A Technical Review Committee (TRC) meeting was held on Monday morning, Nov. 29 for a Concept Review/Pre-Application review for the proposed development plan application of D&M Boca Development, LLC, proposing the construction of a three-story, 15,200-square-foot, 80-room hotel, to be located on the south side of Gooding Avenue beginning near Broadcommon Road and running over 500 feet to the east.

The TRC consists of Diane Williamson, Director of Community Development; Ed Tanner, Town Planner; Kevin Harrop, Consulting Engineer; and Armand Bilotti and Jerome Squatrito, members of the Planning Board. The Committee operates under the Bristol Planning Board and serves to review project applications for technical completeness before they are presented to the full Planning Board.

Typically in a case like this one — a project requiring no zoning variances — approval by the TRC would constitute approval for a building permit, but not in this case.

“Given the size and scope of this project we decided early on that we would refer it to the full Planning Board,” said Williamson. “The TRC is just reviewing the application for completeness and then we will send it on to the full board.”

That pass will need to wait, and the developers will need to get through, at minimum, one more meeting, as several questions remain to be answered to the Town’s satisfaction.

Not their first attempt
This is not the first time this project has been presented to the Town— a 2020 effort ultimately resulted in denial by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management due to the fact that the site is directly on the flood-prone Silver Creek watershed, a large watershed that drains from the Bristol Golf Course through the center of town, eventually emptying into Bristol Harbor.

Mitigation of the negative effects of building on the watershed has been a key focus of the Planning Department for many years; millions of dollars have been spent (and are still being spent) improving drainage at sites from the Golf Course to Mt. Hope High School, in an effort to both control flooding and clean up the water that ultimately ends up in the harbor.

DEM approves
The developers spent the past year back at the drawing board with their original plans. For one, they removed the kitchenettes from each hotel room, which were approval deal breakers on multiple fronts, from sewer to anticipated use. According to representatives for the applicant, they have reengineered the plans with less impervious surfaces, and the addition of catch basins, culverts, and sand filters to moderate the flow of water. According to the developer, these changes will actually decrease the runoff rate and volume in this section of Silver Creek. The RI DEM recently approved these modified plans.

Though the plan has yet to be independently reviewed by the Town’s engineering consultant, at least one TRC member expresses skepticism that the new plans will lead to an improvement over the current, undeveloped state of the land. “I’m all for allowing people to do what they want with their property, but I have read some documentation that disputes some of what you’ve said,” said Armand Bilotti, who also sits on the Planning Board.

The neighborhood objects
Proponents of a hotel in town cite revenue lost throughout the summer season when guests at weekend weddings and other events are forced to leave town to find overnight accommodations. Opponents of this hotel do not disagree that the Town would benefit from more available beds for overnight guests, they just have serious reservations about the Gooding Avenue site, naming several alternate and currently vacant locations like the former Benny’s and Bristol Toyota, as better suited for this type of development.

One neighbor who strongly objects to this project is Tricia Chalmers of Bristol Woods Drive.

“I’m concerned about the watershed,” she said. “I used to live on Mt. Hope Avenue and about eight years ago when we had that flooding, the entire area turned into a giant lake, and that was due to overbuilding on the watershed and wetlands. Where’s the water going to go?”

Chalmers, a member of the Bristol Land Conservation Trust, has other concerns as well. “It’s going to decimate the wildlife habitat, it’s going to increase traffic at a dangerous intersection at Gooding and Broadcommon, and I’m concerned about its future use.”

“I’m an environmentalist,” she continued. “Enough is enough.”

Future use
Concern that the hotel will achieve an appropriate level of occupancy is another issue, and accordingly the town is asking the developers for a marketing study. Anecdotally, the magic number is about 70 percent occupancy for sustainability, and while that may seem more than attainable on a Saturday in July, it’s a long way from a Tuesday in February.

Concerns about long-term viability is just one of many objections held by Ted and Emily Spinard, who attended Monday’s meeting representing their south-of-Chestnut neighborhood of Dartmouth and Dixon Streets, and Andrew Court.

“We’re very concerned about the flooding issue getting worse,” said Ted, after the meeting. “The applicant feels they have addressed the issue with a mitigation plan, but we believe the infiltration rates they are using are too high. And one who has lived here for any length of time knows that land doesn’t drain. It’s hard as rock in summer and saturated in winter. Their infiltration rate is not reflective of the soil. What’s the downstream impact?”

Back to the drawing board
The TRC is a preliminary, advisory stop on the road to approval, and according to Williamson, the applicants have done a lot of work beyond the usual concept level plan to demonstrate compliance with the DEM plan. But much more needs to be done to address the concerns of all the stakeholders. The Town has asked for more detail on several fronts, including drainage, manhole placement, sewer hookups and water pressure, and the revised architectural plans.

The applicants are expected to address neighbors concerns and resubmit their plans; consulting engineer Kevin Harrop will independently review the resubmission.

Residents encouraged to submit written questions
There is nothing in this process that calls for a public meeting, open for public comment. (Editor's note: This needs clarification. There will be public meetings, but not public hearings. The difference is the public can attend a public meeting and observe the proceedings; however, they can’t verbally present comments, like they can at a hearing. Also, a public hearing requires notice to abutters that a public meeting doesn’t require. There will be public meetings on the issues, but at this time, no public hearings are planned. The public can find out about an upcoming public meeting by registering with the office of the Secretary of State to receive email notifications for all the public meeting agenda postings.)

By existing regulations, it is not considered a major land development, as it’s one building on one lot, and they are asking for no variances. Residents can submit comments or concerns, for or against this applicant to Diane Williamson via email (dwilliamson@bristolri.gov) or in writing, mailed or delivered to 9 Court St. Questions will be submitted to the developer, and comments will be passed along to the Planning Board for their review.

Note: The plans online at the moment are not accurate — the applicants will be making a new submission, keep checking the website under Community Development and planning, and updates will be shared as they become available. There is no date yet for the next TRC meeting.

Despite their victory with the DEM approval, the developers would seem to have their work cut out from them in the court of public opinion, with social media reflecting a strong local preference with leaving the Gooding land alone and developing any hotel projects elsewhere in town. A comment by TRC member Jerome Squatrito seems to reflect what many others are saying:

“I was born in this town. I always thought that land that you want to build on is wetland. All of a sudden it seems the wetland disappeared. Is it a miracle?”