NEWS

Hearings on Costco set to be delayed until October

Lack of finalized traffic study cited in developer’s request

By DANIEL A. KITTREDGE
Posted 8/26/20

By DANIEL KITTREDGE Public hearings on the proposed Cranston Crossing development at the current Mulligan's Island Golf & Entertainment property on New London Avenue are set to be delayed until October. In an Aug. 20 letter to Planning Commission

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NEWS

Hearings on Costco set to be delayed until October

Lack of finalized traffic study cited in developer’s request

Posted

Public hearings on the proposed Cranston Crossing development at the current Mulligan’s Island Golf & Entertainment property on New London Avenue are set to be delayed until October.

In an Aug. 20 letter to Planning Commission Chairman Michael Smith and Planning Director Jason Pezzullo, John Bolton of Hickley Allen, the attorney for Massachusetts-based developer Coastal Partners LLC, requested a continuation of an initial hearing on a zoning change application for the project until the commission’s Oct. 6 meeting.

Bolton’s letter notes that Pezzullo indicated the developer was “out of time” to have a traffic study submitted and reviewed prior to the commission’s Sept. 1 meeting, which was the scheduled date of the first hearing.

“Further, we agree with Director Pezzullo’s statement that there were several issues raised at the August 11, 2020 site walk, by both members of the City Council and the Plan Commission, that are important for the Applicant to address,” the letter reads. “We are also in receipt of Mr. Berry’s August 18, 2020 Memo, requesting additional information from the Applicant. Accordingly, we are in agreement that the Plan Commission’s formal consideration of this application should be postponed for the aforementioned reasons.”

Coastal Partners is seeking an amendment to the existing Mixed Use Planned Development, or MPD, zoning that governs the Mulligan’s site. That zoning is tailored to the existing operation, and Pezzullo said the amendment process essentially constitutes a return to “square one” in terms of what would be allowed at the site going forward.

The MPD amendment proposed by Coastal Partners would allow for a mixed residential and commercial development at the 55-acre Mulligan’s site, anchored by a new Costco wholesale club on the portion of the property currently used for a driving range.

Under the city’s zoning amendment review process, the proposal would first go before the Planning Commission for a public hearing. The Planning Department staff would issue a formal recommendation to the commission at that point.

The proposal would then go before the City Council’s Ordinance Committee for a public hearing. The last step would be hearing before the full council. Both of those steps would also be pushed to October if the continuance is granted.

On Tuesday, Pezzullo said the Planning Commission will vote on the developer’s continuation request at its Sept. 1 meeting. Because the developer is making the request, he said, the delay will not affect the city’s timeline for review of the proposal.

Pezzullo said the lack of a finalized traffic study is a key impediment to beginning the hearing process at this point. He said that study – which requires peer review through the city and may go back and forth between the city and the developer multiple times – is “absolutely” needed for planning staff to make a formal recommendation.

“It takes weeks to do these things,” he said.

Pezzullo also said there are “other things that we have that we need information on” before a recommendation is finalized, including responses to concerns raised during the Aug. 11 site visit.

“We’ve had some communication with the developer and we’ve itemized a few things … This is typical with all these projects. If we’re going to make a recommendation to the Planning Commission, you’ve got to put certain information on the record,” he said.

He added: “There’s certain levels of information on impacts that you have to have … It’s not a simple rezone by any stretch. It’s a complex process.”

development, Costco

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