Once again, a meeting to discuss aspects of the 410-unit residential neighborhood off Division Road has been postponed due to a lack of information. The Technical Review Committee was supposed to meet Tuesday (12/13), but Town Planner Al Ranaldi canceled the meeting because the town had not yet received a “letter of sewer availability” about the project. 

Ranaldi has tentatively rescheduled the TRC meeting for Tuesday, Jan. 10. 

Developer Ned Capozzi is looking to tie in the project to the West Warwick wastewater treatment facility; East Greenwich does not have sewer lines in that part of town. To add a layer of complexity, the developer is looking to use some of the sewer capacity Coventry has in that West Warwick treatment plant. Coventry purchased an allotment of capacity in West Warwick some years ago and the Coventry Sewer Authority is considering allowing the Division Road project to use some of it. 

So, it’s the Coventry Sewer Authority that must produce a “letter of availability.” The subcommittee that first needs to approve the use, however, has not met since September and a meeting planned for Dec. 14 was canceled. 

Ranaldi said he will not allow the project to proceed to the Planning Board until the town has gotten the letter, especially because of the size of the proposed development. “It’s all driven by density,” he said. “If it was 5 to 10 houses, we would still need a letter but it would not be as critical.”

The sewer link is critical if the developer is going to keep to 410 units. “They can use septic but the density would be decreased significantly and the lot sizes would expand to accommodate the required separation from each septic system,” Ranaldi said.

The town is under a Feb. 28 deadline to vote on the project. If the board does not act by the deadline, the plan will go through as presented, although the developer has already given the town a couple of extensions, since the delays have been on the developer’s side.

Opponents of the plan, meanwhile, are waiting. One group of nearby residents has hired a lawyer who is been checking in with Ranaldi on a weekly basis. Ranaldi said the condominium association up Division Road in West Greenwich has also expressed an interest in the project.

The developer has made some changes to the plan but, according to Ranaldi, the overall plan looks much the same and the number of units remains 410. Once the plan gets through the TRC, it would go before the Planning Board as a master plan application. 

“Master plan is just a concept,” Ranaldi emphasized. “Master Plan is not necessarily how it will all go. It’s pretty close but things do change.”

Find all the stories we have written about this project HERE.