NEWS

Little changes with new Pawtuxet plan

Village group wants to save river walking trail, flood plain

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 12/28/22

You may want to pack a sandwich for the Planning Board Jan. 11 meeting at Vets Middle School starting at 6 p.m. for what promises to be a double feature.

Before the board is the proposal to build …

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NEWS

Little changes with new Pawtuxet plan

Village group wants to save river walking trail, flood plain

Posted

You may want to pack a sandwich for the Planning Board Jan. 11 meeting at Vets Middle School starting at 6 p.m. for what promises to be a double feature.

Before the board is the proposal to build a 150-dog parlor and veterinary hospital on Jefferson Boulevard adjacent to the entrance to Wethersfield Commons and revised plans for an industrial development in Pawtuxet. The dog parlor hearing was continued earlier this month after more than 100 people packed into the community room in the Sawtooth Annex Building to oppose the plan based on how barking dogs would disrupt the neighborhood and the business would bring unwanted cut-through traffic to the 493 unit condominium complex.

The developer, Carlos Gutierrez, doesn’t need a zone change or exception. He is looking for master plan approval.

Aware of the high interest in the development, the Planning Department secured the school auditorium that can seat almost 1,000.

It’s a good thing they did.

Also on the agenda for master plan approval is the proposal of Lee Beausoleil of Beausoleil Asphalt & Sons and Artak Avagyan of A-Star Oil to build two buildings with a total of 65,000 square feet for their businesses and to rent to landscape companies to store equipment and materials at 175 Post Road in Pawtuxet. Like the dog parlor, the land is properly zoned for the development. The issue here is the size of the development, proximity to wetlands and that a long-used walking trail next to the Pawtuxet River is on the 15-acre site and could be closed to the public.

The owners appeared before the board in June with a plan for four buildings even though planners suggested something smaller and preserving a large chunk of the land as open space.

They met a hostile neighborhood crowd.

As there was confusion as to whether the owners received a violation notice from the Department of Environmental Management about storage of PVC pipes and hazardous material being stored too close to the river, the board advised the owners to return once issues raised by DEM were resolved. Tempers flared when the property owners removed a sign made by the Boy Scouts who also work on the trail and replaced it with no-trespassing signs. The action galvanized the neighbors. Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi appealed to the owners to allow people to use the trail but the signs remain.

The owners complied with DEM paying a $9,076 fine and relocated the pipes. 

The story was picked up by ecoRI News, who questioned the potential environmental impacts of the of the former Hammel Dahl valve manufacturing plant that was in the river flood plain. The owners demolished the plant sometime after buying the property for $450,000 in 2019. State Rep. Joseph McNamara rallied on behalf of the neighborhood calling on DEM to prohibit storage of the PVC pipes on grounds that they were hazardous waste and posted a threat to the community if they caught fire or washed down river.

On Aug. 19, DEM director Terrence Gray responded to McNamara writing the department “investigated those materials and the owner of the property has told us they are usable materials and not waste. When we visited the site, it appeared as if the materials in question were being managed as products, and not waste, so without evidence that they are completely unusable, we need to rely on the owner’s representations and consider these materials as usable materials.”

Not until last week did owners file revised plans with the city.

The public learned the owners were returning to the Planning Board from a legal advertisement in last Thursday’s Beacon.

Sutton didn’t waste any time.

On Friday, he sent a blast email to Revival members with copies of the new plans, a summary of what they showed and how they differed (little is his conclusion) from the originals and urging them to contact their elected officials as well as attend the Jan. 11 meeting.

Writing of the plan for the two buildings, Sutton says, “This means that 175 Post, which is a flood plain that abuts the river and is surrounded by wetlands, could be home to an oil company, an asphalt company and an array of other contractor materials depending on who leases the spaces. Toxic chemicals, pollutants, machines, and vehicles would likely be kept on this lot. The owners have claimed that they will not have “outdoor storage.” There are currently piles of discarded asphalt on the lot.  The business concept will have negative impacts on the Pawtuxet River, local wildlife, and the surrounding residences for a number of reasons that we will address.”

Sutton also cites objection to the request to reserve the right to create a lot in place of the current Pawtuxet Walking Trail entrance location that he said has not been built upon since the land record started in 1638.

“We oppose the subdivision of this land and hope that the Pawtuxet River Trail can remain untouched and accessible to the public as it has been for 30 plus years (until recently)!”

Sutton also informed the group numbering more than 130 that Pawtuxet Green Revival pursued a conservation easement for the trail at the Attorney General’s office. They have not received a response so far.

Pawtuxet, plan

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