Mixed-use development in Middletown gets Planning Board OK as neighbors voice concerns

MIDDLETOWN — The Planning Board voted to approve the preliminary plan for a mixed-use development on West Main Road that would add 144 apartments to Middletown’s limited housing stock, including 63 that would meet the state’s criteria to be considered affordable housing.

The board also approved the Mesolella Development Corporation’s requests for a special-use permit allowing development within a watershed protection district, a variance for the planned number of parking spaces, and two waivers related to the spacing between trees and number of trees required to be planted per number of parking spaces.

The Rosebrook Commons proposal at 1747 West Main, which includes 23,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor of two of its eight buildings, has now received master plan approval and preliminary plan approval, clearing the applicant to prepare for the third and final step of its application process with the town, final plan approval.

However, the Planning Board did ask the developer to once again approach the R.I. Department of Transportation with some suggested changes to the current traffic layout, including the possibility of an additional entrance and access road to the property.

Getting through the approval process with Middletown is important to the developers because they are seeking a 9% annual tax credit for the cost of new construction of affordable housing units through a federal program administered through Rhode Island Housing. Their progress in the permitting process is a factor in the state’s scoring system when it annually awards the highly sought after tax credit.

“As you know, this is part of a comprehensive permit because it is an affordable housing development," developer Derek Mesolella said. "We are looking at about 40% affordable (units) out of the whole project. To even apply under this permit it requires 25% I believe … We were looking at about 60% area median income (AMI) for the affordable units; (then) we included, because of some incentives, additional units that were 30% or below AMI so we further diversified the income levels in the building in our last application round.”

Developing Middletown: Middletown Planning Board approves master plan for Rosebrook Commons development

“The important thing to recognize here is these credits are highly sought after, they come once a year, and it’s all based on scoring that is developed by the state and RI Housing... if you’re not competitive, if you’re not getting every point including where you are in the permitting process, it will make you uncompetitive very quickly. That’s why this process and getting through this process is extremely important to the project,” he continued.

Much of the conversation was technical in nature, with Mesollela, his lawyer David Martland, the project’s architect of record Virginia Branch and Pare Engineering senior project engineer Victoria Howland all presenting to the board and answering questions from the board and the public.

Two clear concerns emerged in public comment: residents in the area, including from the Bailey Brook retirement community, Thelma Lane and Oliphant Road, were concerned about the impact of the proposal on the watershed, particularly with regards to flooding and private wells, and they were certain the project would negatively impact the already heavy traffic in the area.

Local history: This Middletown landmark was just added to the National Register of Historic Places

“My concern is you’re not only going to have residential traffic; you’re going to have delivery trucks, you’re going to have people shopping in there, and I think we have to have a light there. It’s not easy to pull out of Bailey Brook, and we have a light. For the safety of people, pedestrians, there has to be a light there,” Bailey Brook resident Fiona Wellington said.

Although many residents predicted a traffic light would be needed for the development’s residents and pedestrians in the area to stay safe, Rutland, the Pare Engineering representative, made it clear RIDOT was unlikely to approve a light based on current “trip-generation” estimates.

“We are not going to change the flow or the volume of water leaving our site. In addition, we are providing treatment to impervious areas," Rutland said regarding the watershed district. "None of the site runoff leaving the site today, to my knowledge, has any treatment associated with it. So we are reducing the flow, reducing the volume, and improving the quality of the water leaving the site.”

Later, during public comment, Laurie Bradley of Barton Lane expressed her doubts, saying, “We are on wells … I’m very concerned with how such a large-scale addition of pavement could affect our water quality. I know from the experts and testimony presented tonight they tell us that it won’t, but I have been to presentations by the Aquidneck Land Trust where they explain how a watershed works, and water is distributed in large areas moving forward underground. It’s difficult to believe with certainty we wouldn’t be impacted. We are east of the proposed development and flow but we’re not that far away.”

'They say they’ll pass it along': Neglected Portsmouth lot has neighbors cleaning the mess

Matt Alexander of Amesbury Circle called in to say he did not think the proposal was a good deal for the town. He pointed out the loss of car tax revenue meant the developer’s own financial estimates showed the project coming out to a net financial loss for the town, and pointed out that since there was no mechanism to give preference to Middletown residents in need of affordable housing, the benefit to town residents would be limited.

“From my perspective, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of value to that lost money to the town compared to the individuals within our community that will actually benefit from this affordable housing,” Alexander said.

“I think that’s very short-sighted, Martland, the developer’s legal counsel, responded. "There is a significant need (for affordable housing); there are people that have left and may want to come back. Go around and talk to business. How difficult is it to find staff? Particularly staff for businesses that are at a lower income level. In part, it is because of the lack of affordable housing here. We’ve lost housing units that have turned over. This is a critical need for folks.”

In response to a question from a Bailey Brooke resident about the construction timeline for the project, Mesollela stressed the project’s start date was contingent upon the state and town permitting processes and the application for the tax credit, but estimated two 14-18 month phases of construction from groundbreaking to completion, the first to complete the two mixed-use buildings fronting West Main Road, and the second to complete the six residential buildings set further back on the property behind the existing boat storage facility.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Middletown project including affordable housing, mixed-use gets OK