North Kingstown Planning Commission Meeting - August 29, 2025
North Kingstown Planning Commission Meeting - August 29, 2025
The Planning Commission met on Tuesday, August 29, 2025, at 7:00 PM at Town Hall. The meeting covered a discussion on a potential modification to the Harbor View approved plan, review of proposed zoning ordinance amendments for signs on awnings and administrative approvals for the Historic District Commission, and routine approvals.
Discussion Items
- Potential Modification to Harbor View Final Approved Plan (Bowline Drive) – Staff reported that the applicant has not yet submitted sufficient materials for review. The Commission voted to continue the matter to the second meeting in September. If the applicant does not present a complete modification request at that time, the modification will be considered disapproved. The motion passed unanimously.
- Unified Development Review for AdCare Rhode Island (1950 Tower Hill Road) – The public hearings (items 3b and 3c) were moved to the September meeting.
- Amendments to Article X Signs – Signs on Awnings (3d) – Staff presented a draft ordinance to allow signage on awnings, with proposed limitations: sign area limited to 30% of the awning’s vertical portion parallel to the building. Commissioners debated whether the calculation should be based on the total awning fabric area or the projected rectangle area, whether side surfaces should be allowed, and whether multiple signs should be permitted. Some expressed concern that 30% might be too much for large awnings or too little for small ones. The Commission directed staff to refine the language and bring it back for the next meeting.
- Amendments to Sections 21:333 and 21:335 – Administrative Approvals for Historic District Commission (3e) – Staff explained that minor projects currently require full Historic District Commission review; the amendment would allow certain actions to be approved administratively, similar to the Wickford Design Guidelines. The Commission supported the change and voted to recommend it to the Town Council. A commissioner suggested adding
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the Tuesday, August 5th, 2025 Planning Commission meeting. Meg will not be here, but we do have a quorum, correct? Yep. We'll move right on to general business 3A, discussion of the potential modification to Harbor View final approved plan for property located off Bowline Drive. Update per the Planning Commission's request. This is Mike, I'm not sure if my I don't think it's a working. But we have nothing yet to review. Okay. And you have received all of the emails and correspondence that has gone back and voted. Yeah. And there is there is James. There's no clock that runs on this like a normal application from when they submitted the modification request. Right. Modification has to come before us with uh actual information we can rely on or not. So at some point they'll present back, and you have to make a decision whether you accept the modification or not. And if you do, that's one thing. If you don't, then it goes back to where they've done something approval, and that will be further legal issues done. So it's essentially where we are now is it so is it like they haven't officially submitted the application yet, or is it just that it's not complete? I'd say it's in between, it's not complete, or they've submitted and requested to modify, but they haven't submitted any materials that we find to be here. So we're we've asked them for that, we sent them a letter, they told us that they are looking and attempting to respond. We don't have that response yet. But I would assume if you don't have that within you know a certain one time in that request a conversation with them too. Yeah, my thought would be if we don't see something by the next meeting, either the information or a date when they'll have it, then we ask them to come to our September meeting and and meet with us. I don't know what anybody else's thoughts are to that. My advisation was that the first meeting September or the second meeting would be a meeting where they would have to provide something to put up for that. Okay. No. Maybe do we need a motion for those dates, or we just wait and see in two weeks if no uh you've gotten anything or Ali's gotten anything and then make a decision then? Uh I think if you make a motion to that effect, that makes sense. Um anybody want to make a motion? Something to that effect? What to continue? To continue till next week next meeting, and if we don't have some information or date certain when we'll have the information, then we ask them uh to come to the second meeting in September. I would say the second, I'm not entirely sure we'll have the 19th yet, um, because there's only four of you and we don't have a lot of stuff yet. We need to move that to September. Okay. So you want a motion? Okay, mic mark is not working. I'll say it loud enough. Um so you want a motion to continue this to our next meeting. And at that meeting, if uh no information is produced, then we will have them come before us in September to answer questions. Yeah. Okay. Well that was an alternative. We just say that they're gonna be on the agenda for the second meeting in September. And if they're not, then they're disapproved. Yep. Then it's then it's end of discussion. That's fine, as long as we get a date.
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