Planning Board Hears Testimony On ‘Frenchtown Commons’ Master Plan

The night before the East Greenwich Planning Board heard testimony on “The Commons at Frenchtown Road," the North Kingstown Planning Commission approved the master plan for the same development.

That's because the development is designed for 40-plus acres of land that straddle the North Kingstown–East Greenwich line, next to the old Brown and Sharpe building at 200 Frenchtown Road.

While the EG Planning Board heard much of the same testimony and heard from more details with regard to traffic, they did not vote on the master plan, pending the Town Council's approval of the long-delayed town Comprehensive Plan, which addresses some of the zoning issues raised by the proposed development.

According to Town Planner Lisa Bourbonnais, the Town Council will most likely vote on the Comp Plan (as it is known) within the next month, so a vote on the Frenchtown Commons master plan could take place in July.

The development would include a big box store, an office building, smaller retail areas, and three stores with drive-thru lanes. The property wraps partially around the large former Brown and Sharpe building on Frenchtown Road west of Hunt River Commons (otherwise known as the Stop & Shop plaza).

The big box store, the office building and all three stores with drive-thrus are on the North Kingstown part of the property. Only about 25 percent of the land falls in East Greenwich. 

At the hearing in East Greenwich last Wednesday, John Revens, lawyer for the developer, said there were no tenants yet for the development. 

"We don’t have a contract with anyone at this point," he said. "And you can’t get a contract with anyone like Target until you have all your approvals. We’re a long way from having any tenants."

Revens noted the many levels of approval that are needed on this project – not just from North Kingstown and East Greenwich, but also from the state, the Department of Transporation and the Department of Environmental Management.

"We’ve been at this for a year and a half and it’s probably going to take another year and a half to get through that process," Revens said.

Under East Greenwich parking ordinances, the buildings slated for the East Greenwich part of the property need additional parking. Under an agreement between the two towns, North Kingstown will "lend" East Greenwich the parking needed. This is from the East Greenwich Planning Department's review of the project:

"The combination of uses proposed for East Greenwich (the two-story mixed use building along with the freestanding retail and restaurant uses) would require 580 parking spaces under current code. Only 422 spaces are being provided on the East Greenwich side of the development. It would appear from these numbers that project is parking-deficient. However, the North Kingstown side of the development will essentially be 'over-parked' (according to their Code) by about 500 spaces, making the total development, when viewed as a whole, more than compliant with the parking provisions in both communities."

Three Frenchtown residents had questions about traffic during the public hearing (see video, attached). One resident noted North Kingstown gets more revenue (since more of the development falls in NK) while EG ends up with all the traffic woes. Although there was some testimony from a traffic engineer about plans to mitigate traffic concerns, Revens pointed out the was no official requirement to outline traffic plans to get master plan approval. 

Master plan approval, while it sounds final, is really only an early inning for any project. It's a conceptual plan that, if approved, must then be fleshed out with all the engineering and regulatory hurdles that remain. 

The most immediate hurdle for the project is passage by the EG Planning Board of the master plan. The EG Town Council still needs to approve the town's new Comprehensive Plan, which speaks to the Frenchtown Commons development, before the Planning Board can act. That is expected to happen within the next few weeks.

What big box store and restaurants would you like to see here?