Zoning Board Denies Belvedere Variances 5-0
Bristol, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
In a stunning and sweeping decision, the Zoning Board of Review unanimously denied the Belvedere at Thames application at their August 5 meeting.
Led by Board Member Charlie Burke, the Board methodically considered, one after another, point by point, every aspect of the application. The Board concluded after 1 ½ hours that they must deny the application due to lack of proof from the developer that would factually support that he suffered hardships. They also concluded that the over-sized building would negatively impact the historic waterfront neighborhood. Especially concerning was the Thames Street side of the development that would create a barrier to engagement with the street due to lack of commercial activity.
Based on RI State Law, the board found that the large, nonconforming development would alter the general character of the surrounding historic area and would impair the intent and purpose of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan, thereby addressing the objections that were made by abutters, Friends of Historic Bristol, Bristol Historic and Preservation Society and multiple Historic Preservation scholars.
State Law requires that “the granted variances will not alter the general character of the surrounding area OR impair the intent or purpose of the zoning ordinance or the Comprehensive Plan AND that the relief to be granted is the least relief necessary.”
They also concluded that the relief sought would not be the least relief necessary, but more likely, “was the most relief the build-able lot could sustain,” according to Charlie Burke.
The Board stated that the developer failed to prove that there is no useful purpose of the property without the variances and State Law requires that proof must accompany a decision to grant variances. “The fact that a use may be more profitable or that a structure may be more valuable after the relief is granted is not grounds for relief.”
Finally, they found that the Town’s zoning requirement for storefronts along Thames Street and in the Waterfront District was necessary to the commercial wellbeing of the Town, as promoted by the Comprehensive Plan, and could not approve the developer’s plan to use that space as a ground-level parking garage instead.
The meeting was evenly attended by supporters and opponents of the development, who listened quietly to the deliberations.
See a video of the August 5 Zoning Board decision here. You can see videos of the deliberation and any amount of the process including the decision in the ZBR Hears Belvedere playlist.