Letter: Thames Street proposal is a Rushmore to greed

Posted 3/8/18

The development proposed for the corner of State and Thames streets will tower over 48 feet high along 180 feet of Thames Street, from Gillary’s to the State Street corner, and then up State …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Letter: Thames Street proposal is a Rushmore to greed

Posted

The development proposed for the corner of State and Thames streets will tower over 48 feet high along 180 feet of Thames Street, from Gillary’s to the State Street corner, and then up State Street a distance of over 77 feet.

It will pack 20 residential units, a restaurant, retail, a private pool and unspecified other rooftop use(s) on a lot less than 20,000 square feet. It will overwhelm nearly every other structure in the immediate area, where two to two-and-a-half stories predominate. It will cast a mountain of shade on the streetscape and add unnecessary traffic and congestion in an already compact downtown area.

The town’s maximum building height in the waterfront district is 35 feet. The maximum number of residential units, depending on how they are creatively counted, is five.

Yet, in order to take advantage of $1,760,000 in RI Commerce Corporation tax credits, incentives and reimbursements already awarded for the project, the size of this development must meet the 20-unit minimum. As a result, the height, mass and density of this project are far above and beyond the character and use pattern of the historic downtown.

Although the minimum number of off-street parking spaces are being provided for the residential units, if the project is a success, residents, guests and restaurant/event patrons will commandeer numerous additional public parking spaces.

Effectively, the state tax credits are aiding and abetting a project the scope and mass of which will run roughshod over established development limitations and centuries of appropriate land use.

Right-sized and responsibly designed, this project can be an asset to Bristol’s historic downtown, rather than a Rushmore to greed and monumentally poor planning.

Stephen DeLeo
2 High St., Bristol

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.