This regular meeting of the North Kingstown Town Council included four public hearings on comprehensive plan and zoning amendments, a special business presentation on the historic Town Meeting House, action on the consent agenda, a report from the Town Manager, and appointments to multiple boards and commissions. The meeting concluded with an executive session for a personnel evaluation.
Items 11, 12, 13, 16, and 17 were removed for separate discussion; the remainder (Items 10, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20) were approved by consent.
Okay, I started the video. We didn't do times. I don't know that I want it. 925 for the end of executive. It's seven o'clock. Thank you. Welcome to the People's House of North Kingstown. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Uh pursuant to rile in general laws forty-two-46-6C. Notice of this meeting has been posted on the Secretary of State's website. I ask everyone to join me with a salute to the flag. Thank you. Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Good evening, everybody. Ton we have uh four public hearings. And uh with I would ask the council uh if they would consider merging um those four hearings into two hearings only because the subject matter on two of them uh is exactly the same. Uh so I would entertain a motion to open up a public hearing for the second reading of an amendment to the comprehensive plan and also an amendment to section 21-30 uh sorry 362. Um for uh a public hearing. So moved. Second. Well, those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Uh Madam Clerk, has anyone signed up for this public hearing? No. Okay. Thank you. Uh staff, do you want to or we all set up, Nicole? Make any comments. Good evening, Nicole Lafuntain from the planning department. Um, I think the only important thing I want to stress for both of these, so you've got two for two different properties. Um, is that the there is a a reason for the way they are set up on your agenda. Um the applicants are requesting comprehensive plan changes and zoning amendments. That's because their current requests for zoning amendments don't conform with the existing comprehensive plan. So you would have to amend that first for the zoning to be consistent with the comprehensive plan. Um the staff reports I think outline the the Plenty Commission's positive recommendations for both of the properties. Um I think it's important to know the difference between what you're doing for the comprehensive plan and what you're doing for the zoning ordinance. For the comprehensive plan, you are uh looking at amendments to the future land use map. And that's an overall vision for the area. So while there are um the easiest way to explain it is in a zoning map you have like neighborhood business, general business, you have multiple different things and they're very specific as to the uses and what goes under in your future land use map, they're broader. So you have a commercial area, you have industrial. That's that's a a bigger picture vision, and then those those the zones go into that. Um so you need to make that decision on these items before you make the decision on the zoning. Another question that has been posed to us multiple times is both of these properties are within the the groundwater overlay. Um this does not affect that. Nothing you're doing tonight affects that. The an overlay is just that. It's an added layer of regulation over the the zoning, the base zoning, and that would still be in play. No matter what what is proposed on these properties, they'd have to meet the zoning of that that zoning category, but they'd also have to meet the requirements of the zoning of the the groundwater overlay.