Middletown planning board approves new 2,442-sq.-ft. commercial building at 985 Aquidneck Ave.; neighbors raise parking and traffic concerns

The Middletown Planning Board voted to approve a combined preliminary and final plan for a new 2,442-square-foot commercial building at 985 Aquidneck Avenue and granted related dimensional variances and design waivers on Wednesday after a lengthy public hearing that drew technical experts and nearby residents.

The approved project, filed by C Safe Holdings LLC, calls for a single-story commercial building intended to house contractor garage and storage uses; the application included requests for setback variances and waivers from several commercial design standards. The board approved the variances for an easterly side setback (proposed 5.1 feet where the code requires about 18 feet) and a northerly rear setback (proposed 43.9 feet where roughly 47.6 feet is required). The board also granted waivers for required landscape buffers and for the five-foot landscape buffer between buildings and parking areas. Approval included conditions required by the Technical Review Committee and the town planning staff: the applicant must confirm that the bottom of the proposed sand-filter stormwater treatment will not intercept groundwater, and the sanitary sewer stub for the existing building to be abandoned must be capped at the foundation and inspected subject to the Department of Public Works' approval.

Why it matters: The site sits on a narrow, commercially zoned lot with direct access from Trimble Road, a short, low-volume…