CouncilNotes
Minutes

Jan. 14, 2026 - Regular Planning Board Meeting

Middletown

Minutes · January 14, 2026

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350 East Main Road, Middletown, RI 02842 (401) 849-4027 | MiddletownRI.com |

PLANNING BOARD MINUTES

Regular Meeting

January 14, 2026, 6pm

Town Council Chambers – Town Hall

350 East Main Road

Middletown, RI 02842

Board members present:

Paul Croce, Chair

Charlie Vaillancourt, Vice Chair

Michael Fenton, Secretary

B.J. Owen

Leon Amarant

Steve Huttler

Joe Pierik

Members absent

None

Also present

Ron Wolanski, Town Planner

Michael Monti, Town Solicitor

Rudy Botros, Principal Planner

Mr. Croce called the meeting to order at 6:00pm

  • Mr. Croce noted that Dan Herchenroether of Herk Works Architects Group had stated that the 40 Valley Rd. project plans called for the installation of real windows on the outside of the wall to provide the appearance of common windows and that this should be amended on page 3 line 2 of the minutes.
  • Mr. Croce also noted that on page 3, item 14, there should be only one waiver request approved and on page 5 item 12 there were 7 and not 6 adjustments made.  He asked that these also be amended.

  • Motionby Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Amarant to approve the November 12, 2025 meeting minutes as amended.- Vote:7-0-0.

  • No Correspondence

a.    Item 5.a. would be reviewed before item 4.a while items 4.c., 4.d., and 5.b. would be continued to the next meeting date.

b.    Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to continue agenda items 4.c 4.d, and 5.b to the February 11, 2026 regular meeting. Vote: 7-0-0

  • Public Hearing- Consideration of adoption of proposed amendments to the Middletown Rules and Regulations Regarding the Subdivision and Development of Land necessary to address amendments to state law passed in the 2025 session of the RI General Assembly, including amendments to Article 2 regarding definitions; sections 402, 403, 404, 406 and 407 regarding subdivision and land development application review procedures; and section 805 regarding appeal procedures, and provide a recommendation to the Town Council for ratification of said amendments.

b.    Discussion and recommendation to the Town Council on proposed amendments to the Middletown Zoning Ordinance, Town Code Chapter 152, sections 311, 323, 728, 805, 906, and Article 17 necessary to address changes to state law.

i.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to open a public hearing. Vote: 7-0-0.

ii.        Mr. Wolanski reminded the Board that these amendments had been discussed with the Planning Board previously.  All the changes to the Subdivision Regulations and Zoning Ordinances are required by state law.  The Town has no discretion and in fact has already implemented these changes.  They are now in front of the Board to bring town regulations and ordinances into compliance with State law.  Recommendations will be forwarded to the Town Council.  State law requires a public hearing before any changes to the subdivision regulations but not necessarily for zoning ordinance changes.

iii.        Mr. Wolanski gave an in-depth presentation to the Board to explain the specific changes that would be made to town regulations and ordinances and answered several clarifying questions from the Board.

iv.        Mr. Huttler, questioned the process the town uses to permit adaptive reuse projects.  The possibility of making changes to section 728 were introduced.

v.        Mr. Amarant and Mr. Vaillancourt proposed that town fees, especially development impact fees, may be excessive and act as a disincentive to developers.

vi.        Mr. Croce invited members of the public to speak.

vii.        Christopher Rowe, of 177 Chases Lane, a member of the Zoning Board, addressed the Planning Board regarding training for Zoning Board members on upcoming changes to town ordinances and whether they are currently in effect despite not having been ratified yet.

viii.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to close the public hearing. Vote: 6-0-0.

ix.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to adopt the amendments to the regulations subject to ratification by the Town Council. Vote: 6-0-0.

x.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to recommend to the Town Council the adoption of Zoning Ordinance amendments minus section 728, which will be revised.  Vote: 6-0-0.

  • Discussion of, and recommendation to the Town Council on proposed design requirements and other restrictions for multi-family residential development, including proposed amendments to Middletown Zoning Ordinance Section 1508 – Building Design and Location; proposed amendments to the Use Table in the Middletown Zoning Ordinance; Section 602 – Schedule of District Regulations – Uses and Districts– Multi-family dwelling structure & Multi-family dwelling project to allow the uses in the R-10, R-20 and R-30 zoning districts by special use permit; Section 603 regarding dimensional requirements for two-family dwelling, multi-family dwelling structure, and multi-family dwelling project; and Section 1504 regarding allowable density for multifamily dwelling structure and multifamily dwelling project.Postponed to next meeting.
  • Request of the Town Council for review and recommendation on a draft complete streets ordinance.   Postponed to next meeting.
  • Review of proposed guidelines for traffic studies submitted to the Planning Board for development project applications.

i.        Mr. Croce noted the following changes to the language that Mr. Wolanski, made in conjunction with town solicitors Peter Regan and Michael Monti.

1)    The threshold for number of car trips during peak hour that would trigger a full traffic impact study would decrease from 100 to 20.

2)    Smaller projects on East Main Rd., West Main Rd., Valley Rd. and Aquidneck Ave, that would not meet the 20 trips per peak hour threshold, would not be required to submit a full traffic study.  However, all projects would still be required to submit a preliminary traffic impact memo.  It would be at the Planning Board’s discretion to request a full traffic impact study based on the results of the preliminary study.

3)    Mr. Wolanski explained that traffic review is still part of the TRC recommendations process.

4)    Mr. Wolanski explained to Mr. Croce that to adopt these changes as part of the subdivision and land development regulations a public hearing must be held.  Mr. Wolanski stated that he would setup a hearing and that it would have to be advertised 3 weeks in advance.

  • Review and approval of memo to Town Council regarding 9 discussion topics for the February 17, 2026 joint Planning Board/Town Council meeting.

  • Public Hearing– Request of the Town of Middletown for Development Plan Review and request for a waiver from Section 521.2.C of the Middletown Rules and Regulations Regarding the Subdivision and Development of Land regarding use of noncompliant exterior building materials for construction of a deck expansion, a steel framed fabric structure, and associated work on property located at 315 Sachuest Point Road, Tax Assessors Plat 127 Lot 18.

i.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to open a public hearing. Vote: 7-0-0.

ii.        Town Solicitor, Michael Monti, recuses himself from the application.

iii.        Justin Matus, registered professional engineer in Rhode Island, took to the podium to represent the town of Middletown.  He explained that the current deck is made of concrete and wood and the project calls for an 800 square foot expansion of the wooden section and resurfacing of the existing wood.  On top of the new deck will be a 340 square foot steel frame tent structure with clear panoramic sides that are removable.  The existing boardwalk will be expanded around the new deck footprint.  Site circulation will also be improved.

iv.        After Mr. Matus fielded questions regarding the materials to be used, Mr. Croce, invited members of the public to speak.  There were no speakers.

v.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to close the public hearing. Vote: 7-0-0.

vi.        Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to approve the Development Plan Review, subject to findings and the following waiver request.

I.        Requested Waiver:

a.    Section 521.2.C - Building sidings, roofs, and trim shall be constructed of, or resemble, traditional materials such as wooden clapboards, shingles, patterned shingles, brick, or stone. Clear fabric removable siding is proposed.

**                                              vii.        **Vote: 7-0-0.

  • Public HearingPostponed to next meeting.
  • Receive the draft Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan from the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee and discuss adoption process and schedule.

i.        A special meeting will be set up to receive and forward the plan to the Town Council.

  • Status Report on Planning Board action items

b.    Committee reports

i.    Tree Commission – Ms. Owen stated that the Tree Commission would review the 345 Valley Rd and Wyndham Hotel projects at the next meeting.  The Commission has also been working on potential locations for street plantings in 2026.

ii.    Open Space and Fields Committee – Mr. Fenton stated that the Committee is working on a property scoring document, used to possibly purchase vacant lots for community recreation, that will be forwarded to the Town Council and referenced in the Comprehensive Plan.

iii.    Conservation Commission – Mr. Amarant stated that the Conservation Committee had recently met but he was unable to attend.  The Committee discussed the 345 Valley Rd. project and produced a memo.  They also discussed the future vision and purpose of the Conservation Commission.

iv.    Middletown Center Citizen’s Advisory Committee – Mr. Fenton stated that all further meetings have been put on hold.

c.     Upcoming meetings:

i.    Planning Board meeting – February 11, 2026

ii.    Joint Planning Board/Town Council Meeting – February 17, 2026.

Motion by Ms. Owen, seconded by Mr. Vaillancourt to adjourn. Vote: 6-0-0

Meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Fenton, Secretary