The Smithfield Planning Board on Oct. 16 approved the master plan for a comprehensive-permit project billed as “Residences at 295,” granting the applicant adjustments to the Economic Growth Overlay District allocation and approving a higher density than the overlay baseline.

Joelle Rocha, attorney for the applicant, said the project proposes a predominantly one-bedroom, four-story multifamily building with 86 units total, 22 of which (25%) will be designated low- to moderate-income units. “We are gonna do the minimum. It's 25% affordable,” Rocha told the board, adding that the applicant submitted proposed findings of fact reflecting statutory changes to the comprehensive permit standard enacted in July.

Engineer Joe Casale described project specifics: a 3.59-acre site (Assessor’s Plat 48, Lot 5) in the Economic Growth Overlay District; a 4-story building footprint of roughly 20,000 square feet stacked vertically; 72 one-bedroom units and 14 two-bedroom units; and eight ground-floor flex/commercial spaces totaling about 8,000 square feet. Casale told the board the baseline overlay density would allow about 57 units (46 per district standard plus 11 units for the statutory minimum density bonus) and that the applicant requested adjustment to reach 86 units.

Paul Bannon, the traffic engineer, summarized the traffic review and trip generation. Using the industry-standard ITE trip-generation manual, he estimated the site would create about 45 AM peak trips and 49 PM peak trips. Bannon said existing sight lines and roadside vegetation on Rocky Hill Road require attention and recommended maintenance to ensure adequate sight distance at the local intersection with Harris Road. He concluded the proposed access would operate acceptably with the recommended improvements.

Public comment included the owner of a nearby industrial business who said the narrow access road now makes turning large trailers difficult and asked whether business access would be interrupted by utility work. The project engineer responded that road upgrade work will be coordinated and that plans anticipate temporary construction impacts but not long-term loss of access.

The board’s approval included two explicit adjustments: a density increase from the overlay baseline to allow 86 units and a change to the overlay allocation that increases residential area to 74.2% and reduces the commercial share to about 25.8% (a roughly 9% shift). Conditions or advisory items listed during the motion included: a requirement for an integration plan showing parity between affordable and market-rate units (to be provided at preliminary plan), landscaping/green-space details consistent with the EGO standards, relocation of a proposed pocket park closer to the residential building for resident convenience and safety, and implementation of recommended improvements to Rocky Hill Road tied to drainage and sight-distance work.

Board members also required the applicant to comply with typical state and municipal permitting (wetlands, RIDEM, RIDOT, sewer/water agency approvals) at subsequent application stages. After motion and second, the board voted in favor of the master plan; the chair announced the motion passed.

Attorney Rocha disputed several points in a staff memo distributed the same day and said some findings in the staff report were not applicable to comprehensive-permit review under the specific state statute (45-53). The board’s final vote approved the master plan subject to the design and mitigation commitments discussed at the hearing.