The master plan for the Knights Corner redevelopment of a former church on Cranston Street and construction of a maximum of 160 multi-family apartments was approved by the Plan Commission at their most recent meeting, May 2.

The project, which will be located on Cranston Street next to Cranston Fire Department Station 3, is slated to bring 156 housing units to the area, with 15% of them earmarked for affordable housing. The housing complex would consist of four large-scale apartment buildings, a recreational space and renovations and repairs to the church located at 1390 Cranston St. in order to bring it up to code and turn it into a restaurant.

In addition to the approval of the master plan, the commission heard a proposed change of ordinance that would allow the site to be rezoned from an M1 zone to a C2 with special conditions. This would change the zoning from industrial use to commercial and residential use.

“This is a special zone,” said Principal Planner Doug McLean. “The base zone of C2 and all of the uses and dimensional allowances of C2 will be retained. The special part of this zone has some unique characteristics that would allow for some different dimensional standards than a traditional C2 would allow.”

Essentially, the developer would get the general benefits of a C2 zone with a density bonus that would allow for up to 160 units, and would allow for a reduction of required parking per unit. While the proposed ordinance sought for 1.25 parking spaces from the unit, the master plan submitted accounted for 1.5 spaces, not including parking for the restaurant which is accounted for separately. Base zoning normally requires a minimum of 2 spaces per unit.

“This ordinance is found to be consistent with the comprehensive plan and adequately addresses the requirements of (general zoning provisions),” McLean said. “Those are the required findings for any ordinance. Based on the fact that the proposal is seeking a development that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, and based on the fact that the proposed development included 15% affordable housing, staff would recommend sending a positive recommendation to the City Council.”

The largest concern of the Plan Commission revolved around the ordinance’s proposal for required parking. While the master plan accounted for the 1.5 spaces per unit, approval of the ordinance would mean that as the plan moves forward the provided parking per unit could be reduced to the 1.25 spaces per units the ordinance specifies.

“Initially we were considering 1.25 per unit parking spaces,” said Robert Murray, attorney for the developer. “The timing of the submission of the ordinance required for advertising and notice with the city clerk’s office, led us to put forth 1.25. It was an ongoing discussion and we are showing plans tonight for 1.5 and we don’t anticipate going less than 1.5.”

Murray said that the developer fully supported if the commission wanted to amend the proposed ordinance to reflect that expectation for parking space, an amendment that the commission chose to make before voting to approve the ordinance recommendation. The only other concern presented by the council regarded the fire department who expressed their own concerns that the project could not interfere with the operations of the neighboring station.

On the condition that the fire department’s affairs would not be impeded and were addressed before moving forward to the preliminary planning stage, the commission voted to approve the master plan for the Knights Corner development.