Politics & Government

Have a Vision for Route 2 & 102?

What would you like to see happen to the Route 2 and 102 area?

The Town of North Kingstown is looking for input from the community and stakeholders regarding the future of the Route 2 and Route intersection 102 – one of the most controversial and contentious areas in town.

The North Kingstown Planning Department is kicking off its visioning process for the area with the help of the Consensus Building Institute (CBI), a non-profit mediation and facilitation organization based in Massachusetts. The town is looking to create a scope and design process for a stakeholder group to work together on the topic. Ona Ferguson of CBI has interviewed more than a dozen neighbors, business owners, town officials and other stakeholders, gathering information ranging from current zoning to what the community hopes to happen to the area.

But, Ferguson and the planning department are still looking for additional input and feedback from the community. If you have a vision for the Route 2 and 102 intersection west of Route 4, send your comments to Ferguson at oferguson@cbuilding.org or by phone at (617) 844-1127 by Thursday, July 26 at 9 a.m.

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The proposed process plan will be presented to the North Kingstown Town Council at its July 30 meeting, where the council will decide to proceed.

The Route 2/102 intersection has been in headlines in recent years as a proposed village center at . Mark Hawkins, developer of the project and owner of Rolling Greens Golf Course, initially was looking to build a village-like development similar to South County Commons (but on a smaller scale) – mixing townhomes, residential units and smaller commercial businesses. Discussions regarding the project within the North Kingstown Planning Commission led to the c which mixes commercial and residential buildings and offers a channel through which to enhance existing village centers on property as small as two acres.  

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The area was also the first location to test out transfer development rights in town with Rit Schartner’s parcel (the former location of Band Hill Nursery land). Since the TDR program began in 2008, there have been no buyers for Schartner’s development rights on the 140-acre lot. .

, and the area is likely to grow in a “fragmented fashion, and North Kingstown will miss the opportunity to establish an identity here” if action is not taken. The study also found that the proximity to would provide “significant market competition for retail operations.”


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