Planning Board Grants Preserve Plan Extension
By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
January 10th 2024
RICHMOND – At their Tuesday meeting, members of the Planning Board agreed to grant a one-year extension to the preliminary plan approval for Phase 2B of the ongoing development at The Preserve at Boulder Hills. The initial approval was issued on Jan. 11, 2022.
Two one-year extensions of preliminary plan approvals are permitted “for good cause,” under the town’s land development and subdivision regulations.
Appearing for the Preserve, owner and developer Paul Mihailides said he intended to move forward with plans to build residences, a medical office building, and a gas station, but he continued to press for tax relief.
“I was actually hoping before we started this new phase, to try to get some resolution to the taxes,” he said.
Board Chair Philip Damicis asked Mihailides about the work that would be taking place.
“Can you give us an idea of maybe what we could expect, possibly for some future development in there, what you have in mind? he asked. “It’s not specific to this phase, just overall.”
Milhailides responded,
“As it relates to this phase, everything that’s in the phase is going to be started quickly,” he said. “The townhouses will be started, the single - family homes will be started. The tiny homes will be started soon, like in the next 90 days.”
Mihailides added that his representatives had been working with Town Planner Talia Jalette on the plans for the medical office building and the gas station.
“That’s on the docket as well as some additional development in some of the other phases. One of the off-property parcels that we have, we’re going to be developing some homes as well,” he said.
Outstanding issues
The Preserve has not yet notified the town how it plans to satisfy the state’s inclusionary zoning requirement. Applicants are required to build, either on or off-site, three affordable housing units for every 20 market priced homes. The fee, In lieu of the affordable units, is $87,000 per unit.
In her memo to the board, submitted on 12-29-2003, Jalette stated,
To date, this Department has not received either:
fees in-lieu of affordable housing for the three units, or
documentation of three off-site affordable units.
Board Vice Chair Daniel Madnick asked Mihailides when he planned to pay the affordable housing fees, which currently total $261,000.
“If it’s just the $87,000 on the first six units, it’ll be paid… in the next two weeks,” Mihailides said, adding that the delay in fulfilling the requirement was related to the property tax rate
“It’s a function of, why would I pay $287,000, ‘$261,000,’ Madnick corrected, “if I’m not going to build because nobody’s going to buy them because the taxes on a condominium are $50,000 annually. I’m trying to work that out. That’s kind of been a challenge. The tax on a new home, I’m told, might be as much as $187,000.”
“To put it in perspective,” Damicis said jokingly, “that’s one or two nice shotguns.”
The Preserve has repeatedly challenged property tax assessments before the Board of Tax Assessment Review. Mihailides has also publicly stated that prospective buyers, most of whom are purchasing third or fourth vacation homes, would be deterred by the high property taxes. It should be noted, however, that homes at The Preserve have continued to sell, including a unit that fetched $10.9 million, the highest condominium price in Rhode Island in 2023.
Jalette also informed the board that the town had not received copies of several of the Department of Environmental Management approvals of the onsite waste water treatment, or septic systems. Mihailides said the permits had been sent to the town more than a year ago, but Jalette said the town was still missing the remaining permits.
“For this particular phase, when this submission came in, there were only three OWTS permits included as part of the submission. There are six OWTS systems out there, so I need the three additional permits,” she said.
The board approved the request for a one-year extension of the preliminary plan approval.
Zoning Amendments
After a brief discussion, members voted to send their proposed amendments to Title 2 of the Zoning Code of Ordinances to the Town Council. Drafted by Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth, the amendments are required in order to comply with changes to state laws.
Kingstown Road Development
The board granted a waiver which will allow the developer, Shoreline Properties Inc., to make some improvements to the exterior of a commercial structure that will be part of a mixed - use development at 102 Kingstown Road. The town prohibits work on a property while an application is before the Planning Board, however, the board agreed to grant a waiver to allow some work, such as the replacement of windows, exterior painting and re-siding and electrical system upgrades, to take place.
Punchbowl Trail
Engineer Patrick Freeman provided details of the pre-application for a proposed conservation development, “Perry Hill,” on Punchbowl Trail. The developer is the Punchbowl Trail Corporation of North Providence.
“The plan shows a conventional five-lot subdivision, where each parcel would consist of two acres,”
Freeman explained that the proposal involved a five-lot conservation development, with each lot consisting of 30,000 square feet.
“Each of the five parcels, we’re proposing to develop a four-bedroom single family home which will be serviced by a private well and onsite wastewater treatment system,” he said.
The developer would designate 6.8 acres of the 11.21-acre parcel as open space.
Damicis said it would be important to include a drainage component that would be in keeping with the rural character of the parcel.
“You’re going to have to be very careful how you design that, obviously,” he said. “We’d expect more of a rain garden with proper plantings. As long as we’re all on the same page that we’re not looking at a classic detention basin with, you know, riprap and fencing around it that’s going to be horrible to look at from that street. And the streetscape for Punchbowl is extremely rural in that area.”
Board members agreed to schedule a site walk of the property in the near future.