Board Mulls New Technical Review Committee
By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
June 1st 2024
RICHMOND – Members of the Planning Board voted at Tuesday’s meeting to ask the Town Council to name a member of the Conservation Commission to the Technical Review Committee, or delegate the appointment to the Conservation Commission.
The Technical Review Committee: Who’s On It?
The Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation in 2023 requiring cities and towns to establish “Technical Review Committees,” or TRCs, to provide technical assistance and reviews of major land development applications to their Planning Boards.
The committee would serve in an advisory capacity, but its report would be included in the project review.
The composition of a Technical Review Committee varies slightly from town to town. Richmond’s committee, when all positions are filled, will comprise the Administrative Officer and committee Chair, Town Planner Talia Jalette, Public Works Director, Gary Robar, Planning Board Vice Chair, Dan Madnick, Zoning Officer Josh Jordan, the Chief of the Richmond-Carolina Fire Department or the Hope Valley-Wyoming Fire Department, depending on where the project under review would be located, an engineer hired by the town to provide engineering expertise to the Planning Department, the manager of the Richmond Water Department, if necessary, and a member of the Richmond Conservation Commission.
In an interview after the meeting, Madnick explained that because board members were not clear on which body would name the Conservation Commission member, on the advice of Town Solicitor Christopher Zangari, they approved a May 8, 2024 memorandum, drafted by Jalette, asking the Town Council to name that final member or delegate the task to the Conservation Commission.
“There is a draft memorandum to the Town Council that explains the Technical Review Committee and explains to them that they have to appoint someone from the Conservation Commission to be on the TRC and the discussion we had last night had to do with, can the Town Council delegate that responsibility to the Conservation Commission or are they responsible for the appointment,” Madnick said.
The TRC will not be fully constituted until the final member from the Conservation Commission has been appointed, and Jalette’s memorandum asks the council to name the final member as soon as possible.
“As there are several applications pending before the Planning Board that would benefit from review by the Technical Review Committee, time is of the essence in selecting a party to fulfill this vital role,” the memorandum states.
It is not clear why the state decided that technical review committees are necessary. The Planning Board, in its reviews of applications, already solicits the advice of town department heads and outside experts, such as engineers.
“This might be overly burdensome, because it’s just like another part of the process that we didn’t have before,” Madnick said. “We’ll go through it first and see how it goes.”
Skilled Trades Center
The Board discussed, at a continued Public Hearing that had begun at a previous meeting, the Master Plan for a proposal by Exeter developer, Shoreline Properties Inc., to build a skilled trades center on a nine -acre parcel in an industrial zone at 67 Stilson Road. The 72,000 - square foot center would provide work spaces for tradespeople in eight buildings, each of which would contain six rental units.
Representing the applicant was Patrick Freeman of American Engineering.
“Thank you for sending over the draft motion,” he said. “I had a chance to review it and we’re okay with the conditions.”
Addressing the board, Jalette said,
“You’re going to want to note how the application is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, it’s consistent with the zoning and it’s consistent with the land development subdivision regulations.”
Noting that the application met major objectives of the town’s Economic Development Commission, Madnick made a motion to approve the Master Plan.
“This plan is not requesting any zoning waivers,” he said. “It’s a very clean application.”
Board Chair Philip Damicis pointed out that the project would be required to comply with the town’s dark sky ordinance by installing dark sky-compliant lighting.
The application will be submitted to the town’s new Technical Review Committee. Freeman asked the board if he could submit his plan to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and meet with the TRC while he was awaiting the DEM’s decision.
“During their review, also meet with the TRC so it doesn’t take too long,” he said.
“I think, in this case, it’s a good idea,” Damicis replied. “The DEM permits, you could do that concurrent with the TRC’s review and you would just note to them, ‘hey the DEM permits are in review.’ It won’t stop them from giving us an advisory plan review.”
Freeman said he was hoping to have the proposal ready to submit to the town for the technical review in the coming weeks.
The Preserve
After a short discussion, board member Peter Burton made a motion, which the members approved, to accept the board’s draft decision on the amended version of the Phase 2B Final Plan submitted by The Preserve at Boulder Hills.