Sends Four Charter Questions to November Ballot
Adriana Vossari, RI & Local Government News
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.
One 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.
