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Glocester council adopts comprehensive plan amendment and zoning revisions to restore public review for small developments
Summary
Council adopted amendment 24‑02 to the comprehensive community plan and a package of zoning revisions that designate growth centers, a change planners said will bring small commercial projects back into a public development‑plan‑review process removed by recent state law changes.
The Glocester Town Council voted Nov. 21 to adopt Amendment 24‑02 to the town’s comprehensive community plan and to approve companion amendments to the zoning ordinance aimed at restoring public review for smaller commercial and mixed‑use developments.
The planning board had recommended adoption after public hearings. The amendment adds language and maps designating growth centers — primarily existing highway commercial (B‑1 and B‑2) corridors and village mixed‑use districts — and ties those designations to development‑plan‑review thresholds set by state law. Planner Karen Scott explained that the change does not alter zoning districts on the ground but creates a mechanism to require public development‑plan review for projects that the state’s legislative changes otherwise could have shifted to administrative review.
"If we call those growth centers, [...] anything that's happening there is gonna be subject to development plan review and have a public hearing and have public notice," the planner told the council, arguing the designation is a way to restore local public input for projects under 7,500 square feet that otherwise would bypass a public process.
Residents at the hearing asked how the maps and growth‑center labels would affect individual parcels, and planning staff responded the designation does not expand commercial zoning but does create opportunities for public notice and planning‑board review of certain project types.
After presentation and public comment, the council adopted the comprehensive plan amendment and the zoning ordinance revisions (Chapter 3.50) by roll call vote. Councilors recorded affirmative votes during the roll call on the comprehensive plan adoption and later for the zoning amendments. The zoning package included changes to administration, notification, development plan review, adaptive reuse, nonconforming uses, and a comprehensive permit article for low‑ and moderate‑income housing to align local rules with recent state legislative changes.
Councilors said the changes were intended to preserve Glocester’s rural character while giving residents more say over small‑scale development introduced by changes in state law.
