Providence’s Plan Commission on Tuesday approved the preliminary plan for a shopping center in Eagle Square, but there is once again a legal roadblock in the path of the project’s completion.
The current plan for the use of seven mill buildings for the shopping center represents a significant departure from the one-story strip mall proposed a year ago by New York-based Feldco, which is part of an entity known as New England Expedition-Providence, LLC.
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Objectors say the plan calls for too much unnecessary destruction to the existing properties, and they’re appealing it to the city Zoning Board of Review.
Lawyer Timothy T. More, representing five clients who either reside and/or work in the neighborhood, filed the appeal on Tuesday.
Providence Planning Director John Palmieri has been delegated the approval authority over the project’s final plan, which can only occur after the appellate process is complete.
“If the plan is consistent with what they have presented so far I won’t have any reason to deny them final approval of the plan submission,” he said. “But I don’t know if the courts are going to try to stop me from issuing that approval.”
The biggest objection is that Feldco is not saving enough of the mill buildings.
“Every building they’re saving is a portion of a larger building,” said Raphael Lyon recently.
Lyon is a member of Citizens for an Urban Development at Eagle Square and the Providence Mill Building Association.
“If you do the numbers they’re demolishing 75 percent of the site, with no commitment they’ll fully develop the other 25 percent,” he said.
