EP Waterfront Commission 9/25/24

e

e

e

e

e e

uh good evening everyone we're going to go ahead and get started we we do have a quorum present including Mr Conley Mr oconnell Mr amaroso uh here Fazoli Mr pelli Mrs Griffith so we have a forum uh also in attendance is Mike Walker representing R ly and uh our Council Mimi going so just uh I'm sorry from the planning department talk about the comprehensive plan so just before we get started I is wanted to provide an

update for folks on the project across the street I spoke to the developer last week and uh they've been pre-qualifying uh people who could uh purchase the properties at IB Street uh they pre-qualified 45 uh purchases who will be placed in a lottery which will take place sometime over the next couple weeks to determine who will be U allowed to purchase those properties and just a reminder uh that

the price units of these units are U there a mix of affordable in market rate units depending on your income level just a breakdown there's one single accessible Ada unit that will be priced at $232,000 and you have to can't exceed the area Med median income at of 80 of 80% there's a four three bedroom units which have you have to be at 60% of area median area median income or below which

will be for sale for $169 $170,000 will be three bed three bedroom units where you have to be at 80% or less of area income that'll be priced at $233,000 one bedroom unit which is market rate uh so you can earn up to 100% of the area median income for $294,000 uh two two-bedroom live work unit uh where you have to earn less than 80% of the area median income we price at

$28,000 and then two two bedroom units pric at market rate where you can earn up to 100% of the area median income pric at $264,000 um so they have like I said up up to 45 pre-qualified purchasers and once the lotteries determine who those are expect to see those units hopefully sold in the next couple of months and then occupied very soon but I just wanted to give an update uh they've been

having open houses throughout the summer and they had the ability uh for people to uh apply for the lottery but you still had to pre-qualify based on certain credit conditions and your income so I just wanted to make that sting in so so first order of business is to vote on the minutes of uh August 13th 2024 any discussion on that all those in favor great motion passes uh couple of U housekeeping things we

want to do tonight before we continue the public hearing um each year um we have a report that's provided to us by an independent company that uh illustrates how the uh taxes are performing at Kettle point so over the years I've done this presentation sometimes I've abbreviated it but this time I kind of did the original presentation which uh I think it would be helpful for a lot of the new members

who may you're familiar with it as far as what what's happening at Kettle point but bust um let's give you some background Kettle Point um know is a property and I'll get into the history but it really is a a good example after being here for 20 years uh what the Waterfront commission can do um sort of what underscores our mission um it really was a very underly utilized site

a vacant site for a number of uh decades and now it's turned into a place that supports housing jobs and see access to the water water the first slide speaks to the history U you know for some time the uh the site from 1930 1985 home to 25 petroleum storage tanks I think Atlantic Richfield was the company was that was there maybe some other companies that you know had um these big

tanks there or mobile okay yeah so um the soil uh was obviously contaminated uh was fenced off there was no access to the Shoreline it represented a real environmental hazard to the community and the property value prior to the development was assessed at only $2.2 million the next slide just shows some aerial views of what the property looked like uh up until um the mid 1980s when

those tanks were taken down you can see substanti you can see actually the outline on the first slide first picture to the left or to your right um how how it laid out how the the uh tanks went all the way out to where the pair is and that's how the the uh oil came in by cargo and then it was piped into these tanks and stored there um over the years

um these tanks weren't exactly uh you know they they they weren't meant to last forever they was eventually leaking into the ground water after the development you can see um the site was uh the the tanks were taken down in the mid 1980s uh even though the tanks were removed the the the site was still considered a brown field and uh the soil and groundwater was still very contam but you can see the outline of the

property um you can see the pair way at the front there you can see where the train tracks kind of went through the property which now is the bike T so you know very interesting to see how even despite the tank it looks like a nice feet of property but essentially was still highly contaminated so so as a pro as the development began uh in 2015 2016 you know and I'll go through the uh the

different phases of it but now fast forward to 2024 uh we've got Public Access access uh to the Waterfront uh we have 20 plus new parking spots behind universary Orthopedic that service the uh East Bay Bike Path we obviously got the new CER which is a 600 foot Boardwalk that's open to the public that gets a lot of active use in the summer and even old Seasons there 62 New Town

Homes 228 Apartments uh from what a to stand all the town homes are fully occupied I believe all the apartments are fully occupied as well there might be occasional vacancies but there's no large segments of apartment apartment vacon Apartments obviously the new medical building there uh they originally had 225 employees but uh I think they're probably over substantial of the major part of

University Orthopedics and fast forward this report will illustrate is when we started uh preconstruction it was 2.2 million in assess values property values through the most recent assessment report that the values exceed 98 million again just to sort of visually uh show what the site looked like before it was fenced off uh even though it was fenced off people were you know made holes

through the fence and there was access to the uh FL property um again people were trespassing and probably exping themselves what was out there as you can see to the to the other slide is it's a much more welcoming uh piece of property now with a very nice wall and I know Ray you were involved in the development there as well this is just a view of the uh some of the overview of the of the

condos and the apartments and some of the units um and then of course the next slide this talks about the uh some of the views people get from the uh from the U from the University Orthopedics U uh property that overlooks Providence and the bike path you know I know people go out there and they work the fireworks on the fourth of July both the Providence displays and the East Providence displays uh and it's very

active among fishing and and it really is a stunning site having a west facing line really this this this particular proc Advantage just to get into a little bit of the numbers um go to the next slide this graph just shows what the growth and assessed value was in the property uh when um construction began uh like I said it was about $2 million but as development took place and uh the

each year the the assessor would assign a value of the property based on the construction so you can see substantial growth into in the property uh where the overall value is over 9 dollar but the large Blue the large Blue uh sort of area represents what the what we call the incremental value that's the increase in the value to the new development that's that development that increase in the value to generates the

revenue to support the uh improvements made to u university point to pay for the roads the water the sewer all of that was not there so the money that's just generated at Kettle Point pays for those public improvements there's no Citywide money going into those improvements is strictly based on the value of this increase at the of the properties within this unit which district it's nothing

outside the district that contributes to uh the uh improvements the public improvements including the utilities and so on so the next slide just graphically shows how that works so as the property value increases uh the the incremental value goes up and that just generates taxes so the way it works 70% of the incremental value goes to support the public improvements the bond that P that issue that paid to the

public improvements up front 30% uh goes to uh the city's general fund which supports not just the city but school budget and then the base value which was you know at the time the assess value was only $2.2 million that was $67,000 that always stays with the city that never goes away so uh so this split of 7030 is a pretty healthy split uh despite um you know the public improvements being uh a they being

serviced by largely the residents of P point the city still of Revenue I'll get to some of the number what that actually means in numbers uh ads of December 31st 2023 total values are like I said $98 million um which represents about a $95 million increase incremental value um based on the city's collection rate history of 98.5% that generates about $1.7 million in annual uh taxes available um 70% are

go to the Tiff fund which is $1.24 million that pays the debt service and the bond to support those improvements 30% goes to the city's general fund which is $532,000 but since uh the revenues uh that are being collected at tail points are more than what's what's necessary to to pay off the ti fund an additional $251,000 will be transferred to the city at the end of FIS this fiscal year which

should will bring total taxes going to the city of over $783,000 so it's shows that the uh the assess values that drive these uh revenues are Contin to contribute to not only paying for the support the the public utilities at Kettle point but also Prov with you know substantial amount of money the next slide U speaks to a a video that played we're not going to play it tonight but

just again is a little video that we made that's a hyper that we put together ago but it just you know graphically shows a the difference of the property before and after and again I think it's a nice way to illustrate um what the Waterfront commission you know was meant to do was take properties like this older industrial properties that were liability and and you know turn them

into a Community Asset U we'll go ahead and upload this on to um a website but the also the other thing I wanted to point out is that you know despite the additional of the new apartments and new homes you know I spoke to the administ ation there's been no major uh significant impact to the city's water system Waste Water System they it's been it's been being able to fully accommodate this development um there

are five school age children living in the in the in the development not like overrunning our school system um I know traffic on the parkway is always a very sensitive issue but I don't believe that anyone can speak to a traffic jam in front of rail point I know turning left be a challenge at times but it's fairly man manageable there's no reported increases in crime or uh calls for

service for uh fire ambulance and and so on and so you know this is a real L case study of when development takes place um not all of the impacts are are adverse in fact there are positive impacts obviously this challenges for C different different developments have different attributes but I think this is overall a very good case study about a positive development in in lead in our

city uh compared to uh something else that might just was just vacant and uh it probably would have never been remediated unless somebody a local development didn't step forward and partner with the city where the city would make these public improvements or allow the property remediated I understand it was like 30,000 cubic yards Ray that was remediated at the site so which again is

obviously that would have seeped into the groundwater with been very detrimental uh to the groundwater Supply there in some of the neighboring uh community and also the the Upper Bay so this wanted to provide that uh we'll have this on our website along with the U independent report that shows these numbers but um East Province is one of the few cities that have done a tiff we just have some examples of just how

tiffs work these are just illustrative uh examples but again it's we have enough safeguards in place so even if the revenues don't support uh The Debt Service payments the city's uh general fund or City's obligations never going to be imped U if there's a shortfall in the revenues to support Debt Service payment so this be a special assessment placed on those those properties within the district so

there's uh there's really no rec to the city here so it's really been I think a net wi for the community and you know just wanted to report that and we we provide this report every year usually it's in August we didn't get it in time uh for the uh uh for the August meeting so I wanted to be able to present that anybody has any questions thank you um next order of

business is a discussion of the from the planning department I know that e burn is here to discuss I guess the update on the city's comprehensive

plans well thank you and uh apologize I'm losing my voice here so may be hard to hear me but um you know the the um adoption of the new comprehensive plan it's been a long time coming for the city but we reached a a big milestone last month when the planning board recommended approval on August 26th after a public hearing um with just some a bunch of minor edits for the plan so

the next step with that will be the city council's public hearing on adoption of the comprehensive plan and after they do that um you know assuming they approve it it will guide land use decisions in the city uh there is no date scheduled for that yet when we asked the city council they wanted to wait until either December or January so it'll be a few months before we have that public

hearing um and after the city council approves it the next step after that is the state's approval of the comprehensive plan um but it only takes a city council approval for it to Guide local land use the state can step in and you know request certain changes if certain things don't meet their state guide plan but they have been reviewing drafts all along so we don't expect any uh any real changes there um there is a

waterfront chapter in the city's comprehensive plan but um it largely just references the Waterfront District plan from 2003 it doesn't come up with new um new goals or recommendations it does recommend updating that 2003 plan which U I'm sure is a goal of the the Waterfront commission that's where this stands now thank you Keith um that's one of the things I wanted to kind of sequence as

far as when the expected adoption date is but now we've been talking about updating the the Waterfront District's plan for some time now but we wanted the city's plan to be you know uh completed first and it's nice that that's done so I I expect that we would probably be issuing some sort of our request for proposals the city watera District's for to see how it work dovetail with the the city's coer specifically the

ch right so in terms of the public hearings uh it's uh any major themes that came out of the public hearings that we should beware about in terms of dealing with the Waterfront um I don't think so I mean the public hearing the planning board had you know we had some good comments from the public um I don't think there was anything uh particular related to the water front or goals related to

that um any other questions for um commission members for Keith I know it's it's not really a matter of public hearing but is it okay if we take it sure you can come up we can I don't know can you can you sit over there people can hear you on the mic they won't be able to hear you on CD if you don't just hit the button I have one quick question thank

you um director brince did the word otel come out of the medom subd district uses it did yeah that that was uh removed from there thank you sirk that was a good that was a good catch on your part thank you any other questions for Kei well thank you keiths we we'll keep updated on when the city council expects to have hearings then we'll uh but in the meantime we might be de think about

developing a scope of services or request proposals for this for the Waterfront to a similar uh update the as well thank you thank you okay next order of business is uh discussion uh on updating ordinances for consistency with recently adopted Red Island general laws I know Amy uh brought this up and there's been obvious see a lot of changes that they dur last session that deals with land use

planning and some approval processes so it would be good to hear impact and and I'm glad Keith is here because um I wanted to coordinate with Keith and the planning board for scheduling purposes um you'll remember last year the Waterfront commission adopted a revised inclusionary zoning regulation based on state law that was enacted in 2023 a new uh law on inclusionary zoning was

enacted this year to take effect January 1st 2025 so once again we'll need to revise our regulation on inclusionary zoning um some of the changes that were um enacted last year have been rolled back so inclusionary zoning is where a developer has to set aside a certain percentage of their development as deed restricted affordable housing and under the regulation that's in effect now

based on the law in effect developers get a two for one density bonus meaning if they have to provide one inclusionary unit they get two extra market rate units that has that will be rolled back to a one for one density bonus starting in January and the percentage of inclusionary units has been reduced from 25% down to 15 um so it's uh it's rolling back a little bit of the changes

that um gave develop that tended to balloon developments perhaps in ways that developers didn't even intend I think the municipalities push back on that so that will be coming to the Waterfront commission's desk soon um and in addition to that um I also wanted to raise the possibility of eliminating the requirement in our ordinance for certified maale so in 2022 the state law uh requiring

certified mail for zoning and planning applications changed under state law now certified mail is no longer required for development applications that go before the planning board or for applications that go before the zoning board our board is a hybrid board a one of a couple unique um creatures of state law where we Grant both development approval and zoning so that law that was changed

in 2022 didn't affect us but I think we may now be the only land use for in the city that still require certified mail um a certified mail from my understanding changed a little bit after covid um I think the green cards are not signed for anymore in some cases so this would be optional it's not a requirement so first before I draft that I wanted to take the board's temperature and and see

you think and and also get the opinion of the planning director bless you um and also make sure that if the draft ordinances are reviewed by the commission next month in October then they'll also have to go to the planning board and eventually the city council so I want to make sure our schedule aligns with the planning board schedule yeah I mean I in terms of the certified mail I obiously like to um you

know conform to whatever the standard practi is in the state um I know it's an expense uh to developers and but no with the a lot of online notices right now still very possible through other channels but we still would be required to uh Place ads in the paper things of that nature yes and and you brought up a another point that I forgot to mention in 2023 state law was an acted that

requires cities and towns so for zoning and planning applications any public hearings have to be noticed on the municipality website right now um we post our application materials our agendas but I I don't know that we specifically post notices of public hearing on our own website we post them as legally required in the newspaper um newspaper notice would still be required but um we you know

that that could be considered Ed requiring us to post notice on our own website I'm I'm willing to entertain some proposals for discussion and obviously those will be discussed at a public and obviously comment

place I don't have any comment as long as we comply with what is done typically here but we should be advertising on the

website typically the certified mail return ensured that everybody received notice um for both the municipality that at the hearing but also for the developers benefit that someone couldn't say I wasn't told at a later date but how does that um ensure that doesn't happen when you don't have a record um of receipt I I think really the key thing always was for certified mail the key thing wasn't

receipt it was being sent and so the certified mail you had to submit your proof of mailing for first class mail you still have for notices sent by first class mail you still need to submit proof mailing but um receipt is not relevant the law one last question we need uh new inclusionary zoning that was adopted by the state how do they handle the U in option is that still an option it's

still an option only if the municipality chooses to enable it and applicants who provide a fee in LI or construct inclusionary units on a site other than the development so the offsite option those aren't eligible for the density bonus so only um projects such as metacomet where the um inclusionary units are on site would be for the density bonus this would only obviously impact any development that has has not

yet been submitted right it it would only apply to um application certified complete on or after January 1st 2025

you know update our ordes to be okay so if you want you could make a motion to direct um staff and legal counsel to present ordinances for consideration as discussed motion Eve anybody any discussion all those in favor okay motion passes okay uh we're going to continue on with the agenda the next item is the continuation of public hearing the Medicom property llc's application for

proposed development located at the 500 Veterans Memorial Parkway I believe the applicant here and uh has a series of items to update us on the reports and so on so we'll turn it over to Mr balinsky thank you Mr B uh again for the record my name is Josh berinsky I'm an attorney of rever representing the appc app an met ecomic Development LLC uh just a couple updates for the commission before we uh go into tonight's

presentation um first in response to Mr Fazoli's uh request uh I believe at last month's hearing we had the Financial Consultant forward planning men his report to AR East Point and uh we sent that report to the city I believe it's been uploaded to the website um we uh we continue to work on the remaining diligence items and and are making fairly good progress in on each those the fronts uh with that I think I'll

turn over to uh tonight's Consultants we have three presentations for you tonight um the first one from Matt murva of bow engineering is going to provide an update as to the completion of the drainage and utility plans which had been outstanding for for some time they were completed last month we submitted them to the city uh they've been submitted to par for peer review Matt will uh provide a brief sum of where

things stand and and how that all turned out um next we're going to have Ashley s who's a planner from The Firm of Weston and Samson and uh Ashley has was previously involved with this proposal a number of years ago we have asked her to come back to in effect refresh this commission's recollection on the compliance of the project with the city's comprehensive plan um this is an important uh step for both this

commission and then obviously when we go before the Planning Commission for their recommendation we'll be revisiting this analysis but we've been making substantive submissions uh there's also a legal and Regulatory component to this and and ask speak to that in Greater detail um she has uh acted as planner um throughout the state she's been a consultant for a number of years uh her

expertise is is significant and and unmatched in the state and we're confident that that you'll find her report holds a great deal of sweat and then finally we're going to conclude tonight with uh Paul Bannon from Crossman engineering um pursuant to the request of the city and Par as part of their peerreview Crossman submitted and completed a comprehensive traffic analysis which brought all of the materials forward

Under One Roof so to speak and updated uh certain elements of that study as well um we submitted that report to the city I believe last week it's also been uploaded to the website and Mr Bannon has a a brief presentation to speak on on that um as well and obviously um Mr mura Miss suite and Mr Bannon were available for questions from both members of the commission as well as the

public so um without further Ado I'll turn this over to Matt MVA thank

you thanks Josh again for the record Matt MVA with bowler I'm GNA keep it pretty brief tonight um we do have you know a 70 page submission package that is available on the webbsite it's in front of Engineering in front of the F reviewers but essentially it's collected all of the comments and feedback we've received over the past month into uh conformed set of of documents for review

and approval uh I'm just showing kind of a cover sheet here which is the updated color rendered site plan uh but there are numerous detail sheets on utilities grading drainage infrastructure uh landscape lighting uh that that also form the basis of that package updates from the the previous set that respond to some of the bigger moves that we made site plans uh based on and I can run through what those are

quickly but essentially the uh reconfigured uh the building G is the uh residential building on the north south AIS this entrance um to allow for more streetscape and planting in front of that building we reconfigured the entry Drive the grocery anchor center it's got a little more cinear aspect to it a little softer we've increased the buffer uh and birming along lionav we've also increased the bming the

buffering along for street at the phase 1 a um Maintenance building uh various grading and drainage improvements that have uh have come out of discussions with uh with DPW and your reviewers uh so we feel like what we've got in front of you now is a comprehensive set that incorporates the the changes that we've discussed over the past months I don't want to get into Too Much Greater detail

andless there are other questions I'd rather yield the time to uh Paul tonight'll be able to speak on sure Matt just a quick question again for people who might not have seen the previous uh uh hearings uh but obviously um as you replace uh grass and U that type of service and replace it with Dash describe in general terms how do you how do you respond to that in terms of

keeping the U storm water or surface water on site it's not causing um any type of you know an adverse impact to other properties in the neighborhood or across the street or down the street that's a great question what we need to do is to capture uh and hold that storm water and release it uh into the locations where it was already going before at essentially the same flow as it was

before so that requires storing it on site infiltrate at a rate that would match the the previous flow so those calculations have all been provided uh to car engineering uh they've here reviewed our original submission had a few comments on on approach there um and some modifications that we've made as a result the new plans we do believe are going totis then I know that BM isn't

overseeing the um storm water aspect of this it's it crmc RMC so uh they obviously look at the plan and see how it impacts the cove and and runoff of that nature so they're being updated as these plans are developed they'll have oversight over this any other questions from

witnessed is going to now I have a couple more copies of the report that I will submit to water tomorrow as well as the the presentation itself um that actually going go over and those will be available on the

webs good evening my name is Ashley sweet I am a team leader with Weston in our Planning Group I have been working in Rhode Island in the planning field for about 20 years 17 of those were in Municipal planning you have in front of you a report that I have pulled together and I have a presentation that will walk you through the high points of the report um and I'm

happy to answer questions as we go along um could just stop me um please feel free to to do so next slide so what I'd like to go over with you tonight is very high level just a brief project overview I know you're all familiar this project at this point um speak to you about uh findings of comprehensive plan consistency as well as consistency with the Waterfront Cal development District um talk a little bit about the

zoning relief that's being requested for the project um also go through some neighborhood context issues and then some findings and conclusions that are all contained within the report just kind of Briefly summarize them in the presentation this evening so as you're all aware we're talking about the property at 500 Veterans Memorial Parkway um this is a proposal for a mixed use development of the

former metomic goth course includes six and9 acres of open space and a 9 gol force a total of 890 residential units proposed through a mix of multif family rentals sees and Tow houses uh there will be 20% of those units designated as affordable and approximately 153,000 sareet of space that contains Center and a grocery store with neighborhood scale re so to give you just a brief overview

um some of this is a little bit of a a repeat I won't go into great detail here but we're talking about um a mix of commercial retail residential space space open space and Recreation space um the project attempts to really try to fit into the fabric of the neighborhood pushing buildings back along Veterans Memorial Parkway with a roundabout at the intersection of Lion Avenue and Veterans Memorial

Parkway um and there is a report from forward planning that I'm sure that you've seen um that speaks to the general tax revenue that can be expected and the job uh job production that would be created with over 3,500 temporary jobs for construction and 600 first year of stable oper so wanted to talk to you a little bit about consistency with the zoning ordinance and this project is requesting

three variances from the zoning ordinance I wanted to go through those with you and speak to those one of those is for a signage variant um this is to install a monument sign at the entrance the district calls for signage to be placed on walls and to not be Monument freestanding signs and the reason for the request is that if we were to put signage on the buildings they would be

set back over 100 seial Parkway um we would prefer to request the variant for this type of signage the monument signage um at the front entrance and allow those buildings to be set back um the intent being to protect the scenic view on the parkway the sign will be built you know at a reasonable scale to fit in with the character of the Parkway and the signage that is already there

there is um Monument style signage on the little kind of Fuster of buildings adjacent um it would be similar you know in in Form and Function um but allowing a monument sign instead of requiring that signage that is on the side of buildings will allow those buildings to stay back from Veterans Memorial parer which we feel is an important aspect of project um we are asking for a parking

variance the requirement is two spaces per residential unit we're proposing to provide one and a half spaces um we would just bring to your attention mention that we think that that is a reasonable request that approximately 59% of the units that are being proposed are either Studio or one bedroom units um the parking requirement is a standard two parking spaces per unit regardless

of the number of occupants for the units so we feel that the one and a half spaces is adequate parking for the residential units being that almost 60% of them are probably going to be single occupancy units at Studio or one-bedroom units and when you look at the overall parking requirements um it is 12 spaces short of the full requirement when you include both the residential and the

commercial spaces so overall only 12 spaces less than what would be required under regulations for Park um we're also asking for a fenestration percentage variance the requirement speaks to requiring 25% on um on building elevations um that is met on all of the fronts of the buildings but we're asking for the S some sides and rear elevations of the structures to not meet that full 25% and the reason for that is that

these buildings often require programmatic elements like kitchen storage and utilities um which would not work with the fenestration requirement so well we will need it on all the fronts some of the sides and Rears would be less than the 25% for that reason just for the people watching on TV describe what fenestration is the requirement is that you have the the um GL like window windows and openings is

at least 25% of the side of that structure is required to have those openings those windows um so really as I said it would just be sides and Rears that would not meet that requirement all the fronts would have that next slide so I wanted to also speak to you about comprehensive plan consistency and in the report um there is a table it's table two which starts on through I think it's s

sorry page 10 um that goes through uh certain elements of the comprehensive plan provides to you the text from the actual comprehensive plan the location of that text and then a comment as to how we believe this project fits with um the goal the policy the action or just the general Tex of the document so what I've done for you in the slides is just give you a very high level summary of of

within each chapter that we've highlighted in this table what the general requirements or or um requests are for development and giving you some examples of how we need those so the table itself goes into a lot more detail and I'll through in a high level um each of the sections that are contained in the table so there's the first section is the general plan and this is the text and discussion that happens outside of

one of the specific chapters of plan and it talks about ensuring a quality of development um you know in this project we're providing a range of housing service businesses open space and Recreation it is truly a mi use style of development um through a high quality design so we do feel that this proposal meets that requirement or that call for high quality design um it calls for a

promotion of the mix of uses again this is truly a mixed use uh Style development where we have residential commercial open space and Recreation all contained within a single development proposal um it speaks about maintaining enh enhancing open space and Recreation opportunities as you know part of The Proposal is to donate almost 10 acres of the land City for public open space and there is currently a renovated uh

nine-hole golf course which is now open for the public we believe that it also needs um that requirement it speaks about Scenic quality um as I said we intend to set those building back buildings back from the roadway keeping the smaller structures closer to Veterans Memorial Parkway and also um on the other side of the property closer to the residential that exists and we are keeping the

larger buildings towards the center of the site which will minimize the visual impact of the development from anywhere around us next slide uh going into more detail into the chapters of the comprehensive plan we looked at your land use chapter which speaks to ensuring that there's a positive economic impact and that there is diversification of the tax B um as you know with the report that was done

by forward planning the project uh will generate about 5.3 million in taxes annually and will create about 63 permanent jobs in a range of different income levels and also over 3500 jobs uh temporary jobs as part of the uh the land use chapter also speaks to the desire for the city to work with infill and Redevelopment this project does revitalize underutilized land um it aligns with the goals of compatible

development and high quality design for the city uh the land use chapter also discusses is promoting flexible zoning um this property utilizes the Waterfront special development zoning and implements a diverse mix of uses and the Throughout the chapter it speaks to encouraging mixed use developments we are you know presenting to you a self- sustaining Community with residential commercial

Recreations um all contained within the development um for overall economic and Community Development next slide we also looked at your Economic Development chapter which some of this repeats um from the land use chapter but again spoke to the diversifying the tax base um we expect it to generate significant tax revenue um reducing a tax burden and would be a positive tax on the would provide

positive income in the for the community um it your econom IC development chapter also speaks about the job opportunities and as we said um would create about 3,500 construction jobs and 6 jobs Economic Development chapter also speaks about the need to not only promote new development but that the development that is um promoted that it respects neighborhoods and so we've attempted here uh you know to combine a

commercial res residential and recreational uses to create a sustainable development that does respect those neighboring properties it does respect its location on an important Scenic roadway the V Highway Parkway um and have attempted to orient the design so that it minimizes the impacts on those adjacent uses as I said putting the shorter structures towards Veterans Memorial Parkway as well as

putting the residential uses adjacent to the res the existing residential um providing a buffer between those uses and really concentrating higher impact development towards the center of the site uh the chapter also speaks about facilitating development and Redevelopment of underutilized properties um although a portion of the golf course will be redeveloped it does maintain a ninefold he course that has

been you know redesigned um and it maximizes the benefit of the land through the Redevelopment of the mix we also looked at your Recreation conservation and Open Space chapter which speaks to increasing recreational opportunities this project provides a nine-hole public go course from what used to be a full 18ho private club um this will be open to the public and it also includes the donation of close to

10 acres off for open space to the city the chapter also speaks about specifically speaks about protecting and preserving existing golf courses and while the former 18 hole is now a nine hole um it does preserve a portion of that golf course and again makes it available to Residents um formerly as a private club now op public uh the chapter also speaks about bicycle and pedestrian amenities this project proposes to

create a network of shared paths within the development that would connect uh to the East Bay byass through that system of internal shared paths and will provide the ability for neighboring residential areas to utilize the space um not having to go out on the street but through the development instead to a safe crossing over to the um East Bay bik it also talks about enhancing and expanding open space

opportunities um the project attempts to maintain the scenic views that do exist um natural areas adjacent to the um somewhat more environmentally sensitive areas of the site are preserved in their natural state as they are part of that is the nine-hole GOL course um the intent there is to reduce any environmental impact of the developments by setting it back from The Cove um and the

associated wetlands and buffer areas with that and again also provides almost 10 acres of permanently open space for the city to to hold uh the the next thing that we did was look at your Waterfront plan and there are seven goals in that plan that are laid out and we've highlighted what those goals are and within each of those goals are a set of more specific requirements and standards and we've

summarized those here the first goal speaks about General land use goals and talks about the desire for mixed use development preservation of the scenic views um infrastructure and transportation improvements Public Access in open space and the development of affordable housing um all of which we have attempted to achieve the design of the project goal two speaks about expanding and

enhancing Waterfront Public Access and transportation specifically about enhanced connectivity um as I said you know we intend to have those shared paths connect directly to the bike path it's it talks about traffic flow um there's a proposed roundabout at Memorial Parkway and Avenue um which is identified roundabouts are identified in the Waterfront plan as a of an appropriate traffic mechanism it does

speak about traffic signalization not being appropriate um and the comprehensive plan itself also in the specific District or um for this area identifies this specific location that intersection of V Memorial Avenue as the location for around the slide the goal three is to enhance the waterfront special development District Economic Development opportunities and a lot of this is very similar to the

comprehensive plan as it should be those documents should work in concert but it talks about business attraction and supporting new businesses um job creation and creating yearr round activity on the site and we believe that with the mix of uses that are being proposed that we are ensuring a continuous yearr round ement on the property both or speaks to enhancing the attractiveness of the project area um

specifically about providing for structured parking and while this project does provide for some surface parking and some structured parking um we've designed the surface parking so that it is not vast expanses of asphalt but it has um it's broken up into segments it has sufficient Landscaping throughout it to really create um a feeling like you're not in a giant um the it also speaks about public

spaces and well-defined Street escapes and gateways um with the installation of a roundabout at that uh primary intersection and we believe that that would would essentially create that specific Gateway that would bring people through Veterans Memorial Parkway and then into the city um um it also talks about pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure the plan is designed with sidewalks

throughout um and a connection to that bike path East Way bike path across the street through the sh uh the shared path system designed slide poll five speaks to protecting and enhancing the natural Waterfront environment um as I said we are staying away from the Cove staying away from the more natural and environmentally sensitive features on the site um and maintaining a buffer zone um limiting the development

away po six is speaks to revitalizing existing commercial areas um enhancing the appearance and the creation of a Gateway as I said um the roundabout at Lion Avenue as a key entry point um in really in all directions I'm giving you access eventually down to the parcels on the right on the water goal seven protect protecting existing residential land uses on Roger Williams Avenue and Parkway and as I said there

is proposed to be at least a 100 foot landscape buffer along the parkway to maintain the greenery as you drive along the parkway um and the traffic mitigation measures um as with the roundabout managing the flow of traffic to prevent shortcuts through residential neighborhood slide wanted to talk to you a little bit about the context of the neighborhood adjacent to the property um to the

Northeast you have existing medium density residential development um the project attempts to preserve that current view that this is the area where there is a almost 10 acre donation along Fort Street maintaining that neighborhood character keeping the buildings set back from from any adjacent resid IAL uses and the first set of buildings on the property on that side of the site are also residential as

well on to the Southwest um on Veterans Memorial Parkway and on the Cove um we're preserving the existing conditions there that's the area of the redeveloped golf course there is no new development uh near The Cove um and the entrance to the parkway is designed to manage traffic flow in and out of the site we don't expect there there to be any impact to the to the existing land uses

to the Southwest um to the east is also residential homes and small non-residential uses um we again believe that there will be a minim a minimal change there um and they'll retain their their current view um of the golf course area and to the West is the small Office Park I mentioned with single story buildings um we believe the use proposed will be compatible with this adjacent

use they are separated from the property by Lion Avenue um and would you know improve convenience between the two um compatible uses without any real disruption to what is happening in that office Park area so just to summarize the findings um that we came to as we went through your regulatory documents and paed them with the proposal that's in front of you um we believe that this project is

appropriate and compatible in its scale of development um that it is proposing appropriate traffic and infrastructure improvements that are already contemplated in your Waterfront plan and in your comprehensive plan um it achieves or partially achieves open space goals by um obtaining 9.6 acres for the city to hold title to and Preserve erve as they see fit um it enhances Recreation opportunities by

opening what was previously a private golf club to uh the general public um it provides for a mix of uses with residential commercial open space and Recreation all contained within a single project it capitalizes on a Redevelopment opportunity while still maintaining a portion of the recreation space and providing uh a use um residential and Commercial development it provides for a positive

tax base it establishes over 600 permanent jobs at a variety of P scales and it provides needed market rate and affordable housing to people so in conclusion we have found that the project is consistent with your zoning ordinance subject to the variances that have been requested and you have um provided a rationale for those variances in the report for you to consider we believe that it's consistent with the

goals policies and actions of your current comprehensive plan and that it is also consistent with the Waterfront special development I'm happy to answer any question thank you uh actually just this is obious the first time we saw this tonight so just some basic questions and I'm sure there'll be more once we go through it some uh more detail and on page six of your report cing the of the

development yeah so phase one obviously is the golf course which is already done um phase two is really I guess Phase 1 a now right so phase three uh would include $160,000 of uh retail and Commercial development 232 residential units based on the table here so and then uh the balance of uh the other units residential units is no commercial development in phase four the balance of about 660 units in

Phase so phase uh phase three really speaks to uh the property that's uh I guess at the corner of lion in the parkway necessarily the the the development towards Down lion towards Fort really represents uh you know pH that's I would say not immediately something that they more of an outlier type of oute type of development necessarily so in terms of U shortterm I guess development that the

city would look to see would be rate which would be 160,000 of commercial retail and 233 okay great um another question just done by at page seven uh under zoning orcy the last sentence building coverage for the site with approximately 7 and a half% the district that 70% building coverage and the impervious coverage for total so the 7 and half% is that just based on the development portion or is

that site including development of I believe it's the entire that's one of the then lastly you mentioned the zoning I guess Keith the zoning there is our yeah which I think allows for 5,000 lot along with multif family there's a a lot of multif family that between six and 12 buildings you know 890 units over the 60 acre develop rly units acre probably would with Zing for the adjacent neighor to see if Ls up

or that's something I again as we go through this some more other than that uh I know that you reference consistency with the old comprehensive so I assume as the new one is adopted we'll have to to make sure that the new plan doesn't radically obviously this one's in place C how the proposed new comprehensive up regulatory I assume the fanny Bo have to anyway consistency of

use right so you can say that into the mic so this this plan will have to be guided by the this comp that's right was under yeah even if the new one's adopted um because they submitted this I the right we'd have to go buy the old any other questions the commiss just a minor one that table to should be updated So to avoid confusion going forward because the numbers don't match

the the graph so just minor housekeeping new one Dave uh yes you uh mentioned the monument sign that you prefer for a variance for that uh and if I heard you correctly you want to have something similar to The Office Park sign that they have adjacent to them is that correct so I have not seen the sign signage designed but I um can say with confidence that it will be designed to

fit the general character of the area um it will have to be a a decision you know that you make independently on that on that sign but I can tell you that with confidence it will be something that will the general character I use that as an example because that is not a a building mounted sign it's a monument style of sign right um but I seen a specific sign design the term Monument sign sort of

scares people and they think of route two and Warwick and those signs down there and that's not what it's going to be it's I can not good Matt quick Matt mura again from uh the the sign that Ashley's referring to has been in our rendering packages that you've seen to date so it's nothing that would be a surprise it's just what that style of sign is called it's not a

you know it's not like the Bunker Hill Memorial or something it's it's just a sign at the street that'll be tasteful and indirectly just have that thank you any other questions for the from the commission I know uh it was very helpful and we'll have this uploaded as soon as we uh ear in receipt with it and make it available for the public obviously uh since we just got it t i urge commission

to look at it commission members look at it closely and obiously work with with Ray and the staff to they have additional questions we could form those uh for the the app so guess the next um expert you have is uh traffic everyone's favorite topic go ahead and introduce

yourself the record Paul Bannon uh traffic engineer with Crossman engineering I'll call up your presentation

okay uh for the record um as Josh indicated we have made a uh submission to the city we uh provided update of our traffic impact assessment to address the peerreview comment that were provided by that was also updated um to address comments received from the Department ofation so we provide a provided a comprehensive study uh to address both state com as part of the initial review

um I'll briefly go through uh where we are introducing our effort um and provide a review of several items that we think uh the board uh would want rest as part of what we did that includes review existing traffic volumes how we obained it why weed them uh estimating future volumes the project uh go over the operational analysis that we completed uh anded the safety analis of the reviewer and then we'll

provide a summary of our our next steps we'll go over in detail the outsite mitigation plan uh and we've prepared simulation of the operations based on our operation so as you aware we were retained um uh to complete the property impact study with a supplement to the mass study uh the that was prepared for submission to both the city and state uh to for the design of of the offsite

mitigation that study was uh submitted initially for the city and that was done and they had been involved for for several years as part of the initial process uh and working with the city on on resoning of the property so we've provided an update of that study that was initiated that um the study that we've provided it provides the documentation and Analysis for uh the improvements that

we've as Ashley had indicated we're proposing improvements along the parkway that'll be focused on mitigating the impact and being consistent with the stewardship plan for the Parkway and both the comprehensive plan for improvements along the Parkway and uh original studies that were done back 20 years ago uh when Village on the waterfront that waterfront property was being considered for development so we

focused on on providing the design that needs the is consistent with the compens plan minimizes the impact for the parkway we defined areas of to address and supplement the vaness study including the M major intersection of lion and Parkway Bel Broadway um and intersections within the local neighborhood uh to that would be affected but going over the existing traffic volumes we did a u Vanessa done a

comprehensive dat collection program we supplemented that we didn't have to get count at every of the all the intersections because um of the the nature of where they were so what we did is is strategic getting new data uh doing automatic traffic report accounts for 7day period on South Broadway V Parkway lion out that uh provided us a basis to understand what's there today how that

compared to what was obtained previously uh we also did Manual jorney Movement we established Base traffic conditions based on that data we comparing it with the vaness study using and balancing higher volumes where vaness study the volumes that they use completed during the co period and they uh were actually higher than what um we established is existing 20 they higher volumes were based on

expanding and estimating what BS they did I think they 17 18% higher than to account for the estimating what was there so postco volumes uh are actually less but they've been relatively con over the parkway the last 20 plus years uh as I indicated we did not count all the locations um we B we reviewed the information balanced them with the new volume that we obtained and we used any higher volumes

that also the time of year we counted uh base volumes are typically higher based on rot data we didn't um take or reduce our volume represent average condition or our our volume base volume for um looking at that uh future condition um we estimated one provided in within the new report uh we estimate the volumes of traffic or the period of tra uh traffic that we look at typically for

given improvements would be need so we went from existing and that are in the future with the base volumes and mitigation the volumes that you see in the tables presented they are highly conservative we are I'm typically working on d project where we want to be conserva and design instruct because it's going to be design life typically is 20 years but it'll be 30 or 40 years before do comes

back and upgrades a roadway unless there a particular issue so uh in this analysis that we did we were highly conservative we did not take into consideration or reduce the estimated volumes of traffic based on internal capture which is typically done for excuse project have one element within the site patronizing another element of the site so they would never leave the property and so what we've proposed or

represented in the table is they're all new that someone that goes to the grocery store came from outside the site so that's conservative in our analysis and that someone that's going to groc St may go to another element we've looked at it as as a individual um strip generation and these are the numbers in addition on projects specifically commercial project there's a pass by element

that will range depending on the type of use that can be 10% it can be 60% traffic that's already on the Road it turns in and out of the site so they would already be on the roadway and they would not be new but they would be using our prop property those were not considered they were all considered new that's what these numbers are and we um show what a h of potential

so you understand type of numbers that use would actually generate minus all so we wanted to show demonstrate that use that as a basis of our the commercial component which will um the commercial component which represents roughly 75% of the week hour traffic um would have distribution that's more even than say the the residential you have warning from you commercial component opens up midm morning um late

morning to the midday period is a higher or average um condition and you know that six hours between 10 and three four would volumes would be relatively consistent wouldn't have high up for that the um once we estimated type of proper relative to volume we had to estimate where it's coming well commercial component um with the grosser being the anchor um we anticipate this project or this

component of the project being a neighborhood commercial ELO the grer most of the people in area surrounding um are presently serviced by shopping centers the markets on what the Shaws the Stop and Shop or the route six Carter and ccom Stop and Shop DJ Walmart Post Whole Foods so that volume that area of the community is is highly serviced uh with this type of the area to the South is

void of a grer or competitive grer going south into Riverside tuck it have will it have it's one market outdated small jaws prices that are high uh quality uh on quantity of of product is is less than you know when you have a a highly competitive market across the street um so that area of the community would feel would be greatly served by this uh development and that traffic

whether they go to that store or they go going have ccom to those stores um they're on adjon so we feel that this area of the community immediate neighborhood in Riverside area would be greatly enhanced and aidence opportunity for use of this site um looking at that we provided figures in our report that showed the distribution based on that type of analysis of where our competition is

what servicing roadway are we looked at different distributions for the residential component compon that's all been included in our our study and and figures that provided for each of the period for that uh as he indicated we typically look at U the impact during the Fe hour of generate for the use and that would be the residential component combined with the commercial typically this type of use it would be

PM Fe and the Saturday Fe you looked at all the major intersections starting from the South Broadway Line app Parkway merer in the Parkway and to get an understanding of the impact to the neighborhood streets we looked at the Fort and L St so we wanted to show the type of traffic or volum of Traffic Service based on that distribution in its operational in in the report we show what that distribution

and overall volumes are five chose the development itself and then the key intersections that that we um based on that future condition that's presented uh we determined that improvements were necessary along the parkway um as I indicated previously we wanted would have um M initially had proposed control at at a driveway on the parkway um and I got involved in and spoke and worked

with the team um having knowledge of the far way we redesigned the access to the property so it did did con to what was considered over 20 years ago provide future access to Waterfront but also Service uh this development upon on the par so we proposed the roundabout it bua the our main driveway will be restricted from left on out so we're just shifting existing driveway that full access to a

driveway on the parkway that has a restricted left turn exitting access primary southbound erress from the site will be lion and F around so we feel that the design is proposed will be consistent with the comp consistent with goals that have been discussed for the parkway access to the water Additionally the the roundabout will provide pedestrian connectivity bicycle connectivity Bay B P the element uh of

concern because right now there are no sidewalks long line there is no Crossing pedestrian access on the neighborhood we're going to be working in Department transportation provide a um safe and efficient pedestrian bicycle Crossing between site and East Bay bik the operational analysis we've presented both existing condition we show the level of service internally within neighborhood the

intersection level service a today the only intersection that operates at a a movement I should say U it operates at a lower level of services the South Broadway intersection I was involved in that back point is being considered and that's I worked on striping the roadway I the left C wouldn't more or so would back up or people would drive on the shoulder road dir to get around and it's just it's a better

operationally conditioned what we're proposing there in the future and it and it was also recommended in geometrically um it's odd uh so we're going to make it a conven intersection modifications it'll reduce speeds through the inter Parkway uh concern speed limit signs been feedback feed speed limit signs we put on South cadway to help with trying to moderate speed so that is a concern

with under future conditions uh that will remain monitor that with the depart what if anything done relative to operation roundabout itself excuse me will operate efficiently and all the internal section is proposed we'll work with the city um to in an effort to mitigate cut through and intrusion within the neighborhood speak RSA Street part of our initial application with the B we in coordinating with Public Works

um we would propose to restrict that intersection with the parkway to a right in right out it's configured that way it's a y old typee y intersection go left or right appr and so with it's an easy fix um the safety is a concern at that loc intersection because sight distances is insufficient to South Park lights make that movement so that'll remove that potential cut through between our site that's an

initial element we will include as part of our d in addition to operational excuse me we were requested to do a safy so was part of updated for FL distances driveway intersection also design of round designs efficient movements to we will provide those part of our represented that um this point um we provided a comprehensive report submitted to the department received a letter from them with what weos um

that letter we received back in June they which will allow us to submit a formal application with the actual design of the roundabout it's part of that um submission their comments was it's typically a requirement on Project round that the AR about coordinated andar review with independent consultant so separate consultant paining Miner they will work with with us to provide the documation and the design

process for round about they'll also do a vism analysis that's a a program that provides allows you to provide design treatments of a roundabout and of roundout that detailed also you can see what out that'll be part of excuse me we also continue to work at City on local streets you understand know we represented operationally the internal section operator level it's we understand it's not

the the operational concern it's the increas so it's managing that trffic sensitive the neighborhood and appropriate neighborhoods that is is managed properly safety enhancements traffic coming Mees so we'll continue to work over project development make Street discussed options uh with Public Works to improve around the school and Field Complex some modifications there that would essentially eliminate our that's a

longterm solution that we

discussed we're just starting from South and starting from the south uh we'll be transitioning lanes warbound and transitioning from in advance of the par and our driveway will be working on the design whether we have a separate left late um that additional Lane of your right turn in our property and then that right turn out of our property uh will pick up that second through the roundabout be two lane about

sides on the southern side each approach will be two lane designing it for that future access that will be requ approvals that consider that as you go North transition from driveway Office Park driveway where transitioning two Lan South we going to put in a left pocket taking their in their hands as they do people we're providing separate one an AB driveway components and RM analysis will show how that will

operate adjustments relative the roundabout main residential driveway we also have so there's a lot of internal connectivity so internally on the main main roadway uh all the traffic in the site doesn't need we have driveways same with residential there are multiple driveways so know the main intersection is a four-way stop Eastern Drive operate efficiently

so uh just wanted to go

show as I had hope but this is a uh simulation that we use shows the operational analysis that we completed in this is a product of that so we use this to show you guys don't look at the screen you're going to miss it oh they oh it's right in front of them oh okay oh sorry wasn't here early enough you guys um but we we use this tool um to

confirm our our design what we're doing relative to Signal it operates with properly the one coach isn't overloaded backing Lanes the length backing lanes that are required if theing exceeds use this as a design to vism analysis is on steroids for this it's this is basic radi Lane the andal is an act to simulate this is a tool we use also provide the publicate this is

aurated internally

volume with that I'm lot lot to uh absorb so just to kind of uh back up a bit Paul this this late latest report is a composite of all the previous reports bringing all the comments and the input and bringing it to this next level this is reflective of all the other studies that have been done correct our our our initial study um was far focused on the on the do

permitting aspect um but it in it did include information on the uh on the local level in the streets it's of the overlap uh but we wanted to provide the city based on review comments um or detail relative to the city component or element of the project so that's what we've done as part of we didn't want to reinvent that old study um so we supplemented our study with information is relevant to

the city and address the paew and you mentioned that the base uh data uh traffic count back in 2023 this uh for Park correct in in the PIR riew uh is in agreement with and then uh that that data indicated the uh average trips per day or vehicles per day on the parkway are 68 right so um just just to kind of break it out what what would be

the um you said most of the new new traffic would be result from the commercial component I guess not necessarily a residential that's obviously morning and evening but typically what would you see uh as far as new vehicles per day after the commer we would uh look at probably 30% of of less in traffic than what we've presented in the study that would take well actual conditions would

be 30% less because of those actual in pass by so you know you look in it U 6,000 to 6,500 vehicles are entering and then exiting the property on a daily base that traffic isn't focused on one point right it's 40 50% this direction 40% this direction and here there's no point along the parkway that's 6,000 vehicles uh and then uh you mentioned on the U the rotary here the

round it's a left exit only heading cell right if you're inside the from from our from our site our access on the parkway only turn so if you want to go south from our property you have to go up to Lion take a left all right so that's what I'm saying so if you wanted to go you have to go uh down to lion and then enter the

rotary to go sell so if I say rotary I mean round you can say Circle or and then you mentioned the uh on lineing there's two there's two new access points one closer to the roundabout and one more towards cross my uh the Jones's Pond area that National Grid eement area yeah just before uh the PS field right and that's really meant for not necessarily commercial traffic but for people accessing the res that

will be the primary entrance for they're situated on either side of the uh the Parkway South Main Drive that going to a residential is not going go through the commercial component and none of the roads act as for street right it's all a sunline so street from the back emergency and then you mentioned Mercer in the parkway I know we had some testimony hearing some people concerned

that Mercer would be cut through as you come off the parkway you take that really sharp left I've done that for the last 35 years it's it's a it's a it's a daring left but uh yes you mentioned there mitigation efforts to kind of yes we've talked with public works and they're in full support of that change to make it a right in right out it will include safety intersection Al and it's

very easy signing and striping because it it's actually configured that yeah right now uh it's rare that you see somebody thinking a left on to merca thinking on the parkway but it's allowed but uh so that the idea would just make it a right so and then um one of the other questions I had was uh you mentioned um delivery trucks in the previous um caring how would you propose the folks

getting to the grocery store how would they access all that's all up the Parkway and loading do one through a presentation the Lo docks screening burm fence frees the loading docks um are are in the re yeah I mean there are there are um trucks that are on the parkway that are box different CS but I don't really believe there's any character allow in no only only two deliver to a site on okay um any other

questions the chair um this is not related to Traffic but you mentioned it so I thought I'd comment on it um I would really question um the assumptions you're making about that property um having I live a mile from the shore store you refer to I agree it's outdated and um substandard but um you yeah uh you've got two major competitors stopping shopping FS it's just a matter of time

before Market Basket puts in a Market Basket in the proper um DJs I'm not sure who you envision the tenant to be but I think the market is saturated I mean Stop and Shop in this so I mean I would think some of the assumptions to make I would wrot questions traffic that you mentioned but just so I record um I would just I think those assumptions I would I would question you're talk

you're talking thousands of homes that are in South and and to the immediate East that are under service for Market that they have to go up to seeon to go to or immediately Bing see what we've been living in the house for 25 years we've been doing it for 25 years about like yeah I I don't don't so if you make that a significant burden I would i' find that amusing no it it's

it's more that those opportunities exist for that part the northern part of the community North of 195 to the South there is that that only one market okay I mean you people have experts in this I would just I mean people are you have established competitors already French in this Marketplace um unless I don't know I'm running out of Nam to think of maybe a Big Y or Road this comes down here but

um I just question I just question that it's not really traffic related but you mentioned I I wanted to comment just one question um I'm I'm thinking about the uh other retail stores you're going to have in there there'll be restaurants and there'll be retail stores for you know different items uh that I would want expect that they would want to be busy also from 6:00 to 900m uh do you take into account

that it's not a peak time but there still plenty of traffic for those people coming into this city center uh up till 900 P p.m yes but traffic is substantially Less on the parkway after that period so it's it's not a operational concern yes there will be tenants that will be open till 9 or 10 o' with the restaurant familiar with all the tenants that are being fored for the square footage

that's being proposed um but yes there is a restaurant at night

Paran one last uh question when you say you're conservative in your estimate you're meaning your your count are higher not not necess lower when you're you're assuming more intense use maximum intense use yes both in in base volume we didn't lower our volumes represent average condition house we had typically higher than average condition um site we didn't take into consideration of traffic volumes to

account for known reduction uh trips and then lastly the round about this proposed obviously uh not only requires B permission Cen way reviewed I assume it looks like it it takes in other property owners that they would have to consent yes some of their land up yes we we've made initial contact with with the property owners we've also um engaged landscape architect that was uh worked

on the parkway worked on the stewardship plan thoroughly familiar with the Parkway and its concerns in the theic highway so we'll be part of the process and discussion with the to make sure that what we do is is appropriate so this this report was just submitted last week so because the city has a chance to review this at all and will we we be getting a memo back on the review I was right

oh I don't think it's been substantially reviewed and um I think our engineering office is largely re relying on the peer review process but they'll also look at it themselves just wanted to see if we'd be getting an updated memo because this was one of the items that was on the initial memo with comments right right yeah and that'll factor into any any future memo on this thank you any other questions from the

commission no thank you Paul thank you very much um Josh I don't know if you have anything else for an updates in terms of reports no I'm thoroughly chagrined so I am uh I'm gonna I'm done for this evening so um any questions from the commissioner in the public we uh public hearing so if somebody would like to come up and ask a question or make a comment feel free to come up to

the U the podium here introduce yourself

hi good evening I'm Heather Andre from from from uhic dream and um I just heard like a little sentence that said Improvement improvements were necessary they're not necessary because as it says in the comprehensive plan as it says in the Waterfront District the Veterans Memorial Parkway will not be will be the development on the Veterans Memorial Parkway will not be more than the pathway can handle

inside I don't know if everybody's forgotten that but that's in there and I don't expect it to come out either with any new rision so I'm just wondering what's going on with that and um what happens what happens to that that stone wall is that staying on Lion's Avenue

okay um wondering what happens to that stone wall because I believe um what island law protects those stone walls that's

online oh do you want to address that now Paul or okay yeah I just want to keep track we respond to all

the uh thank you Mr chairman um I um hether stol my thunder a little uh I wanted to reiterate uh it is interesting to hear Mr Bannon say that the scope of this development it's a given that uh there has to be roundabout there have to be mitigating factors there has to be um offsite improvements as as they're called to the parkway um as Heather mentioned the comprehensive plan the

Waterfront plan city council ordinance medic comic subdistrict pedalo subd District Veterans Parkway subdistrict all say that development along the parkway should be limited to the cap to traffic capacity of the parkway I don't know as Heather said why we never say that why we never say why don't you just reduce the scale of your development and not have to ruin the pathway I know you're you're saying

that's it's a benefit to us but we wouldn't need it if you weren't build with such a large development that's one point another is um I sent an email on September 5th to direct um executive director Ley chairman foli uh director brins and police chief um friend Sone um which I will read briefly well I will read it and it is brief um I'm writing on behalf of ke metacomet green with the request that

the commission require Marshall Mary prop metacomet properties to produce an updated Public Safety report to be subsequently peer-reviewed The increased dat traffic flow along the parkway from the additional I said 11,000 in my email apparently it's 6,000 to 6500 the additional projected annual daily vehicle trips will be substantial the addition of 30 daily delivery tricks trucks 60 round trips

but the grocery store will be even more so this figure does not include the other 60,000 square fet of commercial space which could include a large Pharmacy a furniture and or appliance store a hardware and or garden shop in the general merchandise store all units will have need for deliveries if there are an additional 20 delivery trucks per day say 40 round trips that represents a total of 100

round trips per day this does not take into account the 10-year construction traffic and delivery traffic to 890 units of housing by law trucks are prohibited on the par Parkway other than trucks making deliveries to a Parkway address currently very few trucks at all Traverse the Parkway and don't draw much interest from law enforcement however with the increase of upwards of a 100 daily round trips by

delivery trucks between the highway and lion Avenue and with the additional 6,500 Vehicles what burden will this place on our police department will traffic officers be able to distinguish delivery trucks from non- delivery trucks in the effort to enforce the law will they pull them over will they even have time the time to bother a public safety impact report submitted to Marshall by Christopher W

Bruce on December 28 2023 did not even mention enforcement of traffic laws as an aspect of public safety as we know that job is an important part of policing Mr Bruce stated that the short time given him one month during the holidays and the unavailability of much of the required data made his report quote less complete than I would like unquote he recommended in his conclusion

a more complete study given more time to our knowledge Public Safety report has not been updated nor has a peer review been conducted at the beginning of this process the Waterfront commission agreed that all Impact studies would be peer-reviewed unless there was Universal agreement that one was not necessary at the commission's public hearing on December 21st 2023 Marshall listed a number of impact

studies to be submitted including the one on Public Safety which came in a week later at the close of the meeting commission voted to accept the list during discussion commissioner Oso asked whether peer reviews were part of the vote the chairman foli said that they were an updated study and peer review of this issue is necessary and warranted the author of the public safety report himself said it was rushed and

incomplete commission voted for the peer review I submit this request for the record please share it with the other members of the commission thank you so I ask Will there be an updated Public Safety report and will it be peer reviewed yeah as far as I'm concerned the the public safety report has has to be finalized I think it's been updated I've spoke to Ry about contacting the chief uh for police and

fire and they mentioned that they have you know they they're they're aware of it and they they're just trying to dedicating after resources to provide the data so that they can complete the report so efforts are being made to when that report is done with the data that the original consultant needs we will then ask for a PE review of that there are some constraints um there there Personnel

constraints in both cases F you want so we are expecting uh an updated and a complete Public Safety impact report once we have review and comments from both Police and Fire Department thank you Mr chairman um you want to respond to the the wall

question um all Pano Marshall properties uh Heather's question yeah the final plans or the plans that are submitted in front of the commission who show that wall being removed as the final complexion the grades in that area married to Lions right now grade on our substanti that wall kind of holds it back in the final complexion that W and and Paul just just to clarify are there any protections of that wall being

removed or any from it not not to our knowledge thank anybody else Dan

thank you Mr chairman members of the committee my name is Dan Bodwin I live in Kettle point we got a nice wonderful report about Kettle Point everyone loves living there but good job um just quickly it's mostly process very glad to see more comprehensive traffic data I don't um has that been sort of reviewed Again by par does par agree with that all his questions have been answered

that your consultant told you that this is this is sufficient believe that's still underway that under it hasn't been I guess it was submitted about a week ago so okay process is uh underway by par and also by I guess internal City staff as well as Keith men thank you um at the last meeting uh there was discussion about a noise study and I I said I I'd like to review it and submit

comments and Mr chairman I think you invited me to to miss comments submit comments and I submitted them to Marshall as well uh what the proc process going forward will there be a peer review of the noise study will there be any other analysis of it any questions that I posed answered yeah I think we'll have to U talk with staff about uh the need for Fe review think we did mention that all the impact studies

would have to have a peer review so we probably have to look at that as well I haven't seen your questions about maybe I have maybe I know you're a busy guy so uh I think that's something that uh we would probably expect a response to uh from the applicant or from Ray Ray did you get my okay so that can be distributed I understand thank you very much have a good night

than I typle um East Province uh one thing I want to speak about tonight is that I'd like to reiterate Parkway uh again was established I think around 1906 the Providence arts department and uh I hope that all of you on this board are familiar how the not plenty of available it's a wonderful idea that was proposed back in 1906 to have a Scenic Parkway through East Province by the Providence Parks Commission they also

designated I don't know a dozen open space parks and probably about half of those came um actually in existence but the only other um Parkway that's really in a in Rhode Island is um the ocean front drive in Newport was developed partly by and as I think you all know the parkway was developed by and it was developed in the early 1920s in order for people to have uh a place for open space leisurely

drives they didn't really understand modern day what we have today fortunately we've able to continue that parkl for over 100 years and right now we're at a critical mass and from what I've heard people speak the level of traffic that they're expecting and the area of the traffic they're expecting I don't really see the need for it's coming from the south it's making a right turn into

there um my plea to you is that you really are the last position to stop any breakdown of the parkway because each little piece that comes along another little tear into the parkway pretty soon it won't be a Parkway so right now it is a Parkway you guys can really continue to keep it that way I hope you understand the significance of that Parkway the two and a half mile drive

it's not just a highway the Department of Transportation their main focus is to generate traffic flow I don't really think there interest these two um concerned about view or the esoteric feeling that people get maybe you don't really I I know all of you drive that Parkway and it's really a pleasure there two and a half miles of no stops between interstate and second Drive really imperative that we keep that

Highway the way I see it the only way you can do that is to cut down diminish this development somehow I don't know how you're going to do it going be a hard task but that's the only way I see it though I hope that you that into consideration anybody else from the public would like to ask a question or make a comment so um any closing comments just to refresh everyone's

recollection in 2015 there was a project approved called Village of the water park it took place in what we call the Chevron property on the opposite side of the park um which is now vacant in abandoned land I don't believe they the development that project was approved by an amended project there was a tiff approved for that project and it had a roundabout now the project didn't come to fruition and

nothing's vested and everything's expired but there was a roundabout approved to that whenever that project comes to fruition and comes back to this commission comes back to the public there is no way that access can be provided there without a roundabout in order to meet the needs of the comprehensive plan set aside the viability of this development if this wasn't there when that happened you'd

have a roundabout it is inevitable this development's first the roundabout has to be installed secondly the Waterfront District plan which kmg has referred to on a number of occasions was is spoken to expressly in Ashley's report that District plan in 2003 contemplated the installation of roundabout on Veterans Memorial Parkway to contemplate future traffic on the deel in East Providence

along the Waterfront now to be candid and to be fair it was at a different location but the premise is the same that there will be future development along the Waterfront along the corridor parallel to Veterans Memorial Parkway for which a roundabout is requested and required that was contemplated 21 years ago the location is moved by virtue of development scheme having progressed

further away from where the roundabout was initially Pro proposed by the city and now it's being pushed somewhere else by the development but it is is inaccurate to state that the comprehensive plan or the district plan are static documents that prohibit any further development within the Waterfront District that is not what they say they say that as long as there are goals and objectives met

improvements and developments are permitted proposed and recommended that is how municipalities Thrive so we have submitted a report by an expert by a planner that says that the roundabout is a component of plan which satisfies those goals and objectives we welcome any further discussion on this but it is a misnomer and it is an incorrect characterization to say that a roundabout is not appropriate at that

site the city thought so nine years ago the city thought so on metan Memorial Parkway 21 years ago and this is the time for it to get installed in connection with this project uh with that Mr chairman we conclude our presentation this evening thank you um right so I know uh there's still a number of reports that have to be updated and filed and you know we'll obviously wait for peer reviews of those

and um see what the next steps are but with that said do we take a vote to continue the hearing there should be a motion what yeah oh I have to discontinue the hearing yeah there should be a motion to continue the public hearing to the next regular meeting date of the commission which is Thursday October 17th second any discussion all those in favor all thank you he staff report you're on

live okay that's better I have a very short staff report it actually tracks pretty much the one from last month with a couple of updates of the site archaeological report survey not the report but the survey has been done and completed and it's in at Rhode Island Historic waiting for a result waiting for some comment the second item that's on here is that there is a rhod island

ready permitting process for nine Dexter that we have been speaking to Bobby Sykes at power engineering and the developer Sav John Savage and we are preparing a draft agreement or Amy is doing it it's being negotiated right now with terms and conditions uh there was a Live Well Live Nation we already talked about that before uh there's a 2025 commercial application R Island Commerce

application has been submitted it's online Michael so you can you can tell um uh the your comp your assistant whatever she I can't remember her name but it's it's been some submitted to her with the exception of the audit which is due next week I have to get the PDF of the audit and upload it onto the website everything else is already on the website and it'll be complete and 111 Dexter Street additional storage

buildings are proceeding to construction it was approved administratively based on an old permit that they had they're just extending two of their um storage buildings to what they wanted to build originally and they're don't they're going to doing that now and that's all I have right wait one last question you mentioned the archaeological report to um that Rhode Island Historic yeah we it

hasn't been submitted to the commission we haven't no no no we do not have it and we were they already left but they had requested a copy of it and we responded to them and said that we don't have it yet because it's still at Rhode Island Historic waiting for their comments yeah nothing's been forwarded to us so no nothing has nothing on record as far as the act so thank you

other questions to Ray uh I'll take a motion to adjourn all those in favor hey thank you we're adjourned and we'll see everyone on October 17th thank

you for