01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, August 8, 2007

By Maria Armental

Journal Staff Writer

CHARLESTOWN — It was to be a public workshop to gather input on a proposed ordinance to create a “scenic overlay” — restrictions on development — along Route 1 and parts of Route 1A.

Invitation cards had been mailed to property owners in the area.

“The Charlestown Rt. 1 Corridor Advisory Committee is considering strategies that support the unique character of the Rt. 1 corridor — including Charlestown village,” the agenda for last night’s meeting announced. “Please join us in a community conversation to help shape the future of our scenic corridor.”

But town officials were advised the “conversation” was likely to take a different tone — private property rights being usurped by over-restrictive town regulations.

“We live in America. We are not in Russia or Communist China,” resident Janice Falcone said.

The clash started over the proposal to ban “formula businesses” (franchises) from the scenic overlay area.

“We may want to have a McDonald’s, but we may not want to have the big, golden arches,” consultant Sara Bradford, of Bradford Associates said.

“We don’t want it to look like Anytown, U.S.A.,” planning consultant Samuel J. Shamoon said. “It should look more like Charlestown.”

But those proposed regulations, Councilman James M. Mageau said, went beyond protecting the scenic views.

“My interpretation of scenic is visual, but here we are talking about services,” Mageau said, warning that the ordinance would expose the town to a lawsuit.

“As a member of the Town Council we have a responsibility to the taxpayers as well as creating a scenic highway for people driving from New York to Newport,” Mageau said.

“If this go through I’ll be numer one in the lawsuit,” said Falcone’s husband, Angelo.

“I’ll be number two,” added Charles Brooks.

Moreover, Angelo Falcone said, the town needs not worry about franchise restaurants moving into town.

“You ain’t going to get McDonald’s or Wendy’s here for the next 300 years until you get sewer and water,” Falcone said.

“All this shows is you are taking the people’s property away,” he added, referring to a proposal to restrict the clearing on residential lots to 25 percent of the land.

“We worked [too] hard to have our property taken away from us,” Falcone said.

With tempers flaring, people soon started leaving. The consultants never finished their presentation. Forms asking for comments on various issues — from the scenic overlay boundary to the creation of a Route 1 land steward — were never officially distributed or returned.

“I was hoping that this would be an exchange of ideas rather than something short of a fistfight,” said Katharine H. Waterman, Town Council president and member of the Route 1 corridor study advisory committee, trying to moderate the discussion.

It didn’t work.

Bradford said the proposed ordinance doesn’t add restrictions on businesses, it mostly incorporates the existing zoning and regulations from the various overlay districts — the proposed scenic overlay district would encompass the Route 1 area, portions of the old Route 1, the traditional village district, and the mixed-use and historic overlay districts.

The main novelties, she and Shamoon said, would be the preservation of trees and historic stone walls and the creation of a land steward.

Residents complained they had been previously told the committee’s work would not affect any land in town.

The town is working on the ordinance at the same time as the consultants are working with the Washington County Regional Planning Council in developing a land-use guide along the state highway from North Kingstown to Westerly.

Town Planner Ashley Hahn Morris said the misunderstanding may have arisen from people confusing the two.

Still, Janice Falcone said, the ordinance proposes certain regulations for the traditional village district when a committee is still drafting its own regulations for the zone.

Others questioned the character the town wanted to protect, charging the state’s neglect of the area over the years had blocked or destroyed any scenic views.

Moreover, Thomas Koscielecki said, taking a shot at the town’s tree-protection proposals, “This is the Ocean State. If I want to look at trees, I’d go to Vermont.”

In the old days, Koscielecki said, producing a photo taken in 1942 that shows his house near Mud Cove with Route 1 on the background, there were few trees bordering Route 1. Most of the land, he said, was dedicated to pasture.

“From Shelter Harbor, you should be able to see Ninigret Pond all the way to Block Island Sound,” Koscielecki said.

Reclaiming those scenic views, Morris told him, is one of the focuses of the Washington County Regional Planning Council project.

“We want to thank you, anyway,” Janice Falcone told the consultants at the end of the meeting. “Even if we did holler and get angry.”

Charlestown

marmenta@projo.com