NORTH SMITHFIELD – After a three year process that has included approvals, denials, a lawsuit, creation of a new town board, changes to local water protection laws and ultimately, the addition of a 1,800-foot water line extension to the project, a Central Street business is now primed to begin construction on a new 23,600-square-foot warehouse, pending a final confirmation of the plan.
Material Sampling Technologies received unanimous approval of both a variance to add a fence to the project and a new preliminary plan from members of the Planning Board on Thursday, June 26. The business aims to move forward with expansion onto a second vacant property adjacent to its current operations at 800 Central St.
It was a relatively quiet meeting for a project that initially brought out heated opposition from many in the business’s primarily residential neighborhood. Opponents at the time took issue, in part, with a zone change passed by the North Smithfield Town Council in 2020 that had opened the door to expansion for the metals reclamation business on a lot that features extensive wetlands and sits over an aquifer.
In an effort then hailed as a way to make the town more business friendly, councilors at the time changed the boundaries of North Smithfield’s Water Supply Overlay District, an area deemed important to protection of the town’s water supply. The change removed the Central Street lot from an area governed with additional oversight from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. MST purchased the vacant 9.7 acre property, an immediate neighbor to its industrial operations, the following year.
The blowback that followed the business’s initial application included creation of a new water protection board and ultimately a new ordinance that reestablished the previous protection boundaries. But the change came too late to halt the controversial expansion.
Zoners attempted denial of a variance associated with the project in 2022 – but that decision was overturned in Superior Court after MST appealed the ruling.
Last year, MST added the extension of town water lines to the plan, mitigating some of the concerns for area residents served by private wells.
And so, on Thursday, planners focused primarily on other quality of life issues, such as noise, lighting and general aesthetics of the building. Most concerns had already been addressed in the business’s latest plan.
Planner Jeffrey Porter asked if the business could somehow bring the neighbors up to speed on the project.
“The landscaping plan that you presented tonight – it’s fine for us, but we’re not living across the street from them,” Porter said.
An engineer representing the applicant, Joe Casali of Casali Engineering, quickly objected to the idea of any additional delays.
“This has been a little acrimonious with the neighbors,” Casali said. “The last time we saw them was at the zoning hearing. We spent two years going to court. Unfortunately, this is costing millions and millions of dollars to build this building today. We want to be as complimentary as possible, but we can’t tie this up for months and months to get neighbor approval.”
Planners ultimately asked that the business provide renderings of the plan to the town, which will be shared with those who live in the neighborhood.
Last week, the only resident to testify during the public hearing did so via a letter read into the record.
“I am deeply disappointed in the conduct of my town and its handling of this matter,” wrote Christian de Rezendes. “With that said, I do not have the power to stop MST, and I have accepted that they will be building a warehouse.”
de Rezendes asked that planners address concerns that the building will be an eyesore, as well as noise, traffic and environmental issues. He also referenced a recent incident where hazmat crews were called to the business following a chemical leak of silver cyanide.
“Promising it will not happen again is not good enough and a clear plan of action must be provided by the town,” he wrote.
Planners were assured there will be no silver cyanide in the new building, and that vacuums that create much of the noise at 800 Central St. will not be used in the new warehouse.
While the initiial expansion plan was subject to review by zoners for a variance, state laws have since changed, giving planners full authority over many projects when a developer requests unified plan review. MST’s application would have been subject to the old process since it was first submitted in 2022, but state law allows the applicant to also request unified plan review if the project undergoes changes – and last week’s version included the addition of a chain link fence to surround the new building.
The new, single-story warehouse will now be surrounded by a six-foot high security fence screened by plantings along the front. The building will feature three loading docks with an access road and associated parking.
Planner Mark Carruolo had recommended passage of the major land development plan with stipulations including that use of the new warehouse be accessory and subordinate to the existing operations with heavy industrial uses prohibited.
The water line element, set to begin late this summer, will extend the town’s system from its current end by Marshfield Commons on Mechanic Street to MST’s building at 800 Central St., adding access to some 14 homes along the way.
“There will be service connections for everyone to tie in on either side,” said Casali.
The project is still subject to final plan approval, either administratively or by the Planning Board.
While I typically am on opposite sides of most positions and political viewpoints of Mr. de Rezendes, I am 100% with him on this one. He lives close to this toxic waste facility, I do not. The town has failed him, failed his family, failed his neighbors, failed to protect our groundwater and continues to keep failing.
Look at what’s happening at the Pines. Look how awful almost every single road in this town is. Look at the lack of any critical infrastructure. Look at how poor our parks are maintained. Look at how many different town properties are owned and barely maintained. But yay – here comes Tractor Supply! Maybe NS can get its own Dollar General soon!
You are 100% correct. And with the awful town roads and infrastructure political leaders feel the town has funds for a senior center including $1M in annual operating cost, water and sewer expansion on 146 for $20M, and funds for a new safety complex. The idea is billed as “progress” but progress is complex and often involves trade-offs. While it generally implies advancement and improvement, it can also come with unintended negative consequences, sometimes referred to as the “cost of progress”. I always live with a simple fact of necessity versus desirers.
I appreciate your words of support. We have to look at how we got here. When you break it all down from ignorance to negligence to what I think our back room deals that were made back in 2020, if I’m to be 100% honest… It’s hard not to feel like the town has shit on us here. Not all who serve presently, but certainly in the past. The boards and councils have changed faces and names many times. What happened was in broad daylight, and yet it all took place as quietly as possible, without the efforts of notifying us directly. We on this street were never ever notified of the town councils agenda to create the groundwater map Change in 2020. We only found out about it over two years later. It was a T.C. meeting held virtually in the middle of Covid the night before the general election when nobody was paying attention. We did not know this was happening or that it had happened afterwards. So try to imagine… From my perspective… You have lived in town for most of your life. You know many of the people who serve on these boards and serve our town, with many of them being congratulatory about your achievements, as of late, which have to do with history and the town. But when it comes to business, no one thought it was important to notify you they were going to take the lot directly across the street from you, and exempted from environmental regulation, so that the company next to it, which uses toxic chemicals in its work and should not be there in the first place, can expand without any issues. The decision not to notify us directly all, but secured the town council’s vote to allow this measure to be passed and for MST to purchase the property seven months later. Now, if you think this Nov 2020 map change and the May 2021 purchase aren’t connected, you’re incredibly naïve. The town planner at the time in the video that you can find on YouTube easily stated that some businesses want to put additions on and that’s why we are pushing this along, even when they really did not have the experience or criteria to do so. On top of that, I later learned from one of the town council people who voted to approve that map change, did not see that central Street was one of the lots included in the change. They said how they known that, they never would have voted for it. Of course the meeting was virtual, and to rush to push it through at the very last minute, they were not given maps in their homes to look over. Nor was Central Street ever mentioned by name in the meeting. The main focus was industrial highway and branch village. The town’s inclusion of Central Street in this map change, coupled with its decision, not to notify my family or our neighbors about this, is deeply troubling to say the least. It sent the message loud and clear that we don’t matter. Big business matters in North Smithfield. Profits over people. While I have issues with MST, notably, the air and soil emission violations that were in RIDEM’s records, but not the town’s (which way were never notified about either between 2013 and 2021 by the way), MST noticed us properly about the expansion in May 2022. Let’s face it. They had to. Plus, had they made any effort to introduce themselves to their neighbors over the last 15 years, who knows how the last five years would have gone? My main grievances with the town and its extremely reckless, selfish and purposely divisive handling of clear and transparent communication with its residents. We’re just gonna keep this quiet so we can push it through and not give the neighbors of Central Street a chance to weigh in about their own health and safety concerns. So we’re not going to notify them directly. We’re gonna save money so this big company can expand where it never should’ve been allowed to in the first place. This matter has forever fractured my relationship with and opinion of this town’s operations. Research is important. Once you start doing research, you see the patterns. Over the decades, the names may change, but the situations repeat. It’s sad and hurtful to those who have given a lot to a place they have called home, in community relations and in the telling of its story. In the end, the takeaway message I get from this town is “Thank you/F$&@ you.” There is no denying that’s how it feels and that it is personal.
This, this right here. All of this. Can’t forget about the whole, we’ll see how this plays out for the contamination issue, when discussing the empty lot that a company was dumping/removing dirt from just up the road on central street. Then the people who complain try to be gaslighted by members on the council. Truly embarrassing.
All you have to do is look all of this stuff up. It takes time, energy and effort, but it’s all there and in full public view.
Congratulations North Smithfield! We now know the site of our next Superfund cleanup! Well done in sticking to history and tradition!