Village overlay districts

The two Village Overlay Districts are designated North Scituate Village Overlay District and Hope Village Overlay District.

The purpose of the village overlay district ("district") is to encourage, guide and direct development in the village to ensure that village character is maintained, that new development is compatible with the existing scale and building fabric, that historic structures are preserved, that architectural quality is maintained and that mixed village uses continue to provide for health and growth of the district. The design and renovation of buildings shall be reviewed and approved in accordance with the provisions of this section.

• • 14.1. Village review committee: A village review committee (VRC) is established to carry out the purpose of each district. All development in a district shall be reviewed and approved by its VRC in conformance with this section. The VRC may provide assistance to property owners and the Town of Scituate on historic preservation issues within the village, compatible village design and site planning, and on related issues as it deems appropriate; this includes the design of public improvements such as street rehabilitation, paving, lighting, sidewalks, curbing and drainage.

    • A. Powers and duties of the VRC. The VRC shall have the following powers and duties:

      • 1. Review development in the village overlay district. The VRC shall be authorized to review all building and appurtenant improvements on public and private land in the district including the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, demolition, removal, rehabilitation of the exterior of new and existing buildings and appurtenances within the District which require building permits or other approvals from the town. The plan commission shall include the VRC in the site review process of any application the commission receives under article IV, section 13 (Multifamily/commercial site plan review and approval), of this ordinance. Village overlay districts shall be mapped on the official town zoning map.

      • 2. Grant waivers. After public hearing, the VRC may grant waivers of design regulations promulgated pursuant to this ordinance if such waivers carry out the purpose of the district. Waivers may be permitted of regulations governing design standards for projects including but not limited to signs, new construction and reconstruction. Waivers shall be recorded in the land evidence records.

      • 3. Adoption of rules. The VRC shall adopt and publish all rules necessary to carry out its functions.

      • 4. Advise the town council, zoning board, and plan commission. The VRC may advise the zoning board of review on all requests for variances and special exceptions, as provided in this ordinance. The VRC will also provide comments to the plan commission and the town council on all proposed amendments to the comprehensive plan and all subdivision or land development reviews regarding each village overlay district.

      • 5. Zoning enforcement. The VRC may assist the town in an advisory capacity on zoning enforcement including recommendations on zoning enforcement issues.

    • B. Membership. A VRC shall consist of five (5) members and two (2) alternates. Vacancies shall be posted and advertised. Members shall be appointed by the town council as follows:

No fewer than three (3) members shall be Village residents in their respective district. The remaining members may be either town residents or property owners in the respective district.

The town council shall appoint one ex-officio nonvoting member who may be a resident of the Town of Scituate and either a registered Rhode Island architect or an individual with professional training and expertise in architectural design, historic preservation, or landscape design.

In appointing members to the committee, priority will be given to district residents. The town council shall endeavor to maintain a cross-section of the community, including homeowners, business people, renters of property and citizens interested in maintaining the character of the village and village life.

Appointees shall serve staggered two-year terms. Officers of the Committee shall be elected at the first regular meeting each year.

• • • C. Conduct of business.

      • 1. Public hearing: The VRC shall hold a public hearing on any request for a waiver, in accordance with article I of this ordinance.

      • 2. Record: The VRC shall keep a record of all proceedings, findings, decisions and actions and such record shall be open to the public. Applicants who receive waivers shall record them in the land evidence records.

    • D. Procedures for design approval.

      • 1. Application.

VRC application forms are submitted to the town engineer, prior to the filing of an application for a building permit, and prior to the commencement of any building improvements on public or private land, including the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, demolition, removal and rehabilitation of the front facade, exterior of new and existing buildings, front yard appurtenances requiring a building permit, or town engineering approvals (paving, curb cuts, parking areas, drainage) within the district. Where appropriate, development plans shall also be submitted to the town engineer.

The town engineer shall forward applications and plans, if required, to the VRC and/or plan commission.

No building permit shall be issued before a project receives a VRC design review. For projects that do not require a building permit, such as construction of a parking area, paving, curb cuts and drainage, the town engineer shall refer the project to the plan commission if required by the rules and regulations governing subdivision, land development, and zoning.

• • • • 2. VRC approval is not required for the following:

        • a. Work to remedy damage or deterioration of a structure or its appurtenances which involves no change in the type of materials, dimensions, design, configuration, texture or visual appearance.

        • b. Exterior painting or staining of previously painted or stained surfaces.

        • c. The installation of public traffic signage.

        • d. Public street improvements such as plant material, street paving, curbing, drainage (North Scituate Village only).

        • e. Alterations to side or rear elevations of structures, and facades not visible from a public way, except commercial parking areas located in the side or rear of any lot (North Scituate Village only).

        • f. Home landscaping and gardens, business enhancement plantings, production gardens and plantings, nursery plantings.

      • 3. Review.

The VRC shall review all applications for new construction, major additions, moving of structures and demolition as described herein. Such review shall be held during a regular meeting of the VRC open to the public.

A determination shall be made within thirty (30) business days of receipt of a complete application. These time periods may be extended by mutual agreement between the applicant and the VRC. In the event that the VRC shall make a written determination within the thirty (30) day period that a particular application requires further time for additional study and information, then the VRC shall have a period of up to sixty (60) business days from the date of acceptance of a complete application within which to act on such application. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the applicant and the VRC from mutually agreeing on an extension beyond sixty (60) days.

• • • • 4. Failure to act. The failure of the VRC to act within thirty (30) business days from the date of filing a complete application shall be deemed to constitute approval, unless the applicant and the VRC mutually agree to an extension.

      • 5. Determination. The VRC shall be authorized to approve, approve with conditions, or reject an application. The VRC shall make a record of reasons and/or conditions for approval or rejection. All determinations shall be made in writing. A copy of a VRC determination shall be filed with the applicable building permit.

      • 6. Advice from other agencies. The VRC may request the assistance of other agencies to review and comment on proposals.

      • 7. Appeals.

A person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved by a VRC determination shall have the right of appeal to the Zoning Board of Review ("Board") within twenty (20) days of the filing of the determination. Aggrieved parties have a further right of appeal from the Zoning Board to the Rhode Island Superior Court.

In hearing appeals from VRC decisions, the Board shall not reverse a VRC decision except on a finding of prejudicial procedural error or a lack of support by the weight of the evidence on the record. The Board may, in its sole discretion, request that an applicant provide additional information. The Board shall file a written decision explaining the basis of its decision on appeal, with the applicant and the VRC. The filing fee and the filing procedure for an appeal of a VRC determination shall be the same as that for an appeal from the Plan Commission.

• • • • 8. Enforcement. This section shall be enforced in accordance with article [I] of this ordinance.

  • 14.2. General regulations:

    • A. Use. Village Overlay District uses are set forth in Section II. of this ordinance. Section II is a generalized listing of use categories permitted in the Districts.

    • B. Dimension requirements. The dimensional requirements set forth in article III shall govern all uses within the village district, provided, however, that the minimum front yard and side yard setbacks shall be no greater than the established historic building line within the Village.

    • C. Existing signs. All signs which do not conform to this ordinance shall be brought into conformance no later than seven (7) years from date of passage of this section, not later than December 31, 2003.

    • 14.3. Design regulations for existing buildings. All exterior work as described herein on existing buildings in the district is subject to approval by the VRC and shall be regulated by these standards and the guidelines of the VRC. The purpose of these regulations is to establish design standards to preserve the village character of the district.

      • A. These standards are intended to preserve the architectural integrity and historic character of buildings in the district. The existing scale and proportions of buildings and streetscapes shall be preserved. The VRC shall review:

        • 1. The preservation, repair or replacement of building features using the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation (36 CFR 671) as general guidelines.

These standards and guidelines help define the important character and features of the village and provide common sense guidance on the best means of preserving and enhancing the integrity of these features in rehabilitation and new construction projects.

These standards and guidelines are not hard and fast regulations. They are to be used as flexible criteria. Their purpose is to provide assurance to property owners and the residents and citizens of each Village District that reviews will be based upon clear design standards widely accepted by federal, state, and local planning agencies rather than the taste or preference of individual commission members.

The following standards and guidelines will be interpreted with flexibility depending upon the historical character and architectural merit and integrity of the building, structure, or appurtenances under review, or the setting within the village.

• • • • • • a. The distinguishing original qualities or character of a building, structure, appurtenance, or site and its environment or setting shall not be destroyed. The removal or alteration of any historic material or distinctive, character-defining, architectural features should be avoided when possible.

          • b. All buildings, structures, appurtenances, and sites shall be recognized as products of their own time. Alterations that have no historical basis and which seek to create an earlier appearance than that of the building, structure, appurtenance or site and setting shall be discouraged.

          • c. Changes which may have taken place over the course of time are evidence of the history and development of the village, its buildings, structures, appurtenances, sites and environmental setting. These changes may have acquired significance in their own right and may be character-defining. This significance shall be recognized and respected.

          • d. Distinctive stylistic features or examples of skilled craftsmanship which characterize a building, structure, appurtenance, site, or setting shall be treated with sensitivity.

          • e. Deteriorated architectural features shall be identified and repaired rather than replaced, wherever possible. In the event replacement is necessary due to deterioration which cannot be stabilized or reversed, the new replacement material should match the material being replaced in composition, design, texture, and other physical and visual qualities.

          • f. Repair and replacement of missing architectural features should be based upon accurate duplications of features, substantiated by documentation or physical evidence rather than upon conjectural designs or the availability of differently designed architectural elements from other buildings or structures, architectural parts warehouses, or reproduction catalogues.

          • g. The surface cleaning of the wood and brick structures within the village shall be undertaken with the gentlest means possible. Sandblasting and other cleaning methods that will damage the building materials shall not be undertaken.

          • h. Every reasonable effort shall be made to protect and preserve archaeological resources affected by or adjacent to any project. If a significant archaeological resource must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

          • i. Contemporary design for alterations and additions to existing buildings shall not be discouraged when such alterations and additions do not destroy significant historical, architectural, or cultural material and such design is compatible with the size, scale, massing, rhythm, proportion, material, and character-defining features of the building, structure, appurtenance, site, and environmental setting of the property and the village. New additions or related new construction shall provide a subtle visual distinction between old and new so that the original historic features of the property may be distinguished from the new construction. This distinction may be the result of simplified detailing, wall set backs, roof step downs, or other subtle visual changes.

          • j. Wherever possible, additions or alterations to buildings, structures, or appurtenances shall be designed and executed in such a manner that if such additions or alterations were to be removed in the future, the essential form and the integrity of the historic features of the property, its setting, and environment would not be impaired.

      • 2. Storefronts. Existing structures which have been designed for retail use on the first floor shall retain this design. Existing structures which have been designed for residential or institutional uses shall retain their residential or institutional character although they may be allowed under the zoning to have another use. Where such design no longer exists but would be compatible with the character of the building, rehabilitation shall be designed to permit such character to be recaptured.

      • 3. The restoration or reconstruction of a building, which has been altered through the years. The VRC should consider pictorial, documentary or physical evidence of the original configuration when reviewing applications.

      • 4. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction using the Secretary of Interior Standards as general guidelines.

      • 5. The design of all awnings to insure that the design is in character with the building.

      • 6. The lighting of building facades to insure that the fixtures are small, shielded, and directed toward the building. Electrical conduit and junction boxes shall be located so as to minimize, or if possible, eliminate their visibility from the public way.

      • 7. The installation of security devices to insure that they are designed so as not to impact the historic quality of the building.

  • 14.4. Design regulations for new construction. All new construction requiring a building permit or any form of town approval in the district shall be reviewed by the VRC and shall be regulated by these standards and the guidelines of the VRC. The purpose of these standards is to establish design regulations to preserve the village fabric of the District and to insure that new construction complements the historic character and the architectural integrity of existing structures.

    • A. Minimum standards. The following are minimum standards for all new construction.

      • 1. Visual relationship of buildings and their design. Proposed structures shall be related harmoniously to the streetscape, terrain and to the existing buildings in the vicinity which have a visual relationship to the proposed buildings. Special attention shall be paid to the bulk, location and height of building(s) and such natural features such as slope, soil type and drainage ways.

        • a. The design of the project, buildings, structures and site layout, shall be visually compatible with the character of each Village and the surrounding area, including building materials, massing, scale, and building roof line.

        • b. A diversity of roof heights, gable orientations and volumes in new buildings should be considered. Flat and shallow-pitched roofs are not recommended. Instead new buildings should be designed with traditional roof forms that are compatible with the character of the town, including gambrel, gable and mansard hipped roofs commonly found in established villages.

        • c. Architectural elements such as dormers should be in proportion with the overall building and should also be in keeping with the surrounding building context. Exaggerated or excessively large (or tiny) architectural elements should be avoided. If used properly, traditional and contemporary architectural detailing can create variety, interest and texture on new buildings and additions which is compatible with the character of the area.

        • d. Traditional building materials such as shingles and clapboards are preferred for the exterior skin of additions and new construction. These materials can be used to sheath fireproof construction materials.

        • e. Development projects should reuse existing buildings of character whenever possible. Reuse may take the form of additions to older buildings rather than demolition. Demolition of listed historic buildings (i.e., RIHPHC survey) shall be discouraged.

        • f. Large scale development should take the form of village-like groupings of small scale buildings, rather than a large individual structure or box set back on a large expanse of asphalt parking. New buildings should not be large, bulky masses, but should be scaled down into groupings of smaller attached or detached structures New buildings should not exceed 2,000 square feet in footprint between facade breaks or building lines. The use of building hyphens or other architectural features should be employed to scale-down building mass.

Adequate off-street parking and loading shall be provided to prevent on-street traffic congestion. All parking spaces, maneuvering areas, entrances and exits shall be identified on the site plan. The interior circulation system shall be designed to provide safe and convenient access to all structures, uses and/or parking spaces. Parking areas shall be protected with suitable guards, rails, islands, crosswalks, speed bumps, and similar devices as deemed necessary by the VRC.

• • • • 2. Parking lots. Parking lots shall be located to one side or behind commercial buildings, particularly along Main Street, North Road, Danielson Pike, Hartford Pike and Rt. 116 or other heavily traveled roads within the villages.

        • a. Whenever possible, parking lots on adjoining commercial lots shall be connected internally to each other to allow for through traffic between and reducing the need for multiple curb cuts.

        • b. Parking lots containing ten (10) or more spaces shall be planted with at least one tree per three (3) spaces, no smaller than two (2) inches caliper, each tree being surrounded by no less than forty (40) square feet of permeable unpaved area. Trees required by these provisions shall be at least five (5) feet in height at the time of planting and shall be of a species characterized by hardiness within the area.

        • c. Small-scaled interior streets, alleyways, pedestrian paths, pocket public spaces and bikeways shall be encouraged within the village for additional circulation which is not auto-dependent. Such interior circulation shall link to an overall system envisioned in the adopted village plan.

        • d. The design of the project's circulation systems shall relate to planned improvements in the area, including future street widening, realignments, or paving programs which have been planned or scheduled for construction.

        • e. The design should be congruent with any proposed area master plan, commercial master plan, village plan or mixed-use area plan adopted by the town for the village.

      • 3. Landscape. The landscape shall be preserved in its natural state insofar as practicable by minimizing tree removal, disturbance of the soil and retaining existing vegetation during and after construction. After construction is completed, landscaping shall be installed according to the landscaping design shown on the site plan that will define, soften or screen the appearance of the off-road parking areas from the public right-of-way and abutting properties and/or structures in order to enhance the design or building(s) or site, and to minimize the encroachment of the proposed use on neighboring land uses.

        • a. Existing trees and vegetation shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible.

        • b. Buffering elements in the form of architectural design and landscape design that provide a logical transition to adjoining existing or permitted uses shall be provided.

        • c. Scenic views and historically significant landscape features, such as stone walls, picket fences and metal fences, shall be preserved whenever possible.

        • d. The planting of large deciduous "street trees" along the roadside to help shade and enclosed the highway shall be encouraged.

        • e. New landscaping shall use plant material of species hardy to the area.

      • 4. Special features of the development. Exposed storage areas, exposed machinery installation, service areas, truck loading areas, utility buildings and similar structures shall have sufficient setbacks and screening to provide an audio-visual buffer sufficient to minimize their adverse impact on other land uses within the development area and surrounding properties.

      • 5. Exterior lighting. All exterior lighting shall be designed to minimize impact on neighboring properties. Night sky pollution shall be minimized by down-shaded lighting or shielded lighting. All lighting shall be based upon a pedestrian scale appropriate for a village setting.

      • 6. Unique village areas and features. There must not be any undue adverse affect on the scenic or natural beauty of the village, inherent small-scale village aesthetics and features such as village laneways, the mill dam, historic raceway, stone walls, picket fences, historic metal fences, front yards, alleyways, historic sites, or rare and irreplaceable natural features, including significant trees, street tree canopy, pocket gardens and village cemeteries.

      • 7. Capacity. In the case of significant projects having a substantial impact upon the village, the VRC may require an improvement guarantee be provided by the applicant ensuring that the project will be completed in accordance with the approved plans and any conditions imposed by the VRC.

  • 14.5. Demolition. In order to preserve the village fabric of the district, no building shall be demolished until the VRC has reviewed the application to demolish the building.

    • A. Review of application. In reviewing an application for demolition, the VRC shall consider the architectural quality of the existing building, regardless of condition; the historic value of the building; the feasibility of renovating and reusing the existing building; and the quality of the demolition site relandscaping or replacement building to be constructed if demolition is approved.

    • B. Demolition permit. To obtain a demolition permit, an applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the VRC that the applicant has adequate financial ability to demolish the existing structure and relandscape the demolition site or construct a new approved building on the demolition site. The Building Official shall require a performance guarantee to ensure that all work approved in the grant of demolition is satisfactorily completed. Any change in plans will require a new application to the VRC.

(Ord. of 1-8-04)

THE VILLAGE DISTRICTS USE TABLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All uses not specifically listed in this section or article X will require a ruling in writing as to general classification by the zoning inspector. If such a classification is listed as a special use permit, the provisions of article I, section 6C will apply.

 

(Ord. of 9-12-96; Ord. of 4-23-98(3))