Performance standards
505.1. Development plan review.
The purpose of this section is to preserve the town's natural environment, enhance its built environment, improve its visual character, and sustain a high quality of life through review of plans for new development and redevelopment of existing uses. High standards of design; landscaping (including landscaped parking lots); improved community appearance; preservation and protection of environmental quality; buffering and screening of conflicting land uses from other land uses and from public streets; environmental quality; and traffic safety are goals to be achieved through development plan review.
A. Development plan standards. The design and landscaping standards required in this section are contained in the subdivision and land development regulations and are hereby incorporated into this zoning ordinance by reference.
B. Uses and facilities requiring development plan review.
1. New uses. Any new use, activity or facility indicated below, other than those listed in subsection C., Exempt Activities, shall be subject to development plan review by the planning board or technical review committee as further provided in this section.
(a) Any use that requires or has five (5) or more parking spaces or which requires a parking and/or loading area which exceeds two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet of paved area;
(b) Any use for which transition yards as defined in article 12 are required;
(c) Any use, activity or facility specifically required to undergo development plan review by other provisions of this ordinance or the subdivision and land development regulations;
(d) Any use having a drive-up or drive-through window(s);
(e) Any use for which landscaping is required by subsection 505.7.
2. Redevelopment of existing uses. Existing uses specified in subsection B.1., above, shall be subject to development plan review under the provisions of this section whenever such use is being changed, redeveloped, reconstructed, relocated, or enlarged as follows:
(a) To enlarge an off-street parking or loading facility; or
(b) To enlarge a principal building(s) in such a way as to increase the area of the lot which is covered by buildings by more than five hundred (500) square feet or twenty-five (25) percent, whichever is less; or
(c) To change the existing use within a building or upon a lot from one (1) use code category to another use code category. This provision shall not apply to changes of use code category when the change of use occurs within a shopping center.
C. Exempt activities. Except where otherwise provided in this ordinance, development plan review shall not be required for the following activities:
1. Federal, state or municipal uses or facilities;
2. Landscaping, except as required for new or redeveloped uses and facilities under the provisions of the subdivision and land development regulations;
3. Any activity associated with a change of use of any land or any structure if such a change:
(a) Does not involve physical alteration of the land; or
(b) Involves interior modifications to a building only; or
(c) Involves exterior modifications to a building which results in an increase in the area of the lot which is covered by buildings of less than five hundred (500) square feet or twenty-five (25) percent, whichever is less;
4. Paving of any driveway, off-street parking and loading facility, walk-way, tennis court, or other use or facility otherwise permitted by this ordinance;
5. Single or two-household detached residential structures, except in the Kingstown Road Special Management District as provided in section 604;
6. Farms;
7. Subdivisions.
D. Procedure for approval.
1. Any development or redevelopment requiring development plan review under this section must be either approved, approved with conditions, or denied by the technical review committee (TRC). The TRC, in its discretion and by vote of the majority of its members, may refer an application for development plan review to the full planning board as provided in the subdivision and land development regulations. The administrative officer, as designated by the subdivision and land development regulations, shall provide the necessary forms and shall review the plans for completeness. Before submitting a site plan, an applicant shall meet with a staff member of the planning department to discuss the proposed project, and to establish what documents and information the applicant must submit. The full application requirements are set forth in the development plan review checklist in the subdivision and land development regulations. The required contents of the development plan, however will depend on the scope and complexity of the proposed project, as determined by the administrative officer, which may be less than, but shall not exceed the requirements of the development plan review checklist.
2. No building permit shall be issued for any project requiring development plan approval until the TRC or planning board has approved said plan. Approved plans shall be forwarded by the administrative officer to the building official with a written certification of compliance.
3. Any party aggrieved by a decision of the TRC or planning board or by the administrative officer shall have the right to appeal that decision to the planning board of appeal in accordance with the procedure set forth in article XII of the subdivision and land development regulations.
4. Any development or redevelopment requiring development plan review under this section that requires a waiver from any of the requirements for development plan review as set forth in this ordinance or in the subdivision and land development regulations shall be forwarded by the administrative officer to the full planning board for review. Requests for waivers shall be treated as a major subdivision in the subdivision and land development regulations and shall be subject to one (1) public hearing, with notice to abutters as required in the subdivision and land development regulations.
5. Any uses or facilities listed in subsection 505.1.B. requiring a special use permit, a variance, a zoning ordinance amendment and/or a zoning map change under the zoning ordinance shall be subject to development plan review conducted by the TRC or planning board prior to the hearing of the permitting authority, provided that such review shall be advisory to the permitting authority. If the permitting authority is required by this ordinance or by any other applicable provision of law to conduct a public hearing on said application within a prescribed period of time, the permitting authority shall not close the public hearing and shall not act upon the application until such time as a recommendation has been received from the TRC or planning board.
6. Fees for the review and approval of development plans submitted under the provisions of this section shall be as established by the town council from time to time.
E. Special conditions. In granting approval of any use or facility requiring development plan review, the planning board or the technical review committee may apply such special conditions that may, in the opinion of the board or committee, be required to promote the intent and purposes of the comprehensive plan and this ordinance. Such special conditions may include, but are not limited to, the provisions listed in section 907.B.1. through 907.B.9.
505.2. Automotive or gasoline service stations.
Automotive or gasoline service stations shall be designed to conform with the following requirements, in addition to other applicable provisions of this ordinance:
A. The minimum lot area shall be twenty thousand (20,000) square feet with a minimum lot frontage of not less than one hundred fifty (150) feet.
B. The width of driveway opening (curb cuts) shall be no more than thirty-five (35) feet with no more than two (2) openings per street frontage. No driveway opening shall be closer than:
1. Sixty (60) feet to any corner street line intersection;
2. Ten (10) feet from any side lot line;
3. Fifty (50) feet from another driveway opening serving the same lot;
4. Twenty (20) feet from another driveway opening serving an adjacent lot.
C. Whether or not the service station abuts a residential zoning district, there shall be a buffer along all property lines conforming to the provisions for transition yards within commercial zoning districts as provided in the subdivision and land development regulations.
D. Storage of parts, supplies or equipment, or the parking of vehicles kept overnight or longer, shall be screened by means of a ten-foot wide full landscape screen as provided in the subdivision and land development regulations.
E. Service bay doors shall not face toward any adjacent public streets.
F. Pump islands may be located in the area between the street and the principal building.
505.3. Regulation of utilities.
All above ground public and semi-public utilities shall conform to the provisions of this ordinance. Applicable utilities include telephone and electric substations, water and/or sewer pumping stations, sewage treatment plants, incinerators, transmitting towers and the like. Such utilities shall be enclosed or screened where applicable. Large utilities such as landfills shall provide a landscaped fifty-foot wide full landscape screen or wooded buffer strip along all lot lines, and shall meet the performance standards prescribed in the subdivision and land development regulations.
505.4. Hazardous waste management facility site setbacks.
Hazardous waste management facility, for purposes of this ordinance, is a facility for hazardous waste generated within the town, and as further defined by G.L. § 23-19-5.
The active portion of a hazardous waste management facility, as defined by G.L. 1956, Tit. 23, Ch. 19.7, shall be subject to the following dimensional requirements as measured from the actual construction of use sites:
A. No such active portion of a facility shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of a school, hospital, nursing home or center of population where the concentration of population exceeds one (1) person per one hundred (100) square feet of building area.
B. No such active portion of a facility shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of a public recreation facility or wildlife conservation area.
C. No such active portion of a facility shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of environmentally sensitive areas. These areas include, but are not limited to, steep slopes having gradient of five (5) percent or more, areas identified as freshwater wetlands, as defined herein excluding therefrom such setbacks from the edges of the wetland as are contained in said chapter, areas in a special flood hazard district which are within the one hundred-year flood zone or plain as established by the South Kingstown Flood Insurance Rate Map, and any groundwater aquifer or recharge area as established by competent hydrologic evidence and analysis.
505.5. Limitation on hazardous wastes accepted by a hazardous waste management facility.
No hazardous waste management facility, as defined by G.L. 1956, § 23-19.7-3, shall accept for any purpose any wastes generated outside of the town.
505.6. Ministerial Road Scenic Highway.
A. Any parcel or lot, whether or not developed, having direct lot frontage or vehicular access on the Ministerial Road Scenic Highway shall conform to the following standards, compliance with which shall be confirmed prior to issuance of a building permit:
1. Where that portion of the lot adjacent to Ministerial Road Scenic Highway is already wooded or contains significant stands of natural vegetation or specimen plant materials, including, but not limited to, mountain laurel and rhododendron, a minimum fifty-foot wide wooded buffer shall be maintained. The buffer shall be measured from the state highway right-of-way line and shall extend fifty feet into the front yard of any adjacent parcel of land parallel to the right-of-way line.
2. Except for the following activities, removal of existing vegetation within the fifty-foot wide buffer required by subsection A., above, shall not be permitted:
(a) Cutting or removal of any trees or shrubs required for disease control as certified by a licensed arborist;
(b) Removal of dead or dying trees or shrubs;
(c) Removal of invasive plant species;
(d) Maintenance of a permitted use of the highway buffer, such as a driveway or path; or
(e) Selectively removing lower limbs from trees to raise the canopy.
3. Where removal of dead or dying trees or shrubs is performed, or where removal of trees and shrubs is required for disease control, pursuant to subsection 2., above, removed vegetation shall be replaced in-kind pursuant to the standards contained in subsections 5 or 6, below, as applicable.
4. Where a new principal or accessory structure is proposed, existing vegetation along the street is minimal or absent, and such new construction will be visible from the highway due to lack of vegetation, topography or other site characteristics, planting of a natural vegetative landscaped buffer, containing plants that are consistent with the existing Ministerial Road native plant species and that will provide a year-round screen, shall be required. In such cases, the building permit application shall be accompanied by a landscape plan, prepared and stamped by a Rhode Island registered landscape architect.
5. All in-kind replacement required by subsection A.3. above, and required plantings along Ministerial Road required by subsection A.4. above, shall be of specimen quality and shall be native plant material hardy to the plant hardiness zone for the town as defined by the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and the American Standards for Nursery Stock. Plant material shall be installed in accordance with the applicable requirements of the subdivision and land development regulations. Plants shall be installed at the following sizes, at a minimum, as follows:
(a) Canopy trees shall be one and one-half (1½) to two (2) inch caliper;
(b) Evergreen trees shall be six (6) to eight (8) feet in height; and
(c) Shrubs shall be four (4) feet in height.
6. Should removal of plant material within the fifty-foot wide buffer required by subsection A.1. above be due to negligence of the owner or occur without prior approval from the town, the owner shall install in-kind specimen quality plants as defined in subsection A.5. above, excepting that replacement plants shall be installed at equal size to the removed plant or shall be sized as follows, whichever is smaller:
(a) Canopy trees shall be two and one-half (2½) to three (3) inch caliper (approximately ten (10) feet in height);
(b) Evergreen trees shall be eight (8) to ten (10) feet in height; and
(c) Shrubs shall be eight (8) feet in height.
7. Any proposed garages visible from Ministerial Road due to lack of vegetation, topography, or other site characteristics shall have doors facing away from the scenic highway.
8. Other than garages, proposed accessory structures shall be located to the rear of the principal structure or otherwise out of view from Ministerial Road.
9. Commercial vehicles and boats, major recreational equipment, household appliances, junk, machinery or scrap materials, as permitted by this ordinance, shall be located in the rear yard so as not to be visible from the street, or shall be fully enclosed and screened by means of a full landscape screen as defined in the subdivision and land development regulations. Landscape materials, firewood, outdoor furniture or play equipment or similar materials normally associated with a residential use shall be allowed. In such cases, the landscape screen shall be reviewed for compliance with the regulations and approved by the administrative officer prior to initiating on-site storage of the items and materials listed above.
B. Should the building official be unable to determine compliance with the standards referenced in subsection A. above, the building permit application shall be referred to the technical review committee (TRC) for an advisory opinion. The TRC shall review the application and advise the Building Official as to the application's compliance with the standards. Should the TRC find an application not in compliance, the TRC shall advise the applicant as to how compliance with the standards can be achieved, or whether a waiver from the planning board as described in subsection F. below, must be obtained.
C. Development plan review shall be required where alteration of the fifty-foot wide buffer required by this section is proposed in order to construct, alter or relocate a driveway from the highway across the wooded buffer. In such cases, a single driveway not to exceed twenty (20) feet in width for residential uses, and twenty-six (26) feet in width for other permitted uses, may be constructed from the highway across the wooded buffer. Straight driveways shall be avoided and, where possible, a curved driveway shall be located so as to obstruct direct views from the road to site structures.
D. Upon approval by the planning board, through application for development plan review with a request for a waiver pursuant to the town's subdivision and land development regulations, modification of or full relief from the standards contained within this section may be permitted. Applications for development plan review under the provisions of this section shall first be referred to the town conservation commission/tree board for an advisory opinion prior to any approval by the planning board.
505.7. Landscaping requirements.
A. Purpose. The purpose of this subsection of the ordinance is to implement the overall goal of the comprehensive community plan to create, maintain and improve a high quality of life for all the citizens of the town. The ordinance is intended to enhance the town's environmental and visual character and in so doing to improve economic opportunity. The primary goal of this subsection is to provide landscaping in new development and in the redevelopment of existing uses in order to improve community appearance, to reduce air and noise pollution and to promote a high standard of design. Parking lot landscaping is also required for screening, shade, defining circulation and to break up large expanses of pavement. This subsection also provides for buffering and screening of conflicting land uses from other land uses and from public streets.
B. Uses and facilities requiring landscaping. All uses and facilities indicated below shall be required to provide landscaping, buffering and screening as provided in the subdivision and land development regulations. All such uses are required to submit a landscaping plan for review and approval in accordance with the procedure provided in subsection 505.1., Development Plan Review.
1. Any new use, activity or facility subject to development plan review as provided in subsection 505.1.B.1.;
2. Redevelopment of existing uses subject to development plan review as provided in subsection 505.1.B.2.;
3. Any use in the Mixed Use (MU) Zoning District within the Kingstown Road Special Management District except as provided in subsection C., entitled Exempt Projects, below;
4. Transition yards as defined in article 12 in accordance with the requirements set forth in the subdivision and land development regulations;
5. Single-household and two-household residential uses having lot frontage along Kingstown Road, Saugatucket Road or Curtis Corner Road within the Kingstown Road Special Management District;
6. Landscaped street yards for any use having direct lot frontage on Kingstown Road Saugatucket Road or Curtis Corner Road within the Kingstown Road Special Management District. See the subdivision and land development regulations. This requirement shall not apply to Use Code 45 - Automotive or Gasoline Service Stations.
C. Exempt projects. Single-household and two-household detached structures shall not be required to provide landscaping except as follows:
1. Single-household and two-household detached structures located in the Kingstown Road Special Management District and having lot frontage on Kingstown Road, Saugatucket Road or Curtis Corner Road; and
2. Single-household and two-household detached structures having direct lot frontage or vehicular access on Ministerial Road Scenic Highway.
D. Nonconforming uses. Whenever an applicant applies to the zoning board of review for addition, enlargement, expansion or intensification of a nonconforming use or structure as provided in section 203 of this ordinance, the landscaping requirements of this section shall be applied by the zoning board to the maximum extent feasible in order to achieve the goals and purpose of this section. See section 204.K., Landscaping.
E. Development plan standards. The design and landscaping standards required in this section are contained in the subdivision and land development regulations and are hereby incorporated into this zoning ordinance by reference.
(Ord. of 6-25-01; Ord. of 9-10-18; Ord. of 12-11-23(2))