Smithfield zoning board approves 1,288‑sq‑ft ADU behind mixed‑use building at 180 Pleasant View Ave with conditions

The Smithfield Zoning Board on April 2 approved a variance to allow an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) behind a mixed‑use building at 180 Pleasant View Ave, granting the application with four conditions: the ADU must be owner‑occupied, the lot cannot be subdivided, no additional ADU may be created on the property, and the ADU cannot exceed 1,288 square feet.

The measure drew extended discussion about the property’s history and unusual lot configuration before the board voted to approve. "We're asking to allow an ADU, accessory to a mixed use structure. We're asking to be allowed to have separate utilities, and we're asking to be allowed to go over by the 1,200 square feet," said Timothy Kane, attorney for the applicants, summarizing the relief the owners sought.

The applicants, Robert Richards and Pleasant View Place LLC, own a mixed‑use building at the site whose first floor hosts small businesses and whose second floor contains a roughly 1,000‑square‑foot apartment. Robert Richards told the board the family plans to keep the property in the family: "We're gonna give it to him at what we own. That's it," he said of selling the primary house to his son. He added the intent was to keep the family together and avoid commercial development behind the building: "we just wanted to keep our family still together."

Town staff and the deputy zoning official explained how state ADU rules affect the local calculation. "There are two ways that the 1,200 square feet of ADU space can be calculated... it’s up to 1,200 square feet or 60 percent of the floor area of the principal dwelling, whatever is less," said Christopher Gentile, deputy zoning official for the town, describing the state standard and how the board applied it to the mixed‑use property.

Neighbors asked about buffers and tree removal. Amy Grenga, a nearby resident, said she preferred a house to denser development and asked whether trees would be removed: "I don't want our trees removed if that's the clearance." Board members and staff responded that the site plan shows the proposed ADU would be set well back from the abutting residential lot (staff noted a rear setback of roughly 100 feet) and that landscape and setback rules would be enforced at the building‑permit stage under the town’s landscape code (section 333‑5).

Board members discussed precedent and long‑term effects. Several members said the combination of a large rear yard, the property’s long family ownership and the mixed‑use building’s residential component made this case uncommon. The board also negotiated conditions intended to limit future changes: no subdivision of the lot, no additional ADU once the primary residence is established, owner‑occupancy, and the square‑footage cap of 1,288.

Board member Ed Savino moved to approve the application "with all of the stipulations that Mr. Hunt has set forth," and a second motion was made; the board then voted to approve. The board did not record individual yea/nay votes by name in the transcript; the chair called the motion approved.

Next steps include final engineering and building‑permit review. If the applicants seek changes to the design (for example, to add a garage), they would have to return to the board for additional approvals or file the necessary permits; staff said the building permit review will check setbacks, landscape buffers and areas of disturbance before construction.

The approval allows an ADU accessory to the existing mixed‑use building, permits separate utilities and sets the ADU maximum at 1,288 square feet, subject to the stipulations adopted by the board.