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Planning board approves adaptive reuse of 59 Aquidneck Ave into six units; conditions attached
Summary
The board approved converting the former KJ's restaurant at 59 Aquidneck Avenue into a six-unit multifamily building under the state's adaptive-reuse statute, with multiple conditions including sewer CCTV, coordination on curb/sidewalk work, retaining-wall review and submission of a revised landscape plan to the Tree Commission.
The Town of Middletown Planning Board granted combined preliminary and final approval for adaptive reuse of the former KJ's restaurant at 59 Aquidneck Avenue into a six-unit multifamily building under Middletown zoning ordinance Section 7.28. The board attached conditions recommended by the Technical Review Committee and the town planner.
Applicant counsel David Martland and engineer Lynn Small described the project as an in-place conversion that does not expand the building footprint. The proposal includes four one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units (six units total, eight bedrooms) within the existing envelope, a reconfiguration of upper-tier parking to improve maneuverability, and a total of 19 on-site parking spaces. Small said the project reduces impervious area and provides water-quality treatment elements; the Rhode Island Department of Transportation had reviewed and approved proposed curb-cut revisions and a traffic statement indicated a reduction in peak-hour traffic compared with the property's prior restaurant use.
Conditions the board required or noted include coordination with planned Aquidneck Avenue roadway and sidewalk improvements, structural review and any required remediation of an existing retaining wall between upper and lower parking tiers, provision of CCTV video of the existing sewer line (subject to Public Works approval) prior to reuse of that sewer connection, enhancement of erosion- and sediment-control measures to the town engineer—s satisfaction, and submission of a revised landscaping plan to the Tree Commission. Lynn Small said no DEM or CRMC permits were required for the site because the property is under one acre and more than 200 feet from the coastline. The board voted to approve the project subject to the listed conditions and the standard required findings for land-development approval.
