CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE
RHODE ISLAND
JOURNAL OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
PUBLIC HEARING - STOP & SHOP
TUESDAY,
7:30 P.M.
The City Council meets in the Council chamber on Tuesday, June 27, 1995 for the purpose of a Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Zone Change, and Land Development Project by the petitioner - Stop & Shop. The meeting is called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Mayor Rolland R. Grant.
Present:
Rolland R. Grant, Mayor
Joseph S. Urisa, Jr. )
Gerald R. Lynch ) Council Members
Norman J. Miranda )
Robert D. Sullivan )
Gregory S. Dias ) Assistant City Solicitor
Valerie A. Perry ) City Clerk
(Lynn Pagano, Woods Reporting, 20 Fifth Street, Providence, Rhode Island, is present to record the proceedings of the public hearing).
Invocation is given by Councilman Miranda.
Salute to the Flag is led by Councilman Sullivan.
Mayor Rolland R. Grant lays the ground rules for the hearing. He says if parties are represented by Counsel, they may cross examine the Expert Witnesses. He says testimony will be limited to one and one half hours for each side and Expert Witnesses will have to be qualified.
Martin Slepkow, Attorney for Stop & Shop, addresses the Council. He says the original petition by Stop & Shop was withdrawn in August 1994 without prejudice to allow his client to develop a new plan to accommodate the neighbors and City staff.
He says they have more than met the requirements.
Motion is made by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Miranda, to waive the requirements contained in Sec. 19-76 of the Zoning Ordinance.
Paul Ryan, Attorney for the Minority Political Caucus, addresses the Council. He asks that a memo, prepared by him, on the waiver of 19-76 be made part of the record. He says that he wants it put on the record that he has not had a chance to review the latest plan and that he objects to the due process right.
Question is moved by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Miranda, and a roll call vote is taken on the motion, which passes unanimously.
Martin Slepkow gives an overview of the plan approval of the Land Development Plan, Rezoning of C-3 and the amendment of the Comprehensive Plan. He says numerous revisions have been made to the proposal.
David Liozzi, Providence Councilman, addresses the Council regarding Manton Avenue Stop & Shop.
Christopher Corkery, 131 Hargreaves Drive, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Headmaster of Providence Country Day School, addresses the Council and asks for support of the plan and tells why they are seeking a zone change.
Mr. Larisa asks Mr. Corkery if PCD received any other offer for the property, and Mr. Corkery says interest was expressed but with no firm offers.
Elizabeth Frank, 16 Brag Road, Foxboro, Massachusetts, Senior Real Estate Agent, Stop & Shop, speaks of the success of the Stop & Shop in Smithfield, Rhode Island [1] and testifies that residents will be given priority for part-time help. She says when the super store opened in Pawtucket in 1986, it was immediately clear that the East Providence business was lost.
Wilfrid Gates, 2253 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island, President of Gates Leighton Associates, presents a slide presentation on the proposed Stop & Shop.
Robert Shaw is sworn in and gives qualifications as an Expert on Traffic Study. He says the development will increase traffic but transportation improvements will be made.
Motion is made by Mr. Lynch, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted to accept Mr. Shaw as an Expert Witness.
Mr. Shaw is questioned by the Council regarding the increase of Pawtucket Avenue and Waterman Avenue traffic. Answering a question from Mr. Lynch, Mr. Shaw says that a strip mall with six stores would generate more traffic that a single store.
The meeting recesses at 9:45 p.m. and reconvenes at 9:55 p.m.
Walter Steinkraus, 183 Spring Street, Marshfield, Massachusetts, Manager of Construction and Development of Stop & Shop, is present and sworn. Mr. Steinkraus introduces for the record the changes being made to address the
concerns of the neighbors [3] and says everything will be done according to code. Also introduced for the record is a letter from Thomas E. Deller, Secretary of the Providence Redevelopment Agency, regarding Manton Avenue Stop & Shop.[4] He says Stop & Shop met with the Fire Chief and they will make changes to meet the Chief's concerns.
Peter Moore, 21 Wedgewood Drive, Seekonk, Massachusetts, Professor of Economics at Rhode Island College, is sworn in. Motion to accept Mr. Moore as an Expert Witness [5] is made by Mr. Sullivan, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted. Mr. Moore says that a manufacturing site is not good for this location. He says that the Stop & Shop will increase employment opportunity, will broaden the tax base, will increase competition to benefit the economy, and should contribute to the economic growth and revitalization of the City.
Robert O'Neal, 1601 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts, an Acoustical Engineer, is present and sworn. Mr. O'Neal is accepted as an expert witness [6] and says he performed noise measurements in the area and made recommendations for the site.
William McGovern, 837 Post Road, Warwick, Rhode Island, is present and sworn.
Mr. McGovern, a Real Estate Appraiser, is accepted as an Expert Witness on a motion by Mr. Lynch, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and unanimously voted.[7] Mr. McGovern testifies on the P.C.D.'s area appraised value [8] and says that the values to the property on the west side of Payette Street will increase.[9]
The meeting recesses at 11:30 p.m. and reconvenes at 11:40 p.m.
Attorney Paul Ryan asks that it be put on the record that two Expert Reports – the Site Plan and Traffic Study were not seen before tonight. He says the last witness, Mr. McGovern, is not an I.C.P. nor an Attorney, and any opinions regarding the Zoning Enabling Act are way beyond his bounds.
Mr. Ryan asks that because of time constraints, a Real Estate Report prepared by Roy C. Schaeffer [10] be used to qualify Mr. Schaeffer as an Expert. Motion is made by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Miranda, and so voted to recognize Roy C. Schaeffer as an Expert Witness.
Attorney Jackie Slaga, representing the Citizens Against Stop & Shop, submits a petition for the record.[11]
Motion is made by Mr.Larisa, seconded by Mr. Sullivan, to incorporate all Planning Board reports into the record. [12,13,14,15,16,17] Motion passes unanimously on a roll call vote.
Planner Peter Ruggiero, Warwick, Rhode Island, is present and sworn. Motion to accept Mr. Ruggiero as an Expert Witness is made by Mr. Miranda, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted. [18] Mr. Ruggiero testifies that there are 46 other acres in the City that are available for Stop & Shop. He says the proposed plan would not be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
William J. Scully, Professional Engineer, is sworn in and accepted as an Expert Witness on Traffic on a motion by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Sullivan and so voted.[19] Mr. Scully's report is accepted into the record.[20]
Patricia A. Daniel, Superintendent of Schools, is present and sworn. Dr. Daniel speaks on the safety and transportation of the high school students. She says the area is a heavy traffic area.
Arthur Elmasian, East Providence Senior High School Principal, is present and sworn. Mr. Elmasian states that the high school has 1400 students, houses the Adult Education program, Testing Center, and several shows. He adds that in
September of 1995, East Providence will be the only community in the State with a three-year high school and sometime in the future, the high school will have more than 1900 students.
Joseph Tavares, Apulia Street, East Providence, Rhode Island is present and sworn.
Mr. Tavares states his concerns with the traffic impact in the neighborhood and says that many drivers will take the side streets in order to avoid the traffic lights.
Lois Ann Gomes, 49 Swan Street, East Providence, Rhode Island is present and sworn. She says that Shaw's Supermarket started out as a 24 hour store and is now down to 12 hours, and has had many lay offs. She questions how the area can sustain another store.
Nancy Gomes, 2207 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island is present and sworn. Ms. Gomes states that she represents neighbors of Sydney Street and speaks in opposition of the plan.
Thomas Cavaco, 35 Sydney Street, East Providence, Rhode Island is present and sworn and speaks in opposition.
Nancy Stevens, 37 Beaumont Street, East Providence, Rhode Island is present and sworn and speaks in opposition. She presents a petition [21], which is made part of the record on a motion by Mr. Miranda, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted.
Nancy Moore, 14 Josephine Avenue, Rumford, Rhode Island is present and sworn.
She refers to a June 11, 1995 letter from the Land Conservation Trust stating opposition to the plan. She presents petitions, [22] which are made part of the record on a motion by Mr. Miranda, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted.
Richard Cady, Chairman of the East Providence Historic Properties, is present and sworn and speaks in opposition of the plan.
Les Howarth, 35 Jay Street, East Providence, Rhode Island, Chairman of the East Providence Historical Society, is present and sworn and speaks in opposition of demolishing or moving the Ezra Ide House. Mr. Howarth presents a petition,[23] which is made part of the record on a motion by Mr. Miranda, seconded by Mr. Larisa, and so voted.
Ken Schneider, 33 Edward Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island, President of the East Providence Coalition, is present and sworn and speaks in opposition.
Gary Finelli, 46 Oakland Avenue, Seekonk, Massachusetts, representing his fiance's mother, living at 62 Payette Street, is present and sworn. He speaks in opposition to the plan.
Gerald Cousineau, 98 Catlin Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island speaks in opposition.
Arthur Quattrucci, 1846 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island, speaks in favor.
Clifton Moore, Planning Board member, is present and sworn. He says it was beneath the dignity of the Stop & Shop counsel to say that the Planning Board rubber stamps everything the Planning Department gives them.
Fire Chief Gerald Bessette answers questions from the Council. He says he has many concerns about the plan and Stop & Shop is starting to meet those concerns, but there is a long way to go.
Mr. Ryan and Mr. Slepkow waive cross examination. Mr. Slepkow and Mr. Ryan are allowed five minutes rebuttal time. They give guarantees to the Fire Chief's requests.
At the end of the rebuttal, Mr. Miranda makes a motion to deny the Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Mr. Larisa seconds the motion. After the Council give their reasons for the vote, a roll call vote is taken:
Mr. Larisa Aye
Mr. Lynch Nay
Mr. Miranda Aye
Mr. Sullivan Nay
Mayor Grant Aye
Motion to deny passes on a 3-2 vote.
Motion is made by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Miranda, to deny the Zone Change.
Roll Call vote follows:
Mr. Larisa Aye
Mr. Lynch Nay
Mr. Miranda Aye
Mr. Sullivan Nay
Mayor Grant Aye
Motion to deny passes on a 3-2 vote.
Motion is made by Mr. Larisa, seconded by Mr. Miranda, to deny the Land
Development Project. Roll call vote follows:
Mr. Larisa Aye
Mr. Lynch Nay
Mr. Miranda Aye
Mr. Sullivan Nay
Mayor Grant Aye
Motion to deny passes on a 3-2 vote.
The meeting adjourns at 2:30 A.M.
1 Letter from William J. Hawkins, Jr., President Smithfield Town Council
2 Memo dated May 31, 1995 to Daniel Pennington, City Engineer, from Ali Khorasani, Assistant City Engineer, re: Review of Stop & Shop Land Development Project
3 Stop & Shop's Commitment to the Neighbors of Payette Street and the City of East Providence
4 Letter to Walter Steinkrauss from Thomas E. Deller, Prov. Redevelopment Agency re: Manton Ave. Stop & Shop
5 Resume - Peter R. Moore
6 Resume - Robert D. O'Neal
7 Resume - William J. McGovern, SRA
8 Comparable Sales Map
9 Prepared Data Analysis - Northeast Consulting & Appraisal Services, Inc.
10 Zoning Analysis Report
11 Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Super Stop & Shop
12 Memo to the City Council from the Planning Board 6/20/95 Requested Comprehensive Plan Amendments
13 Memo to the City Council from the Planning Board 6/5/95 Requested Comprehensive Plan Amendments
14 Memo to the City Council from the Planning Board 6/20/95 Requested Zone Change
15 Memo to the City Council from the Planning Board 6/5/95 Requested Zone Change
16 Memo to the City Council from the Planning Board 6/20/95 Land Development Project
17 Memo to the City Council from the Development Plan Review Committee re Application #95-I-LDP
18 Resume - William J. Scully, P. E.
19 Resume - Peter D. Ruggiero, AICP
20 Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Super Stop & Shop
21 Technical Review by Mcdonough & Scully, Inc.
22 Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Super Stop & Shop
23 Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Super Stop & Shop
24 Memorandum to the East Providence City Council from the East Providence Minority Political Caucus Re: Application of Stop & Shop and Providence Country Day School for change in the Comprehensive Plan, change of zone and approval of site plan
Attest:
Valerie A. Perry, City Clerk
Approved: July 18, 1995