commission vote before transmittal to the Town Council.
• The August 17, 2021 minutes were expected to be approved as amended, but the final vote was not recorded in the provided transcript.