The planning board certainly has a tall task ahead of it as it goes about amending the town's zoning ordinances to become compliant not just with Warren's comprehensive plan, but also to meet the many mandates imposed by recent changes to state housing laws.

The board has begun to go about that rather lengthy and intricate process in recent weeks, including at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting held Monday night, Sept. 28.

During the discussion the members broached several topics. They advanced a wide-ranging draft of suggested changes to be submitted to the council for its review, which was to be done at a special session the latter body held with members of the planning board the following evening, Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The draft, phase one of the project, was composed of revisions raised by the board, Warren's Director of Planning and Economic Development Bianca Policastro and the town's consulting firm, Weston & Sampson.

Associate Town Solicitor Benjamin Ferreira said he did not anticipate the council making any material changes to the draft submitted by the board for its review. Policastro added the expectation was to have a second special session between the parties in October.

Planning Board Chairman Blake Costa began last week's talks with a reminder to his colleagues about a key structural component they must include going forward; how they phrase any motions they will vote upon in the future. It's vital for legal purposes.

The motions must include the following phrasing: the proposal is "consistent with the town comprehensive plan" and " the board has recognized and considered applicable purposes of Rhode Island General Law."

Costa said it was crucial any proposed action is conforming and provides clear structure for future amendments.

"That's from state law. So whenever we haven't done this in the past, whenever we make recommendation of ordinance changes to the town council, whether it's me in this seat or someone else, we need to make sure that we address those two criteria," Costa said.

The chairman also highlighted the changes to the zoning ordinance are included in the comprehensive plan alone, the board needs to take some "200 action items." Those will take place over phase two and potentially phase three when the board along with the council make actual material changes to the ordinance.

As for what the board can tackle immediately, Costa proposed it take up the matter of amending the parameters of the town's special use permit to ensure it aligns with Warren's comp plan.

"I think that's an easy phase two attainable goal for us that we can modify without the need for outside consultants," said Costa. "A lot of the other amendments we talked about, such as satisfying the 'Market to Metacom' plan, and the other 200 action items that resulted from our comprehensive plan, of which we haven't implemented any, is going to take outside consultation, to support us and guide us through that. Time and energy needed for that is not something that is realistic for this board."

The suggestion was met with agreement from his peers. 


"I like the idea of being able to pick at some portion of the plan," said E. Jenny K. Flanagan, vice chair of the board.

Costa said the board had the ability to address the special use permit matter in parallel to its overarching efforts "because that's something the board establishes criteria independent of third party input."

He continued, "The board's the one that creates a condition. We are limited on a town staff, so I think as a board, we bite that apple. We chew that one, and we produce it...I think we should be creating those conditions, and then giving them to our director to give comments on it. We do the legwork as a board."

Ferreira said it might be helpful to review the historical allocations for special use permits to use as a guide, saying it "would indicate to you what the most popular, or the most sought after special permits" that have been issued over the last 10 years.

Costa said he was prepared to outline, for consideration by the board at its October meeting, every special use permit currently issued in town. It would then allow the members to indicate their preferences of priority for further review in November.

Another topic broached last week was the datedness of several board policies and procedures, which the chairman said were last implemented in 2012.

Costa said it was imperative the members address those matters as well as others like the rules and regulations for subdivision land use that were last revised in 2005.

"What we need to understand is, rules and regulation of subdivision land is regulated by Rhode Island General Law 45-23, if you want to research," Costa said. "Since 2005, there has been seven different amendments to that law with the most major in 2023, which is a major rewrite of the whole review process."

In addition, he noted the town's affordable housing plan was also last implemented 2005, again it being well out of compliance with state regulations. Costa suggested it be removed from future consideration entirely and use in its place the new comp plan as a measure.

"Maybe we look and see how big a job that is. You know, it might be like an elephant," member Terry De La Paz said about the affordable housing revisions, specifically, adding, "We may need to take it in smaller bites, but you can certainly look at priorities."

Said Flanagan, "If we've got 147 special used permits to come up with criteria for that's difficult. If we've got 35, that might be feasible, particularly if 18 of them are basically one category. The board may look at it and say, there's one out here that we look at our comp plan. It's way out of conformance. We should address this."

Policastro recommended the board soon plan a workshop gathering, inviting members of the zoning board, town council, potentially relevant committees and commission members.

"You're going to want their feedback, especially on some criteria," Policastro said. "Because, yes, you guys oversee it, check it off, but some of them are the ones who have to implement it, and the devil is in the details. I've learned the hard way that things on paper look really good until it comes time to actually implement them. So, I think holding a stakeholder engagement, would also allow you to do due diligence as a board."