Land unsuitable for development

A. Land unsuitable for development means land which has environmental constraints or physical constraints to development. The following regulations shall apply to proposed future residential lots and open space in a conservation development only. Land unsuitable for development includes the following areas:
- (1) Land under water bodies or surface water area, as defined by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management;
- (2) Freshwater wetlands, including that area of perimeter wetland within 50 feet of the edge of any bog, marsh, swamp, or pond (also referred to as the wetland buffer), but excluding any applicable one-hundred-foot or two-hundred-foot riverbank wetlands, as defined by § 2-1-20 of the General Laws of Rhode Island (1987), as amended;
- (3) Existing or proposed streets or rights-of-way, public or private;
- (4) Land within any publicly or privately held easement in which aboveground electric transmission lines greater than 69 KV, gas lines, or Town drainage easements are existing or proposed;
- (5) Areas of steep slope in excess of 8%;
- (6) Lands located within an area of special flood hazard as defined by the most current Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Hazard Boundary Maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Town, except where the Planning Board determines that an engineering design for the proposed development will overcome or mitigate the constraint without adverse environmental impact.
B. Land unsuitable for development defined in Subsection A(1) to (6) above may be included as part of any lot in a conservation development but may not be included in the calculation of minimum lot area as provided in Table 1—Lot Dimensional Requirements in a Conservation Development incorporated herein. In addition, land unsuitable for development may be included as part of any open space area, but may not be included in the calculation of minimum required open space as provided in Table 2 below.