North Kingstown Planning Commission Meeting - December 16, 2025
North Kingstown Planning Commission Meeting - December 16, 2025
Note: The agenda and transcript indicate the meeting was held on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 6:30 PM. The date provided in the instruction (2025-12-16) is used here but does not match the source material.
The Planning Commission convened to discuss general business and hold a public hearing for a cannabis retail store application. Key actions included approving a cost estimate for a development phase, continuing other phases, and continuing the cannabis application to January 2026 with conditions.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of November 18, 2025: Approved unanimously.
- Administrative Actions Report: No items to report, but staff noted changes to application posting procedures to protect personal information.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ricky Thompson (194 Plain Road): Expressed appreciation for the board's thoroughness in reviewing the cannabis application, stating he would be comfortable with whatever decision the board makes.
Discussion Items
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3a – Construction Cost Estimates: WDIC Plat/Reynolds Farm North:
- Nicole (staff) recommended approving only Phase A cost estimate ($2,989,627.76) and continuing Phases B and C to a future meeting.
- Attorney John Kufa (for the developer) requested Phase A approval to vest the project via extraction fee payments.
- The commission approved Phase A and set Phase B & C presentation for March 17, 2026 (second meeting in March).
- Votes: Phase A approved (all in favor); Phase B & C continued to March 17, 2026 (all in favor).
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3b & 3c – Public Hearing: Unified Development Review for Cannabis Retail Store (Bonsai Buds) at 6670 Post Road:
- Recusal: Commissioner Patrick Roach recused himself from all cannabis-related items citing federal prohibition of cannabis.
- Staff Presentation (Nicole & Jenna): Outlined state and local regulatory framework. The use is allowed by special use permit in PR zone. The applicant proposes interior renovations only, with security upgrades (dimmable lighting, key card access, cameras, customer entry protocols), odor mitigation via three air filtration units, and a traffic/parking analysis showing adequate capacity compared to former AT&T store.
- Applicant’s Team:
- Michael Resnik (attorney) noted agreement with staff report and willingness to work with neighboring bakery on a shared parking agreement.
- Emmy Barber (Traffic Engineer, qualified as expert): Presented trip generation study. Expected increases: 30 weekday AM peak trips, 37 weekday PM peak trips, 73 Saturday peak trips (all under 100 threshold). Parking peak demand: 25 spaces weekday (vs 28 existing), 28 Saturday. Agreed to request RIDOT letter of applicability as condition.
- Frank Zano (Lighting & Security Engineer, qualified as expert): Presented lighting plan using full cutoff LED fixtures (3000K, B1 U0 G1) with dimming capability. Average illumination 1.5 foot candles, light trespass under 0.5 foot candles. Security includes cameras (60-day retention, real-time access for CCC/police), biometric locks, and no man-trap vestibule. Odor mitigation: carbon filtration systems (clean leaf) – three units for retail only (far beyond typical retail need).
- Jason Calderon (Principal of Bonsai Buds, sworn in): Stated his deep ties to North Kingstown (grew up there, family in town) and his experience operating a cultivation facility since 2017 with no incidents. He emphasized going above and beyond for odor control and security. Expressed willingness to collaborate with police and neighboring businesses.
- Commission Questions:
- Concerns raised about: parking overlap with bakery (applicant agreed to shared parking plan), lighting design vs. post-road design standards (discussion about glare vs. aesthetics; staff to work with applicant on fixture form factor), and lack of formal police department comments (Tracy requested APRA to Warwick police for incident history; applicant agreed to cooperate; Nicole offered to follow up with NKPD).
- Steve Borowick asked about fire department key card access – applicant explained digital knockbox.
- Margaret Kerr sought evidence from other jurisdictions; applicant shared that in Warwick (7 dispensaries) there have been less than a handful of incidents over years.
Key Outcomes
- WDIC Phase A Cost Estimate: Approved ($2,989,627.76). Phases B & C to be presented at March 17, 2026 meeting.
- Cannabis Retail Store Application: Continued to January 6, 2026 meeting for decision.
- Conditions to include:
- Applicant to supply a specific parking plan.
- Staff to work with applicant on lighting fixture design to meet post-road design standards while maintaining safety.
- Applicant to obtain and share police incident data from Warwick (APRA) and/or meet with NKPD to address concerns.
- Continued review of findings for special use permit and development plan review criteria.
- Conditions to include:
- Motion to continue: Approved unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Uh good evening. Well, welcome to the Tuesday. December 2nd, 2025 Planning Commission meeting for the town of North Kingstown. Pursuant to RIGL 4246-6C notice has been posted with the Secretary of State's website. And their general business 3A will the construction cost estimate for the WDIC platels farm north. Nicole? Good evening. That you'd like to discuss BNC internally with the engineer and our staff before going over those. So he's asking that for tonight. We only look at phase 4A, which is our first phase. And then I would ask that if you're amenable to that and you agree with the 4A cost estimate that we set a general time frame for them to come up so we don't lose this and end up forgetting about it for a year. So we'd like them to come back in February or March to go over those two and set those numbers too. Anybody have any questions on the call on this? And Ali's here too if you have any questions on the side itself. Mr. Copa. How are you? Good. Attorney John Kufa, K U P A, 20 Oak Dale Road on Kingstown, the attorney for the developer. I just uh want to put in a few words. This is we're asking me to approve a fora amount because we want to get that uh on uh the uh fee paid on that five percent or two percent extraction fee so that we get vested in this project, and we feel that that will go a long way towards solidifying that vesting and uh fairly big number, and uh we want to get it paid over the town's questions? Any questions? John, you're okay with getting back, Eric getting back with staff last year after the holidays by February the latest. Out of the that'll be between the entity as a staff and uh Ally. Okay. I try not to get involved at all. Okay. Is that good good enough for you, or you want to date certain I don't think we need a date starting? I just just anticipate February or March, like is this enough time to talk about it? But my concern is more that we don't talk about it, they want to record the next phase and all of a sudden we're square and willing because we haven't talked about it in the year. Well why don't we say they'll come back at the uh first or second meeting in March? Sure. Uh you I was thinking would that we pick one of those? I don't know the dates. Let's do the second meeting, I'll be in Florida first meeting. I mean I think my range roll. For this it might you know March 17th Patrick's Day? And obviously, this is not this isn't a hearing, so if that date changes, it changes, but at least that gives us something to look to. But you need a motion and a vote on this total amount. We need a motion of the vote on phase A. A total and then on moving the other two to a different date. Yeah. Okay. Do you want to do that? First make a motion for phase A. Right. And then move the B and C to the second meeting. I'll make a uh motion that we uh we don't we're concurring to this. You uh right, you agree. You don't yeah, we can make a motion to concur with the um DIC phase A cost estimate uh cost estimate in the amount of two million nine hundred and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dollars and seventy-six cents.
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