Broken windows and sporadic graffiti reveal the exterior disrepair plaguing the old Joseph L. Sanders School building on Heath Avenue. The building’s interior shares a similar story.

“I have been through that building to assess it,” said Planning Commissioner and Director of Public Works Richard Bernardo at the Feb. 7 Planning Commission meeting. “Years ago the Fire Department used it for practice. The entire third floor is now on the first floor. It is completely beyond repair.”

The .52-acre city-owned lot is zoned A-6 residential for single-family homes. The building has been closed for many years, and Mayor Ken Hopkins’ administration has proposed subdividing the land into four substandard lots to allow for four single-family houses to be built.

According to the Planning Department’s staff report, it is the city’s intention to subdivide and market the property for a prospective buyer who would purchase all four lots and demolish the existing structure at their own expense. Currently, there are no potential buyers.

The matter came before the Planning Commission since the proposed lots are undersized and need a variance relief. The required area for A-6 zoned lots is 6,000 square feet, though the area of each proposed lot will have a total area of 5,640 square feet. In reviewing the project with commissioners, Senior Planner Gregory Guertin said the Planning Department found the undersized lots are compatible with the neighborhood’s general characteristics.

“The average lot area for all 68 single-family lots within a 400 foot radius is 5,478 square feet,” said Guertin.

He added that of those 68 single-family lots, 48 lots are under the required minimum lot area, three lots meet the requirement and 17 lots are over the required lot area. Additionally, in the immediate neighborhood (400 foot radius), there are four multi-family homes, eight two-family homes and smattering of commercial and industrial zoned lots.

Cranston resident and former council member Steve Stycos questioned the project. He said there needs to be more thought on the site’s possibilities – particularly with an eye on affordable housing since that is a local and statewide problem.

“When there is such a housing crunch in the state, to take a piece of public land in a nice neighborhood, next to a park and just divide it into four more single-family house lots is really not a good idea,” said Stycos.

The proposed subdivision is consistent with the City of Cranston’s Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map. The nine commissioners unanimously approved the variance relief and preliminary plan for the minor subdivision.