Middletown planning board approves preliminary plan and sign variances for combined middle–high school campus

The Middletown Planning Board voted to grant preliminary plan approval for a proposed combined middle–high school on the Gaudet Middle School campus and approved the applicant’s requested zoning relief for additional signage, the board said at a special meeting.

Town solicitor Peter Regan, representing the Town of Middletown, told the board the project team was asking the board “to approve the preliminary plan subject to the receipt of those state permits and any other conditions that you want to impose.” Regan said the town’s Technical Review Committee (TRC) had reviewed the submission and “unanimously gave it a favorable recommendation.”

Board members and the applicant spent most of the meeting reviewing changes to site engineering, stormwater design, signage and exterior building materials since the plan’s master-plan review in November. The application covers two lots on Aquidneck Avenue (tax assessor’s plat 113, lots 199 and 199A) for construction of a single building to serve two schools, associated parking, landscaping and related site work.

Civil engineer Steve Garvin of Samiote’s Consultants described revisions requested by state and town reviewers. Garvin said the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asked for additional water-quality treatment for the stormwater system; the design team is preparing revised calculations and expects to obtain DEM approval after resubmission. Garvin also noted minor Department of Transportation (DOT) comments that the team is addressing.

Architect Matt LaRue reviewed changes to exterior materials, saying the design now uses four concrete masonry-unit colors to break up the building massing. LaRue said site lighting specifications have been revised so parking poles are no taller than 20 feet and color temperature will be no cooler than 3,000 Kelvin to comply with town standards.

The ap…