Planning board reviews pre‑application for 250‑unit development near Lincoln Commons; water, access and fire safety flagged

The Lincoln Planning Board on May 28 heard a pre‑application presentation from Washington Highway LLC for a proposed 250‑unit multifamily development behind the hotels east of Lincoln Commons on George Washington Highway.

Stephanie (town staff member) introduced the project as a comprehensive‑permit pre‑application on roughly 6.27 acres in the BL zoning district, showing two five‑story buildings with subsurface garage parking plus surface stalls and amenities including a clubhouse and pool. "They're proposing 25% of the development to be affordable units," Stephanie said, a figure the applicant calculated to about 62–63 units.

Jeff Klein of Stonefield Engineering and Design, the project's civil and traffic engineer, described topography and site constraints, noting wetland edges, rock and soil conditions and a mix of underground and above‑ground stormwater management. Klein said the team will prepare traffic counts and meet with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) to determine whether a proposed secondary access on Old Lewis Crescent Pike can be a full‑movement driveway or must remain limited to emergency use.

Architect Eric Salinas presented renderings showing massing strategies to reduce the perceived scale of the five‑story buildings, balconies and material choices intended to make the façades "approachable." Salinas said the unit mix will be dominated by one‑bedroom units with fewer two‑ and three‑bedroom units and that affordable units would be integrated through the project rather than clustered: "We don't see any change in interior finish…we also always pepper those units throughout the project," he said.

Board members and staff pressed the team on infrastructure. Water availability emerged as a near‑term gating issue: the applicant said Lincoln Water is studying capacity and the team does not expect a full understanding of available supply "till around Christmas time." Fire‑safety concerns were raised about turning radii and sprinkler/inflow demands for partially submerged parking; board members questioned whether emergency apparatus could safely access interior parking lanes.

Access and easements also drew sustained questioning. The proposal as shown relies on the existing private mall drive for primary vehicular access; the applicant and parcel owner David Corsetti said there are existing shared easements to the Stop & Shop and hotel drives but that further coordination and potential easement extensions or mall‑owner agreements will be required. Corsetti described a possible northwest/back‑lot access as a viable alternative if mall and easement negotiations and grading analyses permit it.

On financing and schedule, the owner and developer described phased construction — likely one building at a time — with each building taking about 18–22 months to construct. They said funding would likely come from a mix of local banks and institutional sources and that a tax stabilization agreement (TSA) during construction and stabilization is a typical part of their projects. The team emphasized the project would not move forward to formal application until infrastructure questions — primarily water and DOT access permissions — are resolved.

No formal board action was taken on the project at the meeting; staff and the applicant were asked to return with traffic counts, DOT consultation results, water‑capacity information and refined plans addressing fire access and parking geometry.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the consent agenda and accepted the minutes of April 23, 2025, both by voice vote.

What happens next: the applicant will perform traffic and utility studies, continue design refinement and coordinate with RIDOT and the mall owner; staff said they expect the water‑availability analysis to be clearer in several months and asked the applicant to return with updated materials before any formal application or relief requests are scheduled for vote.