Tiverton planning board grants conditional master-plan approval for Street Legal car‑vault with 16 conditions

The Tiverton Planning Board on July 1 voted unanimously to grant conditional master‑plan approval to Street Legal LLC for a proposed two‑story, roughly 27,200‑square‑foot private “car vault” to be sited on about 15.7 acres off Progress Road.

The approval, moved and seconded during the board’s public meeting, applies to the plans that were advertised for the hearing and attaches 16 conditions, including requirements for sewer easements and will‑serve letters, pedestrian connectivity and review by the fire marshal. The vote was unanimous among members present, and the board clarified that a revised plan submitted after the notice period — showing additional parking and a new driveway — could not be considered at this hearing.

Why it matters: The project would create a private membership facility for high‑end automobile storage and related hospitality uses adjacent to the Longplex Sports Complex in the Planned Development Park (PDP) overlay district. The board’s conditions target known uncertainties the town staff and technical reviewers said must be resolved before final approval, including utility service capacity and emergency‑access geometry.

Street Legal’s application seeks master‑plan approval for a 27,000‑plus square‑foot building described by the applicant as a private car club that would store up to about 200 vehicles, include a lounge and ancillary hospitality functions, and provide parking on and off the development parcel. Attorney Daniel Riley presented the application along with project engineer Chris Duhamel and owner James Long. Duhamel described the advertised site plan as showing a 27,200‑square‑foot rectangular building, roughly 170 by 160 feet, with 142 spaces around the building and an overflow lot of 79 spaces intended to tie into parking at the adjacent Longplex Sports Complex.

Town staff, represented by interim planner Ashley Sweet, and planning counsel Todd Romano, emphasized procedural limits: Romano told the board that a revised plan the applicant filed after public notice — adding about 83 parking spaces and a connecting driveway — could not be considered at the advertised hearing. "We cannot proceed forward on that revised plan this evening," Romano said, explaining options for re‑advertising or seeking an amendment prior to preliminary plan submission.

Board members and reviewers pressed the applicant on utilities, stormwater and emergency access. Duhamel said public water would connect from a 12‑inch main on Progress Road and that sewer service was proposed via a private force main tied to the Longplex pump station; he said will‑serve letters from the wastewater authority were still pending. On stormwater, Duhamel described proposed catch basins, culverts and two stormwater basins with sand filters and extended dry detention to meet DEM and town stormwater design standards.

Fire Marshal Marshall Murphy raised operational concerns about site grades and maneuverability for fire apparatus, asking the applicant to demonstrate truck turning templates and confirm that driveway grades would not cause ladder trucks to bottom out. Duhamel said the slope from the lower lot to the proposed parking would be about an 8 percent grade and agreed to do a turning demonstration using the town’s 49‑foot ladder truck as part of preliminary review.

Public commenters raised questions on sewer capacity, landscape buffering and cultural resources. Resident Peter Monis asked whether the sewer pump station had capacity and whether the 22,000‑gallon‑per‑day figure cited later by another applicant applied; Duhamel said will‑serve letters would quantify projected sewer flow at the preliminary stage. Resident Susan Anderson and board member Stu Hardy urged more landscaping in parking areas and noted important stone walls and rock mounds on the larger park property that could merit archaeological review before disturbance.

The board’s conditions — read into the record by staff and referenced in the approved draft master‑plan decision — include, among others, that the accessory overflow parking shown on the advertised plan (79 spaces) be connected to the Street Legal facility on the preliminary plan; a recorded easement for any sewer tie‑in and confirmation of wastewater district approval; a pedestrian connectivity plan and safety measures at preliminary plan; a turning‑radius and grade demonstration for fire apparatus; and updated water and sewer service letters consistent with final agreed occupancy and fire‑flow needs.

The board’s approval was expressly limited to the plans that were publicly noticed for the hearing; the applicant acknowledged that design changes are likely and said it would coordinate with staff before preliminary plan submission.

The decision leaves the applicant able to seek a major‑change hearing if it chooses to adopt the subsequently filed parking plan prior to preliminary plan submission. The board indicated staff will work with the applicant on whether planned design changes constitute a major amendment that would require re‑advertising.

Planning Board Chair Bill Gerlach closed the agenda item after the vote and moved to the next agenda item.