Planning board endorses near one-for-one lot swap at 86 Central St. and 3 Victor Circle

The Providence Planning Board on Feb. 20 unanimously endorsed an approval-not-required plan to combine portions of 86 Central Street and 3 Victor Circle to correct a fence encroachment between the two properties.

Craig Hartwell, attorney for the owner of 3 Victor Circle and the 86 Central Street condominium, told the board the proposal is a mutual land swap that does not change either lot’s frontage. “Tonight, we are seeking, approval not required, endorsement for our, plan proposing a land swap between the 2 properties. Neither property is changing their frontage,” Hartwell said. He described the square-footage adjustments as small — “the plus or minus on the square footage is about 19 feet.”

Board members asked clarifying questions about the swap and about who would keep existing fences. Hartwell said both parties prefer the fence locations as currently installed and are executing an almost one-for-one exchange of parcel area to bring the fence lines into compliance with property boundaries.

After discussion, a board member moved to accept the drawing and a second was recorded; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

The plan as presented would combine several small parcel adjustments to create a single revised lot where described in the applicant’s plan documents. Members of the public were not recorded speaking on this item during the hearing. The board directed that reviewers and staff be able to access plan documents through Andrew Levine at Providence City Hall if they need to inspect the record.

The endorsement does not change frontage and does not otherwise alter the use of either property; the board recorded the unanimous approval as an approval-not-required endorsement for the submitted plan.