By ANDREW MARTIN
The Hopkinton Planning Board rendered three advisory opinions last Wednesday for variances requested by a developer interested in putting up a retail, restaurant, and office building.
The three-floor building, called “Cedar Hollow,” is proposed for a 3.4-acre spot on the corner of Main Street and Wellstown Road in Ashaway. Anthony Nenna, of Westerly-based On-Site Engineering Inc., explained at a previous meeting that the top floor is reserved for professional offices while the second floor would feature 20-seat and 50-seat restaurants. The bottom floor is currently planned for retail space.
As for the variances, the first was in regards to the building height. Although the total structure is 43 feet high, which would require a three-foot variance, there is a tower featured in the design that takes the height up to 53 feet. There are also two smaller cupolas planned for the roof, which, like the tower, are included in the design to make the building more aesthetically pleasing, Ninna said.
When the question arose of why the building needed three floors rather than two, architect Paul Azzinaro, of Westerly’s Azzinaro Larson Architects Inc., said he did not want to have the first floor lower than Main Street. “The building would look like it’s in a hole,” he said. “We were desperately trying to pop it up.”
The second variance request was for 19 parking spaces. Nenna said the building’s lot would provide 72 spaces but per town ordinance, it would need 91 spaces. He explained that the site’s constraint – wetlands toward the rear of the property and the septic system’s leach field – limited the number of parking spaces.
The last variance dealt with signage for the building. For reference, Nenna explained that the preliminary design of the sign has it looking like the one at Westerly Crossing. And to get it to fit into the southern corner of the lot, Ninna said the sign requires a setback variance from the property line.
If the sign was put in per the setback ordinance, Azzinaro said it would be too close to the driveway for the parking lot. Also, the plan is to put the sign on a wall or platform area to make it sure it wouldn’t interfere with the driveway.
The Planning board had also previously requested more information on the site’s lighting system. Ninna provided that additional information and assured the board that the system will be dark-sky compliant.
Board member Howard Walker explained that the lighting issue is of extreme importance to the town and that the interested parties will need to have their plans reviewed by a certified lighting designer or engineer.
Before the board rendered its opinion, Building Official Brad Ward explained that he agreed with the proposed variances for the project applicant and landowner Stano Trombino. “If that answer suffices for the board, I’m certainly not going to have any objection at this stage with the uses that are proposed as indicated to me,” Ward added.
During the public input portion of the hearing, resident Patricia A. Sowinski questioned whether this project was something the town really needed. Walker responded by saying it was not up to the Planning Board to decide if the town needs something like this but that Trombino has a piece of property he is entitled to use.
“The town has no right to deprive a property owner from using property in a lawful way because the town thinks it is not economically feasible,” Walker said.
Resident Pat Fontes offered the rebuttal that if this was a lawful use there would not a request for variances. “It’s an excess of lawful use,” she said. Walker said she was right and that is why Trombino is required to ask for a variance.
Ultimately, the Planning Board unanimously approved to render advisory opinions on the three variances. Along with those, the board also unanimously approved the submission of the Cedar Hollow master plan subject to the variances and other guidelines. The next step for this project is for the Zoning Board to approve the variances.
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