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Tiverton council adopts broad zoning amendments after public hearing; planning board changes and clarifications added
Summary
After a long public hearing and targeted amendments, the Town Council approved a large package of zoning ordinance revisions affecting mixed-use definitions, parking, waterfront uses, and performance standards for several uses; councilors directed a sequence of follow-up drafting and planning-board review items.
The Tiverton Town Council voted to adopt a broad set of zoning ordinance amendments covering mixed-use definitions, parking requirements, waterfront uses, recreation performance standards and other technical updates after an extended public hearing and amendments from councilors.
The package — the latest phase following earlier waterfront-focused changes — included language to replace the older “shopping mall” definition with a mixed-use-complex definition, clarified on-site parking expectations and tied those to the parking ordinance (Article 10, Section 1), and updated use tables and performance standards for a number of uses including recreation facilities, commercial marinas, driving ranges and mini-storage. Councilors and members of the public debated several provisions, including rules for commercial docks, noise and shore power, and where multi-family units would be permitted.
Public commentators raised concerns about specific items. Jamie French (Craig Avenue) told councilors she was worried a commercial dock allowance could allow extended noisy activity at night and urged that shore power be required where long-term shore-side berthing is permitted. “Shore power would mean that instead of using their boat generators, they would be able to plug into electricity … and therefore are not noisy,” she said. The council and planning board members discussed noise standards, time-of-day limits and incorporating performance standards that could require shore power or other mitigation in specific locations.
Council debate also covered parking rules for mixed-use complexes and shared parking: an early draft required mixed-use complexes to provide their parking on-site; councilors debated whether that text should remain or instead refer to the parking ordinance to retain shared-parking mechanisms under controlled conditions. After discussion the council approved language that ties any mixed-use complex parking obligation to the town’s parking regulations in Article 10, Section 1, and added clarifying text so future updates to the parking standards will carry through.
Other technical changes adopted by the council at the hearing included: updating statutory citations (R.I. Gen. Laws references) where the draft cited older code; clarifying the use table entry for indoor/outdoor rental businesses in the Planned Development Park (PDP) as permitted; and maintaining the planning board’s route for detailed site-review and performance standards on items such as driving-range turf choices, dust controls and lighting.
Councilors instructed staff to send several follow-up items to the planning board for detailed examination — including the new definitions for a car-vault use and the construction-demolition processing definition tied to a potential PDP site — so the planning board can review and return recommendations within the statutory timeframe. The council approved the overall package as amended and recorded the vote in its minutes.
Implementation and next steps: the town will coordinate with the planning board to finalize performance standards and parking regulation references; staff will correct statutory references and prepare a consolidated, codified ordinance for publication. Planning and building staff will apply the new definitions and standards to forthcoming development and special-use reviews.
