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| Photo credit - Brian Thompson |
by Tom Ferrio
Affordable Housing
This week the Planning Commission and Affordable Housing Commission prepared their advisory opinions for the Town Council regarding the Acquisition Funding for the Shannock Village Cottages 11 unit affordable workforce housing complex. Both Planning and Affordable Housing sent unanimous favorable recommendations to the Town Council. The Conservation Commission had previously sent a report with some notes but without specifically saying whether their opinion was favorable or unfavorable.
The Town Council will likely take up the Acquisition Funding request at their October 11 meeting. If the funding request is approved the town will pledge $275,000 toward the purchase of the property, as the town's contribution to stimulate the availability of Affordable Housing in Charlestown. This will come from issuing bonds that were previously approved by the voters. The interest and repayment of bond principal will be an addition to the town budget.
My sources predicted that this stage would go smoothly and that the knives will come out during the site plan review.
Prohibited Unless Permitted
This week we received clarification from Joe Warner, town Building Official, that the "prohibited unless permitted" comment only applies to the Principal Use of a property. Accessory Uses on a residential property are are the things that are considered to be a normal part of a residence.
As Evelyn Smith stated in a comment "What this means is that all the whining about all the mundane everyday activities that people "are prohibited from doing in their own homes" can just stop. Customarily incidental activities to a residential dwelling clearly include gardening, recreation, hobbies, even in-home occupations (218-37(I)-12 . Some of these activities may be regulated in part (most often in terms of where on the lot accessory structures may be located, or in some instances, like stables or greenhouses, some safeguards for neighbors' privacy or comfort.) Section 218-37B, which regulates accessory uses, rules out using motor vehicles, mobile homes, trailers or recreational vehicles as storage or utility buildings, and says that gasoline stations can not be considered an accessory use (duh). It does not rule out any other uses."
We were, separately, given an opinion by a resident that despite all of the wind being blown around about banning wind power, that a wind turbine is most likely allowed as an Accessory Use, the same as solar panels. Of course it would have to comply with building regulations such as the 35 foot height limitation.
It's also now clear that the Building Official interprets what is and is not an allowed Accessory Use. Evelyn goes on to explain "What Mr. Warner did not mention is that the Building Inspector's decisions are all subject to review by the Zoning Board of Appeals. An important part to all zoning ordinances is access to due process, and the appeal process is well-organized to protect the rights of both the applicant and abutting property owners."
Maybe we need to get everyone involved to agree to some statement around these regulations and procedures.
Emails and Letters from Jim
Last week we reported on the email exchange with Mr. Mageau. That ended with Mageau announcing that he would not cooperate with separating fact from fiction and that he would take his case to the newspapers where he will not be asked for any explanation of the accusations he makes. Thus it was no surprise to see his Letter in the Westerly Sun this week. Responses to that will likely ripple for some time. The first one is here and we will be publishing another after it appears in the Sun.
Red Light Cameras
The authorization, by the Town Council, for police Chief Shippee to solicit proposals for red light cameras has created a lot of conversation, and a substantial amount of misinformation. But a range of views have merit and you have even seen a diversity of views among your Progressive Charlestown writers.
Will has been particularly critical (here and here) of the CCA's posture of publishing anonymous emails whether they are well reasoned or contain blatant falsehoods. Red light cameras is a topic that is important to discuss openly but that can't be done honestly without an attempt to get the facts straight.
I documented the experience with cameras in a town where I lived, where they consider the program quite successful.
To me, the two sides seem to boil down to public safety versus personal liberty (fear of a growing police state and how to trade off public safety and intrusion). Obviously personal liberty is important, to the degree that it is not endangering others. This author wishes that the personal liberty movement could be applied to the many town ordinances that are not, and never have been, uniformly enforced.
Casinos
Like Will, I find it more than a little hypocritical that the Narragansett Tribe is denied the ability to have a casino that other tribes across the country have while the State is charging full-speed ahead to expand into full-gaming casino ownership.
Clearly converting some beautiful undeveloped land along Route 1 into a casino is not the answer but the state has passed up some reasonable opportunities to make peace with the Tribe.
Monopoly at the Beach
This investigative series about our beach concessions and likely conflict of interest between Lisa DiBello and the beach concession vendor has received extremely high readership.
That investigation, with suggestions we received from readers, has led to new revelations that we will continue to share with you. The next article in the series, Lisa DiBello's Business Dealings: "Come on Down!", will be published overnight for your Monday morning reading.
