Middletown's Comprehensive Plan Needs Updating

Reviewing the Middletown Comprehensive Plan for the Middletown Leads Newsletter (published on the Middletown Library website)  raised issues regarding the effects of changing conditions and the passage of time.

The Comprehensive Community Plan was most recently updated in 2014; it was adopted by the Middletown Town Council On March 2, 2015.  Many changes have taken place since 2014 which make some of the existing guidelines out-of-date.

For example, the Aquidneck Island Transportation Study, which was used to form many of the conclusions in the Transportation section, was actually completed in 2011, which makes it 8 years out-of-date, a long period of time considering the road construction that has taken place in Middletown (and on the island) over recent years.

In addition, the state no longer requires that Comprehensive Plans be formally reviewed every 10 years, so extensive change is unlikely even though time doesn’t stand still.

Neither does there seem to be a formal process in place for making appropriate adjustments, so the Town is continuously faced with conflicts over economic development and land usage that should have been addressed before they occurred, rather than when it was too late to do anything about them.

For example, there was the recent controversy over the applications for 2 new hotels in the Atlantic Beach District. Residents were concerned that the unique character of the area was being threatened and that more preference was being given to investors and tourists than to residents. 

Some went so far as to suggest a moratorium on building in the area until the zoning could be changed to restrict further hotel development. Unfortunately, it was too late. The applications had already been submitted; the Town was legally obligated to consider them within the existing zoning ordinances.

These examples point out the need for the Town to develop a process for continuous review of the Comprehensive Community Plan and the Town Ordinances that support it.

Perhaps the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission can be persuaded to undertake another Aquidneck Island Transportation Study.

Additionally, unless the Town Council develops a review process for the Comprehensive Community Plan and the Zoning Ordinances, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board will be faced with decisions that can only lead to more controversy. 

One issue that needs to be resolved immediately is the perception that the Comprehensive Community Plan is a rule book written in stone. In fact, it is really only a guide, approved by the Town Council.

Sr. Housing - Middletown Town Council Meeing - Mar 4, 2019

The need for affordable senior housing has been on the Middletown Town Council docket since April 2017. 

Early in 2018, the Town Council met with a local non-profit provider as well as Rhode Island Housing to discuss options.

Subsequently, the Town Council formed a Senior Housing Sub-Committee which, after multiple meetings, finally recommended in December 2018 that the Town Council hire a consultant to advise the Town about developing senior housing units.

At the March 4^th meeting, the Town Council reviewed the scope of the work, which included the following tasks:

1.      Identify the need (as if the need had not already been established)

2.      Identify funding options (which had already been discussed at length with such agencies as Rhode Island Housing)

3.      Conduct a market analysis (to “provide the Town with an understanding of the potential for success for non-profit and/or for-profit development”)

4.      Identify potential locations (of which the Town is already well aware)

5.      Identify potential partners (with some of whom the Town had already had discussions)

6.      Make recommendations for implementation

Following consideration of the proposed scope of the work and the conclusion that the Town Council was already aware of the information to be provided, the Town Council voted not to authorize the proposed Feasibility Study related to Senior Housing.

There was consensus that $22,500 to compile information in 4 months that was already available was not a good use of funds, not to mention the anticipated 2 to 3 years for the project to actually get underway, 

Several points were made that led to a change in direction:

1.      If the Town desires to use residency as a criterion for establishing wait lists, then it would be ineligible for grants and tax credits and would have to rely on taxpayer dollars to subsidize the costs of construction and rent.

2.      The Town is not going to use taxpayer money to build and operate an affordable senior housing project on its own.

3.      A non-profit partner typically has connections within the community and generally keeps money in the project.

4.      A for-profit partner general takes money out of the project.

These points led to the reorganization of the previous TC Senior Housing Committee which would again review the options, but this time within a 2-month deadline for concrete recommendations. At that point, the Town Council would meet with potential partners and, hopefully, get the project underway. 

 

The important point to be made is that the Town Council agreed that a decision needed to be made sooner rather than later, and it initiated action to achieve that goal.