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Council hears zoning-code overhaul and plan to create combined Planning & Zoning board
Summary
Planning staff presented an ordinance to create a combined planning-and-zoning board and a package of zoning-code amendments (ADU rules, animal-rescue special use, smoke‑shop definition and formula-business coding) to align with recent state law; planning staff confirmed public notice and planning-board review.
City planning staff presented a package of zoning-code amendments and an ordinance to create a combined Planning and Zoning board, saying state law changes and unified development review have reduced the separate Zoning Board’s workload and that consolidation would streamline local land-use reviews.
Josh Magone of the planning department (identified in the transcript) told the council the proposal is primarily administrative and intended to align Central Falls’ zoning code with 2024 state legislative changes. Key points in staff’s presentation included:
- Changes to treatment of substandard lots (defined in the transcript as lots under 5,000 square feet), including removal of a requirement to merge adjacent undersized lots to encourage development options. - New accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) rules (section 501.4) that mirror state law and include an optional maximum size restriction intended to preserve the ADU character. - Addition of two defined uses in the use table: "animal rescue" (permitted as a special use in most zones, with RI DEM-aligned special-use criteria) and "smoke shop" (a defined use code intended to capture businesses primarily selling nicotine products; the draft would prohibit new smoke shops in certain zones while grandfathering existing operations as legally nonconforming users). - Addition of a use code for formula businesses and a number of stylistic and technical corrections across the code.
Planning staff said the amendments were prepared with input from the law department and had been reviewed by the planning board, and a staff representative (identified in the transcript as Mr. Solissoon) confirmed that required public notice was provided and that the planning board had issued findings and recommendations delivered to the city clerk.
Council members asked procedural questions about appointments, notice to existing zoning-board members and next steps; staff said they will reach out individually to affected board members and work with the mayor’s office on reappointments. The transcript records these items as introduced and discussed; the provided record does not include a final ordinance adoption vote in this meeting’s transcript.
Next steps: staff indicated the amendments will be processed consistent with state law and local appointment procedures; the planning board’s letter and the required notices have been provided to the clerk per staff statements in the hearing.
