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Council finalizes wording for 2024–26 town goals and objectives; adds mixed‑use zoning item
Summary
Town council worked through multiple draft versions of its goals and objectives for the 2024–26 term, agreed to consolidate language, remove specific AMI percentages from affordable-housing text, and add a separate objective to pursue mixed-use and commercial zoning expansions.
The South Kingstown Town Council spent a work‑session segment of its Monday meeting refining language for its goals and objectives covering the 2024–26 term, agreeing to consolidated language and to add a new objective calling for expanded commercial and mixed‑use zoning where appropriate.
Council members and staff reviewed several draft versions. Council members said they preferred a succinct introductory mission sentence that begins, “In these extraordinary times, we are committed to responding nimbly to the challenges as they arrive.” Councilor Patty Alley and others asked that the document maintain plain, reader-friendly bullets rather than long paragraphs.
On housing policy wording, participants agreed to remove specific AMI (area median income) percentages from the goal text after receiving a cautionary note in an email from a town attorney. Councilor Alley and others said they wanted the town’s language to remain consistent with the 2030 comprehensive plan’s targets and to avoid locking the town into rigid income bands that might complicate future funding options.
Councilors also agreed to explicitly add a separate goal to modify the zoning ordinance to allow increased commercial and mixed‑use zoning where appropriate. The group discussed moving a previously discussed “Sour Hill Overlay District” concept into a discrete objective and renumbering bullets so the mixed‑use item appears as goal 5.
Why it matters: The goals and objectives document will be used to prioritize staff time and to influence how the council weighs future agenda items. Council members asked that staff prioritize agenda items that align with the adopted goals so the council has time to act on top priorities even when regular meeting agendas are long.
What’s next: Staff will circulate a draft that folds in the changes discussed at the meeting. Council members asked to receive the revised draft by Monday before the next meeting so they can return comments ahead of a vote expected at the second meeting in May.
Ending: Councilors asked the town manager and staff to use the adopted goals to help set agendas and prioritize department work so that items falling within the goals “appear earlier in the agenda,” as one councilor put it.
