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Tiverton planning board amends comprehensive plan, backs zoning language for commercial athletic recreation use
Summary
The Tiverton Planning Board voted unanimously Sept. 9 to amend two sections of the town comprehensive community plan and to recommend adding a new zoning definition and performance standards for "commercial athletic recreation facility" to the town council.
The Tiverton Planning Board voted unanimously Sept. 9 to amend two sections of the town comprehensive community plan and to send a positive recommendation to the Town Council for a new zoning definition and performance standards that would add "commercial athletic recreation facility" to the zoning code.
The board opened a public hearing on proposed text changes to Chapter 3.0 (Planning Concept) and Chapter 5.0 (Land Use Plan) of the comprehensive plan and later voted to remove a sentence that compared the Tiberton Business Park to Quonset Point. Chair Gerlach said the overall intent of the amendments is to broaden permitted uses in the town's PDP Floating Overlay Zone and attract additional business opportunities consistent with the state's Land Use 2025 plan.
Board members debated a single line in the draft that read, in part, “a model for the Tiburon Business Park is the Quonset Point Davisville Port And Commerce Park.” Several members and two public commenters said the comparison was inaccurate and could suggest acceptance of heavier industrial uses that Tiverton’s site does not have the infrastructure to support.
Cheryl Valentine said she had “some concern where it says…a model for the Tiburon Business Park is the Quonset Point,” citing differences in air, rail and deep-water access. Public commenter Karen (listed in meeting records as 74 North Christopher Avenue) said she was “concerned about that sentence” and warned that heavy industrial uses could threaten the town’s drinking-water watershed. Susan Anderson of Main Road also urged striking the reference.
Planning board members agreed to strike the Quonset Point sentence and to adopt the remaining comprehensive-plan text changes. The board then considered related changes to the zoning ordinance — a separate, open-meeting item — that would add a definition for commercial athletic recreation facility, add that use to the district use table, and add performance standards in Article 6. The board voted unanimously to make a positive recommendation to the Town Council on those ordinance changes; the council will have final action.
Board attorney Todd Romano and consulting planner Ashley Sweet told the board the changes were intended to align the town comprehensive plan with the proposed zoning ordinance language. Romano noted the amendments also reflect the State’s Land Use 2025 plan. Sweet confirmed a technical correction: the PDP had been moved to Section 20 of Article 4 of the zoning ordinance by recent council updates, and the materials would be revised accordingly.
What’s next: The Town Council will receive the planning board’s recommendation and hold its own hearings before acting on the zoning ordinance. If the council ratifies the zoning changes, applicants in the PDP Floating Overlay Zone could use the new definition and performance standards when preparing development proposals.
Board action: The motion to amend the comprehensive plan as written but to remove the Quonset Point sentence carried unanimously. The separate motion to recommend the draft zoning amendments to the Town Council also passed unanimously.
