This meeting of the North Kingstown Town Council on February 27, 2023, began with an executive session and then moved to public comment. The council addressed a range of routine consent agenda items, heard reports from the town manager and finance director, reviewed hazard mitigation and parking studies, and approved an extension for the Annex/Old Library project with specific conditions. Several appointments to boards and commissions were made, and the council authorized a grant application for wastewater improvements.
Good evening. Let's call this meeting to order. Monday, February twenty seventh, twenty twenty three. Uh pursuant to around general laws forty two dash forty-six dash six C. Notice of this meeting has been uh posted on the Secretary of State's website. Uh with that, I'd entertain a motion to go to executive session. Well, those in favor say I. Thank you. Okay. Um next item on the agenda is public comment. Mr. Welch. I don't think your microphone's on. I want to make sure they can hear you at home for people watching, so thank you. Okay, good. We got it on now. Um last week, I think Tuesday, there was a uh a meeting of the Planning Commission, and there was a uh request put in front of the Planning Commission by QDC to allow uh multifamily housing in the industrial park. Um being a long-term resident and having a little bit of knowledge about the history of uh Quant Davisville Industrial Park and things that have transpired over the years, one of the things that was not allowed was residential. Uh it was limited to uh industrial and office space. Um, you know, in regards to that, I would say I am uh firmly against changing the rules at this point in time. There are developers who have spent a lot of money in town to uh invest in multifamily housing. Um there's some 250 plus units that are currently on the boards uh to add to the investment in town, and these folks move forward with their plans based on the fact that they were not going to be competing with the state at Quonsett. The site is not consistent with proper planning, putting residential housing in in that area, especially if their plan is to make it so that uh families with children could live there. Um we went through a similar situation with crossroads a number of years ago when they proposed something that never came to fruition. And over the course of the years, the town has had to suffer with uh crossroads, the development, the problems created by crossroads in the schools and the neighborhoods. And once you allow the state, or the state is allowed to uh develop uh multifamily at Quonset, we will be stuck with the same situation. It's there, we're gonna do as we damn well please. I am aware that the state can do what they want. And that's that's the unfortunate part about it. We are the host community, and we should be able to say we want it to uh anything that happens over there to come uh form with our planning uh recommendations, the buffers, et cetera, and the density. Um the state is looking to do something in North Kingstown to set an example for the rest of the state. We're almost at our our 10 percent affordable housing in North Kingstown. Um we have approved more projects that would take us well over the 10 percent. They just haven't been built yet. And looking at the the jobs that are over there, uh for them to state that it would be for affordable workforce housing. Um, I dare say that if we look very closely at the income levels of the jobs at at Quonsett, uh, we will find out that those folks over there will not meet the income requirements. Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh does anyone else wish to speak tonight? Please take the podium. Michael Dunnee, 141 West Main Street, North Kingstown. I am here to support the request of the planning department to reinstate the contract for the Wickford Village parking study. The decision to delay the study when COVID hit was the right one. No study completed at that time would have been able to accurately estimate what parking is available in the village, nor how recent changes in the businesses and restaurants in the village affect life for business and residents alike. Now I believe it is even more important to conduct a thorough assessment of parking needs before even more changes occur. As examples, several village restaurants are expanding their operations, and new restaurants will be opening in the next few months. None of these restaurants have their own parking. All will apparently rely on public parking areas to serve their patrons. The total additional demand will likely add almost 200 restaurant seats to the existing demand. The successes of the existing restaurants and coffee shops in the village is to be commended.