City Centre Warwick (CCW)
The intent of the City Centre Warwick ("CCW") is to encourage, guide and direct development and to ensure that the character presented in the City Centre Warwick Master Plan, as amended, is maintained and that mixed uses provide for the health and growth of the Development District. The construction and design of buildings and open spaces shall be regulated and approved in accordance with the provisions of the City Centre Warwick Master Plan.
Specific components of this purpose include:
A. To comply with all the elements of section 103 purpose as contained in this zoning ordinance.
B. To ensure that the District capitalizes on the substantial public investment in T.F. Green Airport, the Intermodal facility and the Interlink.
C. To expand economic development opportunity within the District by encouraging private-sector investment.
D. To provide for an orderly development process that places a premium on quality of design, walkability, function and mitigating traffic impacts and supports multimodal travel options.
507.1. Procedures for approval.
(a) Application. Before a property owner applies for a building permit or commences improvements including the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, demolition, removal and/or rehabilitation of new or existing buildings, or appurtenances (paving, curb cuts, parking areas, drainage, etc.) within the CCW, a written application for such work and appropriate development plans shall be submitted to the Planning Department.
The administrative officer to the planning board shall have the authority to review an application and approve, approve with conditions or deny any application administratively or, at his/her discretion, may forward the application to the planning board for review and action pursuant to the provisions of this section of the zoning ordinance and no building permit shall be issued before a project receives design approval from either the administrative officer or the planning board.
(b) Administrative approval. The following shall not require formal planning board approval and may be approved administratively by the administrative officer. Any application denied by the administrative officer may be appealed by the applicant to the planning board for action at the next available meeting of the planning board.
(1) Work meant to remedy damage or deterioration of a structure or its appurtenances which involves no change in type of materials, dimensions, design, configuration, texture or visual appearance;
(2) Exterior alterations to existing buildings, parking areas and appurtenances that require a building permit.
(3) Business enhancement plantings.
(4) Signs that conform to all of the requirements contained section 800 "signs."
(c) Planning board review. The planning board shall review all applications including, but not limited to, new construction, additions, moving of structures and demolition of buildings. Such review shall be held during a regular Planning Board meeting in accordance with the procedures contained in the City of Warwick Land Development Subdivision Review Regulations.
(d) Determination. The planning board shall be authorized to approve, approve with conditions or deny an application. Approval shall be based upon conformance with the regulations of this section, the City Centre Warwick Master Plan, as amended, City of Warwick Development Review Regulations and the CCW Design Manual.
(e) Advice from other agencies. In order to assist in its review, the planning board may request other agencies to review and comment on proposals. Compliance with the Design Guidelines of the CCW Master Plan and Ordinance shall be determined by the planning board or a designated design review subcommittee. This process may be assisted by a third party peer review consultant to provide design review on an on-call basis at the request of the applicant or the board, provided that the proper findings of fact have been made. This consultant may be selected by the applicant subject to prior approval from the board. The consultant shall have demonstrated a satisfactory knowledge of the design principles, fundamentals and objectives as contained within the CCW Master Plan. The total fee for the third party peer review shall be paid by the applicant before the application receives final approval.
507.2. Design regulations for alterations and enlargements of existing buildings, parking areas and/or landscaping. All exterior improvements on existing buildings in the CCW are subject to approval by the administrative officer or planning board and shall be regulated by these standards and guidelines except for those activities listed in section 507.1(b) administrative approval. The purpose of these regulations and the CCW Design Manual is to establish design criteria to create and maintain the architectural and landscape features of the district envisioned in the City Centre Warwick Master Plan.
(a) Minimum standards. The following are minimum standards for the design of alterations or additions to existing buildings:
(1) Design. Alterations and additions to existing buildings shall follow the design standards defined within the City Centre Warwick Master Plan and further detailed within the CCW Design Manual. All designs shall be compatible with the size, scale, massing, proportion, material, and other features and environmental setting of a pedestrian-scaled urban development.
(2) Additions and alterations. Wherever possible, additions or alterations to buildings, structures, and appurtenances shall be designed in a manner that transforms existing buildings to conform to the character of the district in compliance with the standards for new construction listed in section 507.3.
(3) Exterior lighting and glare. All exterior lighting shall be designed to minimize negative impacts on neighboring properties. Night sky pollution shall be controlled by downshaded lighting or shielded lighting. All lighting shall be based upon a pedestrian scale appropriate for the City Centre Warwick setting. Glare from outdoor lights and signs and from the movement of vehicles on site shall be shielded from the view of adjacent residential properties.
(4) Landscaping and screening. Landscaping and screening requirements for the City Centre Warwick Intermodal and Gateway Districts. It is the intent of this subsection to require that properties within the City Centre Warwick Intermodal and Gateway Districts be suitably landscaped and screened in order to provide for attractive and well maintained development in accordance with section 103, purpose of this ordinance. All uses in the City Centre Warwick Intermodal and Gateway Districts shall comply with the minimum standards contained in section 505, landscaping and screening requirements for nonresidential uses; the landscaping and screening requirements specified in section 700, parking and loading; as well as the guidelines found in the CCW Design Manual.
507.3. Design regulations for new construction, parking, landscaping, stormwater control, and signage. All new construction in the CCW is subject to approval by the planning board and shall be regulated by these standards and guidelines as well as those defined within the City Centre Warwick Master Plan, the CCW Design Manual, and sections 505.2 through 505.5 and 505.7 of section 505, landscaping and screening requirements for nonresidential uses, except for those activities listed in subsection 507.1(b) administrative approval. The purpose of these regulations is to establish design criteria to create a development district which is pedestrian in scale and to ensure that new construction is consistent with the CCW Master Plan.
(a) Minimum standards. The following are minimum standards for all new construction projects.
(1) Design. Buildings, structures and site layout, shall be visually compatible with the character contained in the City Centre Warwick Master Plan and the surrounding area, including building materials, massing, scale, building roof lines, and site furnishings.
(2) Architectural elements. Architectural elements should be in proportion to the overall building and should also be congruent with the surrounding building context. Exaggerated or excessively large (or small) architectural elements should be avoided. Development projects should reuse existing buildings of historical significance whenever possible.
(3) Scale. Large scale development may be encouraged in appropriate areas, but pedestrian level streetscapes shall be included as an integral design element. Conventional suburban-oriented, individual structures with a single entrance set back on a large expanse of asphalt parking are prohibited. New buildings should not be single story, large, bulky masses, but should be vertical in orientation and multi-storied.
(4) Vehicular access. Proposed site layout shall limit direct access to collector and arterial roadways and shall provide safe ingress and egress from local roads and private drives by providing a sufficient number and control of access points including adequate site distances, turning lanes and signalization when required by existing and projected traffic flow. The planning board may require consolidation of existing curb cuts into fewer clearly defined entrances. The planning board may also require shared access between developments where practicable. No development shall be allowed where there is unrestricted access to public streets or roadways or where a public street must be utilized to maneuver in and out of a parking space. Provisions shall be made for providing and maintaining safe and convenient emergency vehicle access to all buildings and structures at all times.
(5) Parking. New construction shall conform to section 700, off-street parking and loading, except for the parking reductions prescribed below:
Use Requirement Parking Spaces per Unit or Gross Floor Area (GFA) Office, Bank, Medical and Professional 1 spaces/300 square feet of GFA Hotel 0.75/bedroom Multifamily residential 1.5/dwelling unit Retail/Entertainment 1/300 square feet of GFA
Parking structures may be required to satisfy parking space requirements. Due to the pedestrian nature of the Intermodal zone and the use of the Interlink between the Intermodal facility and the airport terminal, the planning board may limit the number of parking spaces provided for each use within the WSDDCCW. In addition, the planning board may limit the ingress and egress points of parking facilities to side streets to ensure that traffic congestion is mitigated so that collector and arterial roadways are not adversely impacted.
(6) Circulation. The design of the project circulation system shall be inclusive of all transportation choices and relate to planned improvements in the area, including future walkways, street widening, realignments, or paving programs which have been planned or scheduled for construction. The design shall be consistent with corridor improvement designs encouraged within the City Centre Warwick Master Plan and CCW Design Manual and promote convenient and safe pedestrian and bicycle transit accessible to all. Small scaled interior streets and drives, alleyways, public spaces, and pedestrian paths shall be encouraged within the district. Such interior circulation shall link to an overall system envisioned in the City Centre Warwick Master Plan.
(7) View corridors. Views of significant features such as the new intermodal station and the Airport terminal shall be preserved whenever possible.
(8) Utilities. New development shall not impose unreasonable burdens on sanitary sewers, storm-drains, water lines, roadway systems and other public utilities and may be subject to impact studies in accordance with the Warwick Development Review Regulations. Developers shall be responsible for all improvements and upgrades resulting from a proposed development. All utilities shall be underground.
(a) Public water. All new construction must utilize the City of Warwick water system. Sufficient public water supply must be available for a proposed development and shall not result in an unreasonable burden on the existing water supply.
(b) Sewage disposal. All new construction must utilize the City of Warwick sanitary sewer system. Sufficient sewer capacity must be available throughout the sewer system for a proposed development and shall not result in an unreasonable burden on the existing sewer system.
(c) Stormwater run-off and erosion control. Adequate provisions shall be made for stormwater runoff so that removal of surface water shall not adversely affect neighboring properties, downstream water quality, soil erosion or the storm-drain system. Whenever possible, on site underground infiltration systems shall be utilized to eliminate discharges from the site.
1. Erosion and sedimentation shall be controlled during and after construction and shall not adversely affect adjacent or neighboring property or public facilities and services. All erosion control shall meet the standards of the City of Warwick and the Rhode Island Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook.
2. All stormwater control shall meet the standards of the Rhode Island Storm-water Design and Installation Standards Manual and Section D.2.7 "Drainage" as contained in the City of Warwick Development Review Regulations. Such stormwater control shall be integral to the landscape design of the project.
(d) Traffic impact. Proposed developments shall not impose unreasonable burdens on the circulation system of the district or surrounding areas. Public roadways inadequate to handle the volume of traffic generated by the development shall be improved by the applicant to provide safe, efficient passage for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. Developers may be required to provide a traffic impact report prepared by a certified traffic engineer as authorized in the development review regulations.
(9) Security. In the case of significant projects having a substantial impact upon the district, the city, or the surrounding area, the planning board shall require a performance guarantee in accordance with the Warwick Development Review Regulations ensuring that the project will be completed in accordance with the approved plans and any conditions imposed.
(10) Signs. The size, location, design, lighting and materials of all exterior signs and outdoor advertising structures shall be compatible with the design of proposed buildings, structures and surrounding properties. The planning board may limit the size and number of signs for any property, provided however, that at least one sign for each nonresidential lot which meets the standards of the City of Warwick Zoning Ordinance shall be allowed.
(11) Special features. Exposed storage areas, exposed machinery, service areas, loading areas, utility buildings and similar structures shall have sufficient setbacks and screening to provide an audio and visual buffer designed to minimize adverse impacts on surrounding properties.
(12) Exterior lighting and glare. All exterior lighting shall be designed to minimize negative impacts on neighboring properties. Night sky pollution shall be controlled by downshaded lighting or shielded lighting. All lighting shall be based upon a pedestrian scale appropriate for the City Centre Warwick setting. Glare from outdoor lights and signs and from the movement of vehicles on site shall be shielded from the view of adjacent residential properties.
507.4 Demolition. In order to create the appropriate architectural and landscape character envisioned in the City Centre Warwick Master Plan, no building shall be demolished until the planning board has granted a demolition permit.
(1) Review of application. In reviewing an application for demolition, the planning board shall consider the architectural quality of the existing building and the quality of the site and shall review the proposed landscaping and/or new building to be constructed.
(2) Grant of demolition. A demolition permit shall not be issued until the applicant demonstrates adequate financial ability to demolish the existing structure and landscape the site or construct a new building on the site. The planning board may require a performance guarantee to ensure that all work approved in the grant of demolition is satisfactorily completed.
(Ord. No. O-12-6, § I(Exh. A), 1-19-12; Ord. No. O-23-24, § I, 12-20-23)
Editor's note— Ord. No. O-23-24, § I, adopted Dec. 20, 2023, amended § 507 and in doing so changed the title of said section from "Warwick Station Development District (WSDD)" to "City Centre Warwick (CCW)," as set out herein.