Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Large Retail Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board continues Tractor Supply preliminary application after public comment on contamination, drainage and buffers
Summary
The board held a public hearing on a proposed Tractor Supply store on Victory Highway and continued deliberation to its October 9 meeting after residents raised concerns about contaminated soil, drainage into neighbor properties and buffering; the applicant said the site will be capped and stormwater runoff reduced.
The North Smithfield Planning Board opened a public hearing Thursday on a proposal for a Tractor Supply Company store and associated outdoor display areas at 934 Victory Highway and continued the matter to the board's Oct. 9 meeting after extensive public comment about groundwater contamination, neighborhood drainage and buffer widths.
Applicant representatives described a prototypical Tractor Supply layout on a roughly 13.3-acre parcel with a 21,900-square-foot store, about 29,700 square feet of fenced outdoor display, 74 parking spaces and a fenced live-goods area. Civil and traffic consultants said the plan includes a lined sand-filter stormwater system (no infiltration) and a gravity sewer and a proposed 8-inch water main extension to serve the site.
Contamination and remediation: Consultants told the board the property—formerly an apple orchard—is known to have elevated arsenic and other agricultural chemicals in portions of the site. The team's licensed site professional recommended capping the contaminated areas rather than excavation and infiltration. Project engineers said the design minimizes disturbance and will place engineered fill over affected areas, and that state environmental review and DEM permitting will govern remediation and oversight.
Drainage and neighborhood flooding: Residents urged the board to consider historic flooding that affects Edward Avenue properties below the site. Engineers said the proposal would reduce peak flows from the site across a range of storm events, capture runoff in a lined sand-filter detention system and discharge to a wetland east of the site; model results presented to the board showed reductions in peak flows compared with existing conditions. The applicant agreed to an additional 40-foot no-build setback along the southern lot line as a condition to increase buffering beyond the 160-foot vegetated lot already referenced in earlier filings.
Buffers, lighting and operations: The applicant proposed a landscape plan with native street trees; engineers said parking-lot lighting would be dark-sky compliant and that lot fixtures would be turned off an hour after store closing. Operations staff said Tractor Supply receives large deliveries about once a week and smaller deliveries more frequently, and outdoor display gates would be arranged so emergency vehicles can access the site without a lengthy back-up maneuver.
Public engagement and next steps: After more than an hour of public comment—residents asked for baseline well testing, monitoring for contaminants, and stronger erosion and drainage guarantees—the board voted to continue the public hearing and deliberations to its next scheduled meeting on Oct. 9 to allow time for the applicant to provide additional documentation and for the board to consider draft conditions.
Ending: The board left the record open for further technical materials and will revisit variances, the pylon-sign application and preliminary plan items at the Oct. 9 meeting.
