Council denies proposed zone change at 162 Washington, citing food-truck and neighborhood concerns

The Central Falls City Council voted 5–1 to deny a request to change the zoning at 162 Washington that applicants said would allow a small convenience-store use and permit parking a food truck on the property.

Sabrina Benton, the applicant, told the council she runs a small retail operation and sought the change to sell household and cleaning products at the street-level front of the property while keeping two residential units behind it. "I buy, like, in bulk, and I try to sell to the community, like, affordable price," Benton said during the hearing.

Joshua Magnon, principal deputy director for the planning department, described the zoning-review process and the planning board's findings. Magnon said planning does not formally recommend approval but is not opposed to the application overall; he urged that any approval include special conditions. "One of the special conditions would be to limit the zone change to two permitted uses," Magnon said, and he recommended preserving the two-family units and limiting the commercial space to the front-room area, which he described as approximately 768 square feet.

The city's law department cautioned the council that city ordinance language prohibits a food truck from operating on a driveway. "A food truck on a driveway ... your own city laws would prohibit it," the solicitor said, noting state and local rules that treat mobile food entities as temporary and mobile rather than permanently parked on private driveways.

Council members and planning staff also raised concerns about on-street congestion, parking, noise and odors that can accompany food-service uses and about whether the requested commercial district was appropriate for the neighborhood. Magnon and the solicitor said the existing ordinance and planning board memo contain guardrails that would limit the applicant's requested use.

After discussion and a motion to deny, the council voted 5–1 to reject the zone-change application. The vote concludes the city's review of this request at first reading; council members noted that separate licensing and permitting steps would remain if a business sought to operate on the site under a different lawful configuration.

The council's action leaves in place the existing zoning and the city's ordinance provisions that currently restrict the permanent placement of mobile food vendors on driveway areas.