STATE HOUSE –State Senators James C. Sheehan (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown) and J. Michael Lenihan (D-Dist. 35, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Warwick), who previously have expressed concern about plans to include “big-box” stores in the Gateway project at the Quonset Business Park, today announced that they have introduced a bill that would give the Town of North Kingstown a say in the development.
The senators argue that plans, announced last month, to include Lowe’s Home Improvement and Kohl’s as anchor stores in the Gateway are a departure from the town’s 2003 Master Plan, which called for a mixed-use development with offices, a hotel and restaurants.
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They say their new measure would require that all retail development at the Gateway conform with the town’s zoning laws and its comprehensive plan.
The Gateway originally was intended to add amenities desirable for businesses locating to the park. But now, the Quonset Development Corporation “appears to want to reverse course on creating a Main Street-styled retail village by including big-box stores,” Sheehan and Lenihan said in their joint news release today.
The two senators said the proposed anchor stores should be required to adhere to the same rules as any other retail business – that is, to conform with the town’s comprehensive plan.
“The bill we have introduced will ensure that retail business at Quonset will blend into the local business culture of the town,” Sheehan said.
“The Gateway Project is clearly a transitional effort, designed to draw the commerce park and the surrounding business together,” Lenihan added. “It is crucial that this union take place within the context of the North Kingstown comprehensive community plan.”
The Gateway project, at the western end of the Quonset Business Park, is to be bounded by Post Road on the west and Newcomb Road on the north. Its first phase, The Shops at Quonset Point, is to include a grocer, a drug store, coffee shops, a bank, restaurants and two large anchor stores: Lowe’s and Kohl’s. The second phase is to add a limited-service hotel and a visitors’ center.
Sheehan and Lenihan said they plan to attend two upcoming meetings on the project.
The first is a public hearing tonight at 7, at the Quonset Development Corporation office, 30 Enterprise Drive, North Kingstown, at which the QDC’s Community Advisory Committee will seek comment from residents and business owners on the Gateway plans.
The second is a special meeting of the North Kingstown Town Council, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the auditorium at North Kingstown High School, 150 Fairway. The meeting will include the council’s second hearing on the Gateway project.
