Politics & Government

Middletown Seeks Public Input on West Main-Coddington Redevelopment Plan

Middletown's Planning Department is seeking public input through July 13, when the Planning Board will hold a public workshop to review the redevelopment plan.

What do you think about having a village-style town center at West Main Road and Coddington Highway—where traffic roundabouts, two- and three-story buildings with retail, office space and municipal uses, residential housing and a town common come together?

You’ve got a few weeks to tell Middletown planners what you think.

As the conveyance process to acquire the moves full steam ahead this summer, Middletown is seeking public input on its proposal to develop that property and abutting municipal land into a "village style" mixed use town center.

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Planning Board Chairman Jan Eckhart announced at that public comments are to be accepted through July 13, when the Planning Board holds a public workshop to review the redevelopment proposal. The first advertisements calling for public input are expected to go out this week, he said.

Town planners will accept public comments by mail and email, he said.

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The Town Council will review the plans with the public a second time in August, town officials said.

Simultaneously, the Aquidneck Island Reuse Planning Authority (AIRPA) executive board is expected to submit Middletown’s reuse plans for two Navy surplus properties to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) by August 19. Middletown is seeking to acquire the corner Navy lodge lot on West Main Road along with a waterfront property off Green Lane Park and Defense Highway for public parkland and recreational uses.

The four parcels eyed for redevelopment include the former Navy Lodge site, a baseball field, the town library and closed JFK Elementary School.

“It’s rare to have such a prime piece of land in the center of a town,” planning consultant Geoffrey Morrison-Logan of the firm V.H.B noted during his presentation.

The proposal VHB presented Monday night called for two roundabout traffic controls at Two-Mile Corner, where East and West Main Roads meet, and at the West Main Road intersection with Coddington Highway.

Other features in the proposed redevelopment plan include:

  • A “village style feel” with two- and three-story buildings for retail, office and municipal uses.
  • Shared common parking.
  • A short drive through the new development to divert traffic off West Main Road, with slanted parking.
  • Fewer curb cuts on West Main Road to alleviate traffic congestion.
  • A pedestrian-friendly design, with convenient bus access.
  • A new zoning overlay district to eventually incorporate similar design elements into the east side of West Main Road in future years.
  • Pocket parks and streetscaping throughout the redevelopment area.
  • The eventual development of roughly 175 new residential housing units.
  • Pedestrian-friendly cross-walks on West Main Road.
  • An optional town common at the northernmost end of the development, contingent upon future negotiations with the Navy, the current land owner.
  • Relocation of the library to the northern end of the development area.

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