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Council permits oversized modular‑home moves to South Shore Village; company agreed to repairs for earlier mailbox damage
Summary
Under a state blanket permit, RT Transportation received municipal permission May 11 to move modular‑home sections on town roads to South Shore Village for the duration of the state permit. Company representatives said they have moved about 242 houses and repaired three mailboxes that were damaged over the years; council discussed delegating renewals to town staff.
The Town Council granted municipal permission May 11 for RT Transportation to use town roads while transporting modular‑home sections from a fabrication site to the South Shore Village project under a Rhode Island DOT blanket permit.
Attorney James Callahan, representing RT Transportation, said the company operates the moves about every two weeks in two‑day mobilizations, typically transporting 20 trailers (two homes) on a multi‑stop route to the development. Callahan said the company has completed roughly 242 deliveries to date and has 26 houses left to move for the current project.
Company representatives acknowledged three mailbox strikes over the program’s multi‑year operation; all were promptly repaired and paid for by the company, and only one complaint had been logged in town records. Callahan said the company did not realize municipal permission was required until recently and sought retroactive approval to align local and state permitting requirements.
Council members debated whether to delegate future renewals to the town manager and police chief to avoid recurring council votes if the company renews its DOT permit; the motion passed to grant permission for the current permit term, with council discussion of delegation for future renewals.
Council asked staff to confirm route limitations and to return if the company proposed continued operations beyond the DOT permit term. The council stressed that any future renewals should include clear conditions for damage repair, communications with impacted residents and coordination with police and public works.
Source: applicant presentation and council action at the May 11 meeting.
