Study: Rolling Greens Development Would Help Area 'Establish An Identity'

The discussion on a development at Rolling Greens will continue next week as the North Kingstown Planning Commission holds another meeting on the proposed application.

According to the applicant M.L. Hawk Realty LLC, the development would be smaller but similar version of South County Commons in South Kingstown. In December, the Planning Commission voted to continue the matter until March 15 to await more information on the proposed development.

The village-like development would contain townhomes, residential units and smaller commercial businesses, with a 20,000-square-foot cap in an effort to avoid big box stores. According to Bill Landry, the applicant’s attorney, this design would offer a creative approach to development instead of typical subdivisions and sprawls.

During the Dec. 7 meeting, a vast majority of residents who spoke opposed the development, citing traffic and the town’s water woes.

Accompanying Rolling Greens on the agenda is a presentation of the Transfer Development Rights Village Study, put together by consultants the Horsley Witten Group, which began its study of commercial development in the fall as part of a $70,000 grant North Kingstown received.

According to the preliminary report (attached above in the PDFs), the forecast for the Rolling Greens area could be grim if action is not taken.

Horsley Witten Group said that there is no “clear lens” through which to view the area's constraints and opportunities, and the area is likely to grow in a “fragmented fashion, and North Kingstown will miss the opportunity to establish an identity here” if the town was to deny the project.

Numerous archaeological sites around the Route 4 and 102 interchange suggests the area “contains many cultural resources that could serve as an impediment to future development,” according to the report. The proximity to Wickford Junction would provide “significant market competition for retail operations.” Lastly, the area of land lies within the town’s TDR sending area, “suggesting that the town is targeting this area for preservation instead of increases in development.”

The study found that the most ideal area in North Kingstown to develop is the Allenton area, while Saunderstown and Davisville offer the least amount of developable opportunities, due to Saunderstown being outside the town’s water service area and Davisville’s proximity to Quonset and the transportation routes (Route 403 and railroads) that cross through it.

The meeting will be held on March 15 in the Wickford Middle School cafeteria at 7 p.m.