Planning board approves one-year extension for Buxton Street conservation development

The North Smithfield Planning Board on an apparent 5‑0 roll call vote approved a one‑year extension of the Buxton Street conservation development master plan, board members said at the meeting.

Bridal Manzo, counsel for the applicant, told the board the master plan approval was recorded in town land evidence records on Aug. 17, 2023 and said the approval is vested for two years with “the right to extend for two 1 year extensions upon written request by the applicant who must appear before the planning board before the annual review.”

The extension granted at the meeting was the first of the two one‑year extensions the applicant is allowed, the attorney said. The original application, heard about a year earlier, proposed a condominium development the board understood at the time to be six two‑unit buildings.

The board conducted a roll call vote on the extension. The record shows Doctor Breyke voted yes; Doctor Roberts voted yes; Mister Porter voted yes; Miss Ramos voted yes; and the chair voted yes. One member who earlier said they would recuse for this item did not participate in the vote.

No additional conditions or changes to the previously approved master plan were recorded in the board discussion at the meeting. Counsel for the applicant thanked the board after the vote and the board returned the item to the agenda for subsequent matters.

The extension keeps the applicant’s vested status in place while the applicant pursues any further steps necessary to move the project forward, including any town council actions or subsequent planning board reviews required by the town code or prior conditions.