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Applicant for Trilogy project asks board to approve Armuk text changes, reduces density to 40 units
Summary
The Trilogy project team proposed redesigning a previously approved 46‑unit mixed‑use site into a lower‑density, age‑restricted mixed‑use master plan with 40 residential units and four voluntary LMI units, and asked the board to consider a narrowly tailored Armuk ordinance amendment. Neighbors raised brownfields, traffic and density concerns; the board continued the hearing for decision and asked staff for findings.
Attorney Matthew Landry told the Tiverton Planning Board that the Trilogy project at Zero Main Road/Souza Road seeks to move from a previously approved 46‑unit mixed‑use plan to a new master plan that reduces residential density to 40 units and consolidates four low‑ and moderate‑income (LMI) units into the ground‑floor commercial building along Main Road. "It was approved for 46 units. We're now at 40 residential units," Landry said, and described the proposal as 17 duplexes, two single‑family homes and a mixed‑use building with a small commercial space and four LMI units.
Landry and applicant representative Jordan Durham said the revision responds to market constraints for extensive commercial space on the hillside and to financing considerations for LMI units. The team proposed a limited text amendment to the town’s Armuk (age‑restricted mixed‑use) ordinance to make it applicable in only the waterfront W2 district and the general commercial (GC/GB) district parcels where the use is appropriate, and to add frontage and buildable‑lot minimums (for example, 120 feet of frontage and a minimum five‑acre buildable lot in some districts) to limit where Armuk communities could occur townwide. Landry said the change is intended to "control and predict where these developments could pop up in the future," and to preserve the planning board’s earlier concerns about unintended townwide consequences.
Engineer Chris Du Hamill and planning consultant Ashley Suite addressed technical comments including fire access, additional hydrants, an 8,000‑square‑foot conceptual community overlook and a revised truck‑turning analysis. Du Hamill said the revised roadway geometry and a 22‑foot roadway width addressed the fire department’s earlier concerns and that Captain Murphy provided an approval email for the truck turning plan.
During public comment, nearby residents raised long‑standing concerns about brownfields and contamination from past industrial uses. Resident Meredith Mucci asked whether the town was "beholden" to allow the development because of previously approved plans. Landry replied that the site does have prior approvals and a Phase I environmental assessment by Sage Environmental is on file; he said the property has been accepted as clean by DEM but that monitoring would be required during excavation and that any export of soil would go to licensed facilities.
The planning office committed to prepare draft findings for the board. After discussion the board agreed to continue the application for decision to the special meeting on June 16 and to extend the statutory review time clock to July 7 (with a further extension discussed to July 30); the motions carried unanimously. The board also asked the applicant for any outstanding water/sewer letters and for full, updated plans and narrative prior to the decision hearing.
What happens next: The board expects to receive revised plans, a written recommendation from staff, and the draft findings of fact in advance of the June 16 session. If the applicant proceeds to decision, the board will weigh the Armuk text amendment and the master plan under the town’s standards and the materials submitted.
