BURRILLVILLE – Requests from three property owners to subdivide lots in Pascoag were green-lighted unanimously by the Burrillville Planning Board this week, with two of the projects moving forward to include land that will remain as open space in perpetuity.
Planners took up proposals for two lots on Hill Road and one on Town Farm Road at a meeting on Monday, Feb. 7.
The largest of the three properties approved for changes is a roughly 26 acre vacant, mainly wooded parcel at 1544 Hill Road. Owner Meghan Greer of Newport submitted a preliminary plan through InSite Engineering Services to divide the property into two lots, four acres in size, with around 18 acres left as open space.
The property does not have enough frontage to meet the zoning requirements for two lots, so Greer applied to create a, “rural residential compound,” a zoning provision that waives the frontage requirement if the owner keeps half of the land as permanent open space.
“The objective of the rural residential compound is to provide for flexibility of design for residential development and to allow a better relationship between residential development and the natural, historic and rural characteristics of the land,” notes the town’s Code of Ordinances.
Planner Raymond Goff said that Greer initially considered donating the open space parcel, which also features a pond, to the town or the Burrillville Land Trust, but learned it would be less complicated to follow the zoning provision as written.
That minor subdivision will be subject to final plan review by the planning director, according to the board’s findings following presentation of the project this week.
A second property right across the street on Hill Road will be subdivided into two lots, pending approval of a zoning variance, following the planners positive recommendation on Monday. Maliha Holding, LLC applied for a minor subdivision for a 19 acre site at 1525 Hill Road.
“The site contains an existing house with various outbuilding along the northerly side of the property,” notes a narrative for that project, also submitted by North Smithfield-based InSite, which notes the remainder of the land is wooded.
Cess pools currently on the land will be abandoned and filled, according to conditions of the approval, with new septic and wells to be installed. The owners must also build a privacy fence between the existing house and the neighboring land, and an existing garage with a second floor apartment must either be brought into compliance or removed.
The project must go before zoning, however, since that property also does not have enough frontage for two lots.
The owners of a Town Farm Road property have also utilized the standards for a rural residential compound, creating around 25 acres of permanent open space along with two buildable lots with access to the street.
Working with National Land Surveyors-Developers, Inc., Jeffrey Nero and Diane Auger combined 340 Town Farm Road with an abutting lot for a project that will also be subject to final review by the planning director.
