General requirements and design standards

A. All lots created as part of a residential compound shall have frontage on a private right-of-way with adequate physical access to a public street. All private rights-of-way within a residential compound or subdivision shall remain private in perpetuity. No private residential compound right-of-way may be extended or connect to another private right-of-way within another residential compound. At the time of final approval, Town legal counsel shall approve the form and content of a legal document, to be recorded simultaneously with the final plat, which includes a covenant by the owner of the parcel, binding on his successors and assigns, that the Town of West Greenwich shall not be asked or required to accept or maintain the private streets within the parcel, for a minimum of 99 years from the date of recording, or, if only a lesser period is legally enforceable, for that period with as many automatic renewals as are necessary to total 99 years. Such restrictions shall state that any and all future expenses for improvements to private streets (including drainage) to meet Town requirements shall be borne by the owners of the property within the residential compound.
B. No lot or parcel which has been developed as part of a residential compound shall be further subdivided or reduced in size, with the exception of an administrative subdivision. Administrative subdivisions shall be for the purpose of lot line adjustments only, and shall not be intended to contribute developable area for an abutting residential compound.
- (1) Land gained by an Administrative subdivision within the previous five years shall not count towards the land area required for a residential compound.
- (2) Administrative subdivisions may be permitted among residential lots within the residential compound in accord with these regulations; provided, however, that such transfers or lot line amendments maintain conformity with the minimum dimensional standards contained in this section of this chapter for each lot or lots so affected and the average density within the approved residential compound remains at one dwelling per four acres. This provision shall not prevent the development of a residential compound in phases as long as future phases are clearly designated as part of the initial preliminary plan submission.
- (3) Administrative subdivisions that propose the transfer of excess land or open space to a parcel or parcels situated outside the residential compound shall not be permitted.
C. Land unsuitable for development, as that term is defined in Chapter 450, Land Development and Subdivision Regulations, § 450-8, may be included as part of any residential building lot; provided, however, that such land shall not be counted toward the minimum lot area required by this chapter for the RFR-2 Zoning District. Each lot within a residential compound must contain a minimum of 1.4 acres of contiguous suitable land.
D. The private right-of-way shall be contained within defined (metes and bounds) easements over the proposed lots, not as a separate lot, and shall not count towards the minimum suitable land requirement.
E. All land area within the residential compound in excess of that necessary to meet the minimum lot area requirements of this chapter shall be designated as extra area within one or more residential house lots.
F. In approving a residential compound, the Planning Board must determine that all of the general requirements contained in Chapter 450, Land Development and Subdivision Regulations, Article III, have been met and in addition that one or more of the following design objectives are met in the proposed development plan:
- (1) The number of lots having direct egress onto existing public streets is less than through conventional subdivision, and the number of lots having frontage on existing public ways has been less than through conventional subdivision.
- (2) Dwelling units and infrastructure will be constructed in a manner which will have the least visual impact on the parcel of land in question as viewed from the public way providing access to the compound, or from adjacent residentially zoned properties.
- (3) Lots will be configured in a manner that preserves primary and secondary resource areas on the tract or adjacent to the tract, such as wetlands, watercourses or bodies, open fields, meadows, wildlife habitat, steep slopes, or other significant areas.