The Smithfield Zoning Board of Review granted a one-year extension Wednesday to a mixed-use retail and car wash project on Putnam Pike, three years after the board first approved it and attached a traffic-signal condition the applicant still has not been able to satisfy.
The board also postponed, without discussion, an appeal filed over a town planner's finding that a major land development application at 364 George Washington Highway was incomplete for a second time. That appeal is now set for September 2nd at 6 p.m.
The actions came at the board's August 5th meeting, according to the Smithfield Zoning Board of Review, Board of Appeals's published meeting recording.
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Sun Builders, Inc. and a co-owner hold approvals for four parcels identified in the reading of the case as 0 Putnam Pike, 270 Putnam Pike, 0 Bush Street and 280 Putnam Pike — Assessor's Plat 35, Lots 1, 1A, 1D and 2. The company was back before the board for a second month in a row.
The applicant's attorney told the board the return trip was his own error. At the July hearing the extension request had not been advertised and abutting property owners had not been notified, both required steps for this kind of request. "It's kind of like Groundhog Day because I was before you last month, and I apologize for the oversight," he said, adding that notice and advertising were completed for the August hearing.
He then recapped the history. In 2023 the owners received master plan approval from the Planning Board for a mixed-use development including small-scale retail and a car wash closer to Route 44. That approval depended on the zoning board granting a special-use permit and dimensional variances, which it did in 2023, with a condition that a traffic signal be installed so vehicles could safely enter and exit the site.
According to the attorney, the state Department of Transportation concluded that traffic generated by this project alone would not warrant a signal. He described the result as a catch-22: the board required a light, and the state would not authorize one. The board declined to remove the condition when asked in October 2024, and the applicant did not appeal that decision.
The attorney said the path forward now runs through a separate, larger development by Churchill & Banks, which received a Town Council zone change for a medical office building and roughly 100 apartments. That project has applied for a physical alteration permit — the state permit required to change a driveway or curb cut on a state road — which he said finally allows his client to seek its own permit for a signal near the other project's light.
He told the board his client has spent more than $40,000 on engineering fees while relying on the approvals. Board members noted the Planning Board has separately extended the master plan approval by another year.
No members of the public spoke for or against the request. The board approved the one-year extension by voice vote, with no opposition recorded.
George Washington Highway appeal pushed to September
Sitting as the Board of Appeals, the board took up Case 26-011, an appeal by the applicants and owners of property at 364 George Washington Highway, listed as Plat 48, Lot 28980 and Plat 49, Lots 95, 96 and 97. The appeal challenges the administrative officer's second certificate of incompleteness, issued June 11th, in a major land development application known as the Smithfield Corporate Complex.
A certificate of incompleteness is the town planner's determination that a submitted application is missing required material and cannot yet be reviewed on its merits.
The board's solicitor explained that the case was placed on the August agenda only to protect a filing deadline, because the board has a limited number of days to docket an appeal. The applicant's attorney was not present and had asked for more time, he said, citing summer scheduling and the possibility that separate activity on the planning submission could affect the appeal.
The board voted by roll call to continue the matter to September 2nd at 6 p.m. Board members John Hunt, Linda Marcello and Peter Cavanagh were among those recorded as present and voting; a member participating by phone did not vote. The chair told anyone in the audience there for that case that it would not be heard that night.
Other business and next steps
The board approved the July 8th minutes by voice vote, after a correction changing the word "application" to "appeal" in an entry describing an earlier withdrawal. Peter Cavanagh was noted as abstaining because he had not attended that meeting.
Two cases were reported withdrawn before the meeting: Case 26-009, involving a property on Lockhaven Industrial Parkway, and Case 26-010, involving 1 Douglas Circle.
The meeting opened with a moment of silence for Dennis Finley, who the chair said died after the board's last meeting.
The next meeting of the Zoning Board of Review, sitting as the Board of Appeals, is scheduled for September 2nd at 6 p.m. The solicitor said he expects to confirm before then whether the George Washington Highway appeal will be heard on that date or moved to an agreed-upon later date.