Developer pitches mixed residential plan for Mulligan’s Island; city and residents stress traffic, schools and preservation

Mulligan’s Island LLC representatives told a joint session of the City of Cranston Planning Commission and City Council that they intend to seek a new zoning designation to allow a mix of single-family, duplex/townhouse and multifamily housing on the 55-acre property currently developed as Mulligan’s Island.

City planning director Beth Ashman opened the workshop with background on the parcel, saying the site has a mixed-plan-development (MPD) designation tailored to the Cranston Sports and Entertainment Center and that any substantially different use will require a council zone change. She and other city staff told the audience that any redevelopment proposal will require traffic and stormwater engineering reviews and that the historic Daniel Congdon Cemetery on the site “needs to be preserved with a 25‑foot buffer.”

The developer’s attorney, John Mancini, said his client wants the parcel rezoned to permit residential development within an MPD so multiple housing types can be planned together. Mancini and project engineer Greg Guglielmo described a concept that places lower-density single-family housing along the existing neighborhood edges, staged duplex/townhouse units in a mid-ring and multifamily buildings near the state‑owned Howard Complex and the New London Avenue corridor. Mancini said the owner will now work with staff and the two bodies to draft an ordinance that would allow residential uses and identify site‑specific conditions.

Toby Arment, a housing fellow funded by the Rhode Island Department of Housing and assigned to the city, summarized local housing need: household formation has outpaced housing production, median home prices have risen sharply, and multifamily housing produces far fewer students per 100 units than single‑family development. Arment’s slides — shown by staff in the meeting — were used as context for the developer’s residential proposal.

Residents and local officials focused questions and comment on a small set of recurring concerns: traffic on New London Avenue and nearby neighborhood cut‑throughs; stormwater and flood risk; the number of new students that would be added to Garden City/West Hills schools; the preservation of the Daniel Congdon Cemetery and its 25‑foot buffer; the recently rebuilt playground adjacent to the site; buffers and screening between any new housing and the state prison; wetlands and open‑space protection; and the percentage of required affordable units.

Mancini and Guglielmo said the concept currently preserves roughly 30% of the parcel as open space in their sketch plan and that buffers of roughly 50 to 100 feet are being proposed between new development and existing homes. Mancini also told the bodies that a portion of the area currently used by Mulligan’s Island is state‑owned and leased to the operator; that parcel would not be part of any private development unless the state elected to change its use. He said the team expects multiple phased approvals: conceptual review with the planning board, a city council ordinance, and then project‑level engineering, state agency reviews (e.g., Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Management) and subsequent final plan reviews.

Multiple speakers pressed for clear conditions if the council permits a new MPD that allows residential: mandatory traffic studies and mitigation, a credible stormwater/drainage plan designed to current standards, a clear guarantee that the existing playground would be restored or rebuilt in the same area if disturbed, and a written preservation plan for the Daniel Congdon Cemetery. Several council members and staff said they expect any rezoning ordinance to include enforceable development conditions rather than an open “by‑right” allowance without site controls.

Public comment reflected a split in the audience. Supporters — including housing advocates and several residents — said the city needs more housing and that the parcel is a rare, infrastructure‑ready opportunity for new homes. Other residents and council members emphasized the local impacts: traffic congestion, school capacity and flood risk. The vice chair of the school committee asked the city and developer to require a school‑impact analysis before a final approval.

Mancini said the owner is willing to include conditions in a draft ordinance and that the project team will return to the planning board and council with more detailed plans, studies and proposed conditions. No formal action or vote was taken at the workshop; the developer confirmed a petition for a zone change has been filed and that the planning board will prepare findings and recommendations before the council ordinance committee and the full council consider an ordinance.

What’s next: the developer will work with planning staff to draft a prospective MPD ordinance that includes proposed conditions and then present a formal application through the planning board and council review processes. Staff and council members asked the public and neighbors to provide written input to the planning department before the next formal hearing.