Planning commission approves coastal site plan for 31 Riverside Drive

The Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved a coastal site plan for a single-family home at 31 Riverside Drive on July 23, finding the proposal consistent with applicable coastal policies and approving the plan with conditions 1–4 of the staff report dated July 18.

Norm (Killingly Engineering Associates), the applicant’s engineer, told the commission the house would be served by public water and sanitary sewer, that the design includes two rain gardens to manage runoff, and that erosion-and-sedimentation controls will be maintained during construction. "We are not proposing any additional shorefront disturbances," Norm said, and he noted no new work on the existing dock or mooring is planned.

The presentation described the site as zoned R20, set back from a steep embankment near the Niantic River, and outside mapped flood elevations shown on the plan. The applicant plans no shoreline alteration, no shoreline-dependent uses, and no onsite septic; post-construction runoff will be directed to vegetated surfaces and rain gardens rather than direct discharge.

Commissioners moved to approve the plan with the staff-recommended conditions; the motion incorporated conditions one through four specified in the staff report dated July 18. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. The approval does not authorize changes to the existing dock or mooring and requires the applicant to maintain the sediment-and-erosion measures described in the plans.

The commission closed the item after the vote; staff will include the approved conditions in the permit file and follow up as required by the coastal site-plan procedures.