SMITHFIELD – Clear-cutting for solar projects in town may now be reduced from 40 percent to 25 percent, says Town Councilor Michael Iannotti, who advocated for the change to the
SMITHFIELD – Bryant University withdrew its application for a 9,600-square-foot bar and restaurant last week, though representatives said the nonprofit university will return to the Planning Board for approval whether
SMITHFIELD – Residents came out in numbers to speak against a four-house development at 29 Leland Mowry Drive last Thursday, but despite concerns, the Planning Board approved the project.
SMITHFIELD – A one-million-square-foot warehouse and separate 120-square-foot building are proposed at the Smithfield Peat site at 295 George Washington Highway, drawing some criticism from local planners over the shift
SMITHFIELD – The Smithfield Planning Board has revamped the town’s housing chapter to reflect what officials say is a more realistic deadline to achieve a 10 percent state mandate of low-to-moderate-income housing in town: 2060.
During the Feb. 24 Planning Board meeting, Town Planner Michael Phillips described plans to eliminate the contentious Table H-25, which targets properties in Smithfield capable of sustaining high-density LMI housing. Changes will need to go before the Town Council for approval.
To compensate for its removal and to have a viable planning strategy to reach 10 percent LMI, Phillips said the timeline needed to be extended from 2040 to 2060.
Currently, the town is at 5.97 percent LMI with 468 of 8,166 total housing units being LMI. To reach 10 percent LMI by 2060, the town will need 973 LMI units out of a total of 9,726 units. According to Jeff Davis, of the Horsley Witten Group, those figures are reachable if one-third of all new housing developments are L