Board Recommends Zoning Change for Motocross Track

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
August 9th, 2023

RICHMOND – With Chair Phil Damicis absent and Vice Chair Dan Madnick running the meeting, the Planning Board voted at a public hearing to recommend to the Town Council that it approve amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan to allow a race track for motorcycles on a property on Buttonwoods Road.

The board also voted, in a separate discussion that followed the hearing, to amend the zoning ordinance to allow the race track.

Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth advised the Board,

“Because you’re doing two separate things, you need to separate them in your mind, and when you’re ready to vote on a recommendation, deal with them separately.”

Attending the meeting for the first time was newly-hired Town Planner Talia Jalette, who began working for the town on Aug. 7.

Attorney John Mancini, representing property owner Jordan Carlson, presented the application. The parcel is in an R-2, or residential zone, in which motorized vehicle racing is prohibited.

“The petition requests that the town amend its comprehensive plan, amend its zoning ordinance and also amend its future land use map to designate this parcel as FT, which is flex tech,” Mancini said. “In addition to that, the applicant is also asking for an amendment to your table of uses, which is your zoning ordinance, to permit, in the FT [flex tech] zone, a particular use, identified as race track for motorized vehicles.”

Manicini also noted that the 14-acre parcel is located in a largely industrial area.

“When you look at the zoning map, you will see that the parcel is surrounded by industrial, existing flex tech zoning, public and governmental zoning and further industrial, with open space across the way,” he said. “So, the existing parcel zoned there, R- 2, really isn’t consistent or congruent with the surrounding zoning and accordingly, we argue that the proposed zoning is a better reflection of what the future land use map has indicated that this area should be.”

During the public hearing, those who commented, including Town Council member Michael Colasante and the town’s Electrical Inspector Jeffrey Vaillancourt, spoke in support of the race track.

Board members agreed that the amendments should be specifically for motorcycles and that the “motorized vehicles” described in the initial proposal was too vague and might leave the door open for future auto racing.

The board voted unanimously to recommend to the council that the comprehensive plan be amended from medium density residential to flex tech. The board also recommended the council approve the requested zoning change from R-2 single family residential to flex tech.

Next steps

If the Town Council approves the amendments, Jordan Carlson will still be required to go through the development plan review process and clear one major state permitting hurdle.

In order to complete his application, he will have to obtain a Rhode Island Pollution Discharge Elimination System, or RIPDES permit from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. RIPDES permits are required for projects that are larger than five acres.

However, Carlson has already been cited by DEM for altering freshwater wetlands on his property and on Aug. 9, 2022, the agency issued a cease and desist order.

The order describes what state inspectors found after obtaining a warrant to enter the property. The warrant inspection took place on June 22, 2022 and revealed what DEM describes as “unauthorized alterations to Freshwater Wetlands.”

The order describes the violations:

“The inspection revealed that at least the following activities have been undertaken on the Property by you or your agents without the authorization of the DEM: Performing site work within several wetland corridors, including at least clearing, stumping, grubbing, filling, grading, and creating surface disturbances, within at least Swamp, a Perennial River/Stream, Streams, 50-Foot Perimeter Wetlands [associated with Swamp and Pond] Riverbank Wetlands [associated with the River/Streams], culverting an Area Subject to Storm Flowage (ASSF) and withdrawing water from/causing sedimentation within Pond.”

Asked Wednesday about the status of the case, DEM spokesman Michael Healey would say only that “It’s an open and unresolved case and the investigation is ongoing.”

Carlson would be required to remediate the wetlands damage before the state will issue a RIPDES permit.

The Town of Richmond, represented by Town Solicitor Michael Cozzolino, has also filed a complaint in Rhode Island Superior Court for zoning violations.

Riverhead expansion

Having reviewed 600-page application for the expansion of Riverhead Building Supply at 38 Kingstown Road, the Board approved the preliminary plan for the project.

The proposal involves the construction of a 200,000-square foot warehouse and distribution facility.

The new development will add 15 acres of construction to the 48-acre site, bringing the build—out to about 26 acres. The company, which is owned by GX3 LLC of New York State, plans to invest $20 million in the project.

The Preserve

In other business, the board approved a request from The Preserve at Boulder Hills for a one-year extension of the Phase 2 Master Plan approval, involving, in part, the construction of a medical facility and general store on Kingstown Road.

Asked about taxes owed to the town and fulfilling the affordable housing requirement, Preserve representatives said the company was looking for properties to develop as affordable housing that would satisfy the mandate