NORTH PROVIDENCE – Developer Armand Cortellesso is headed back before the North Providence Planning Board with his controversial residential development plan at 114 Baird Ave.
The original building Cortellesso claimed that he would be adaptively reusing has been demolished, additional trees have been removed, and a new building has been constructed on the property.
The Planning Board is expected to hear the proposal at its meeting next month, Planning Director Brent Wiegand confirmed. This is a remand matter from Superior Court, said Wiegand, meaning it will be the same as previously proposed.
It will be up to the board, said Wiegand, to take a closer look at the law and see how it applies to the application, and also whether members push for additional changes to Cortellesso’s plan.
Recently retired Associate Judge Jeffrey Lanphear’s decision in April to send the matter back to the town stated that it was unclear what standards the Planning Board applied in its decision against Cortellesso’s project because it referenced no law, regulation, or specific and objective criteria. He said it was unclear on what evidence the board relied.
Lanphear pointed out that Wiegand sent board members the revised version of the Baird Avenue plans last September with a statement that the project conforms to adaptive reuse regulations, but the board went against that recommendation and questioned whether an actual adaptive reuse of the structure would work given the building’s lack of structural integrity.
The decision by Lanphear puts the case back before the board for findings and analysis. The board has discretion on how it carries out the consideration process.
Neighbors have vehemently opposed the Baird Avenue project, citing concerns on flooding, traffic, and diminished quality of life, among others.
Cortellesso first proposed 42 condo units in the former industrial building, and six units in a smaller building, later submitting a revised plan for 30 total units.
Town officials said this week that the plan coming back for consideration by the town is for 48 units.
Wiegand explained that the building people are seeing on the 3-acre property right now is one Cortellesso has the right to build based on local ordinances allowing someone to construct up to 75 percent of the existing tax-assessed value on a non-conforming industrial property in this residential zone. The cost of the project is $500,000 or so, he said, putting him well below the $750,000 he could be investing into it.
Weeks prior to April’s Superior Court decision against the Planning Board’s rejection of the project, Cortellesso indicated that he intended to maintain the property for industrial use, under grandfather rights within the mostly residential zone.
Mayor Charles Lombardi said he understands neighbors are frustrated about the idea of anything being built at the former Rhode Island Cinderblock property, but ultimately, it appears that Cortellesso has the right to be doing what he’s doing.
Town Councilor Nicholas Feola said councilors continue to hear numerous complaints from neighbors, and they’re still trying to get some answers on exactly what is or isn’t allowed. He said it can’t just be, “it’s his property and he has the right to do what he wants.” Feola said there needs to be better communication across the board between all parties, including officials with each other and the town with developers and residents, to minimize the chance for additional conflicts.
If this situation sounds similar to another remand from Lanphear involving a Cortellesso project, it’s because the same type of situation previously happened on Marconi Street, where the judge sent the matter back to the town to have the sides work out a compromise.
Town Councilor Ron Baccala, who was part of that opposition on Marconi Street, said everything worked out reasonably well in the end, as Cortellesso ended up agreeing to build something more conducive to the neighborhood.
Baccala said he was always more worried about the quality of those proposed condos on Marconi Street than the quantity, and in the end, each individual condo has its own garage, its own entrance, and its own track receptacles, and there are now 22 total “instead of a lot more.”
“Whether he rents them or sells them, I don’t care,” said Baccala, adding that while neither side got everything they wanted, they were able to compromise through civil discussion.
“That’s probably what should have done in the beginning instead of slinging s— at each other,” he said. “The opposition stood up, and it was only to get a better project. It worked out for the neighborhood, it worked out for the town, and it worked out for the constituents.”
