The Westerly Town Council adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers, approved four Town Charter questions for the November 3 ballot, and heard a first outline of a proposed short-term rental ordinance at its July 27 meeting, according to the Westerly Town Council's published meeting recording.
The charter debate consumed most of the night and ended with a 4-3 poll vote on the most contested question, a brief recess called mid-argument, and an apology from the council president to a fellow councilor.
One-year data center moratorium adopted
The council opened a public hearing and then approved an ordinance imposing a one-year moratorium on all data centers. The town manager told the council the town's ordinances are currently silent on data centers, and the pause is meant to give the zoning side time to draft rules on where such facilities would be allowed or restricted. He noted that data centers consume large amounts of electricity and water.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIOne speaker, a former Hopkinton Town Council member who identified himself as a candidate for state representative in District 38, spoke in support. He said once a development application is submitted and becomes vested, a community loses much of its ability to decide where that development belongs. No one spoke against the moratorium.
Councilors approved the ordinance by voice vote after closing the hearing. One councilor said a year "really isn't enough time" for the Planning Board to do the work, but called it the most the council could do.
Water rate and business registration ordinances
The council also approved, by voice vote, an amendment to the water rate ordinance covering the water quality protection charge. The town manager described the charge as a pass-through tax set by the state and collected on water bills. He said the dollar figure written into the current ordinance does not match what the state is actually charging, and the amendment ties the ordinance to whatever the state rate is each year so the town does not have to re-advertise annually.
A second ordinance amendment removes the annual renewal fee from the town's new business registration program. Under the change, a new business pays the registration fee once. Renewals remain required each year, to capture address or ownership changes, but carry no fee and no processing fee. The manager first said the fee is $15, then described it as $15 plus a $10 online processing charge, totaling $25 at initial registration. The recording does not resolve that discrepancy clearly.
Four charter questions head to the November ballot
The council spent roughly the bulk of the meeting on a resolution setting local questions for the November 3 general election on revisions to the Westerly Town Charter. A charter is a town's governing document, and changing it requires approval by voters.
Question 1 concerns what happens when a Town Council seat becomes vacant. Under the version the solicitor drafted, the first, second and third runners-up from the preceding election have a legal right to assume the office in sequence, without any council appointment. If all three decline, the council must appoint a qualified person by majority vote within 30 days.
Several councilors said the drafted language did not match what they thought they had asked for. The draft would have let the replacement serve the full remainder of the term. A motion amended it so the replacement serves only until the next scheduled general election, and then for the remainder of that term — language added to preserve the council's staggered terms. That amendment passed 4-3 on a poll vote.
Opponents argued the change was unnecessary and rushed. One councilor said runners-up who already received thousands of votes should be allowed to finish the term, and warned the change would add an extra seat to future ballots. Another councilor repeatedly objected to acting on charter changes at what he called the eleventh hour, noting that the questions must be filed with the Secretary of State in the first week of August and that there would be no further public comment after that night. He urged the council instead to create a targeted charter revision commission with a schedule and public input.
Supporters said the amendment gives voters a check. One councilor said that people who did not receive enough votes to win should have to face voters before serving a full term.
Question 2 applies the same change to School Committee vacancies and was approved. Question 3 passed on a poll vote. A fourth question would change how the town advertises ordinances, moving away from newspaper print notices. A councilor who brought it forward said the town spent about $20,000 on ordinance advertising this year, down from the $30,000 to $40,000 range in prior years, and said options including mailings and kiosks at the library and town hall could replace print.
Two councilors opposed it. One read from a July 13 letter to the council from the ACLU, quoting a concern that many people do not have regular access to the internet and that local newspaper announcements still serve an important notification function. He said Westerly is an aging community and that $20,000 to $30,000 is not a large ask within a roughly $100 million budget. Another councilor said voters already decided this question two years ago and voted to keep newspaper notices. The question passed on a poll vote, 5-2.
The full resolution was then approved 6-1.
Short-term rentals: discussion only, no vote
A council working group presented a draft framework that would split short-term rentals into two categories. Hosted rentals, where the owner lives on the property during the guest's stay, would be allowed anywhere a residence is allowed. Unhosted rentals would be permitted in only three zoning districts: High-Density Residential 10, Shore Commercial Watch Hill and Shore Commercial General.
A councilor presenting the framework said unhosted rentals function more like commercial activity in areas not zoned for it, and that the three chosen districts already have a beach-vacation character. He said more than half of the currently registered rentals fall within those three districts.
The discussion turned on whether existing operators would be protected. The solicitor explained that if a use is permitted and a zoning change makes it non-permitted, the owner retains a legal nonconforming use that attaches to the property but cannot be expanded, and is lost if discontinued. One councilor disputed that, arguing the town's short-term rental registration is an annual administrative registry rather than a license, so the permission expires each year. The solicitor said that argument would be difficult to make. The council asked the solicitor to research the question and asked the working group to consider an overlay district as an alternative.
Councilors split sharply. One said the town has no right to tell owners what to do with their property and predicted lawsuits. Another said short-term rentals are pulling housing stock away from year-round families. Several said the town's zoning map is too fragmented to work from and asked for larger, readable maps. No vote was taken; the item returns at a future meeting.
Other business
The council voted by voice to move its August 24 regular meeting to August 31, so meetings fall two weeks apart across the late-summer schedule. It also approved payments to two outside law firms for litigation matters, $20,688.97 and $8,160, both by voice vote. An appointment to the Harbor Management Commission was approved 5-2 on a poll vote.
The town manager said the town has applied for a $141,000 federal Homeland Security grant to install a cloud-based key-fob security system across town buildings, plus $10,000 for emergency management.
On the $85 million sewer project, the manager said work began in early July with mobilization — trailers, power and equipment — and that Jacobs is now awarding subcontracts. The town is taking on construction-management insurance directly for an estimated $150,000 savings. The bond closing was expected around August 4 or 5.
The manager also gave a detailed timeline on moving the polling place and early voting to the police station's community room, saying the Board of Canvassers approved it June 2 and the Rhode Island Board of Elections formally approved the relocation on July 23. He said the room is separate from police operations, has no cameras inside, and that state law already places an armed officer at every polling location. During public comment, a resident disputed part of that account, saying the general election location had not yet been voted on and that the vote would not happen until the following month. The council president said the town would confirm.
Also during public comment, a food-cart operator said she has been unable to get a town permit because the town requires a notarized letter from the property owner, and the manager at Home Depot declined to have her letter notarized. The town manager offered to contact the store manager and notarize the letter himself.
A resident raised concerns about how an email he described as an official record reached a Facebook user who is not a town employee. Councilors directed him to work with the town manager.
What's next
The next regular Town Council meeting is scheduled for August 10, with the following meeting moved to August 31. The charter questions must be filed with the Secretary of State in the first week of August and go before voters on November 3. The short-term rental ordinance returns for further discussion, and the council asked the solicitor to report back on the nonconforming-use question.