New Village District Finally Gets Approval

, North Kingstown finally has a new zoning district in the books as the Town Council unanimously approved a Compact Village Development district at its Monday night meeting.

Mixing commercial and residential buildings, the new district allows developers to enhance existing village centers — such as Lafayette, Hamilton, Allenton and others — on property as small as two acres. .

, but due to council member Charles Stamm’s absence, the group decided to push the final vote back to Monday’s meeting. Prior to the vote, Stamm voiced concerns over the inclusion of . The TDR program allows developers to increase the density of their land by purchasing development rights from land sought to be protected.

“I’m still not wholeheartedly willing to accept TDRs,” said Stamm. “So far here it’s unproven to me.”

In the language of the CVD draft, the TDR program could increase the maximum size of a commercial building in a village district from 10,000 square feet to a maximum of 15,000 square feet, dependent on sewage runoff projections, and only within the state’s urban services boundary. Prior to the council vote Monday night, the only receiving area where density could be increased is the Post Road District. Currently, there are no TDRs available in North Kingstown.

Council members also highlighted correspondence from residents concerned over public input during the process. According to Planning Director Jon Reiner, residents will have ample opportunity to offer their opinions during the approval process as the CVD language requires three public hearings.

Though the CVD district was passed unanimously, . Discussion on the village district began while the North Kingstown Planning Commission , called “The Preserve at Rolling Greens.” Described as a smaller version of South County Commons, the Preserve met heavy opposition from nearby residents who argued that . Residents also argued against allowing commercial development outside of the urban services boundary — set by the state planning department to control commercial sprawl. Currently, areas west of Route 4 are considered outside of this boundary.

In previous meetings, attorneys for Mark Hawkins (the project’s developer and owner of Rolling Greens Golf Course) have stated that Hawkins would be willing to use the CVD ordinance to make his project come to fruition. Hawkins would need to withdraw his current application for the Preserve at Rolling Greens, submitted in 2010, and reapply under the CVD ordinance.