The Redevelopment Overlay District (ROD) regulations are established in order to encourage and accommodate planned commercial development when it is compatible with surrounding uses and on land that could be suitably used as regulated by the underlying zone.

In order to provide for an area of this type of development, a Redevelopment Overlay District has been created. The purpose of the Redevelopment Overlay District (ROD) is to provide areas for economic development in the Town of Johnston that are well designed and to provide for a variety of uses.

For new uses on undeveloped land, development within the ROD shall be reviewed and approved by the Johnston Planning Board as a major land development project. In order to expedite the review and approval of major land development projects within the district, the Johnston Planning Board may combine the stages of review as provided in the Subdivision and Land Development Review Regulations.

Existing conforming uses seeking approval for significant expansion shall be reviewed as new uses. Existing nonconforming uses within the district may be continued.

Supplemental dimensional standards:

Site access. The intent of the ROD is to limit access onto existing public rights-of-way to strategically placed locations. In addition, the location(s) shall be designed to effectively allow for the efficient and same movement of vehicular traffic in and out of the ROD. The following shall apply to new and existing uses within the ROD:

Parking requirements. The base parking requirements per use shall be as follows:

Shared on-site parking. As part of the approval process within the ROD, the applicant may request reductions to minimum requirements or alternative methods for meeting the required parking based on an analysis of peak parking demands for the proposed uses.

Off-site parking. Separate from, or in conjunction with, shared-parking provisions, applicants may use off-site parking to satisfy their parking requirements in accordance with the following conditions:

Service access. When required, loading and other service areas such as trash dumpsters shall be placed to the rear or side of buildings in visually unobtrusive locations. Screening and landscaping shall prevent direct views of the loading areas from adjacent properties or from public rights-of-way. Loading areas shall be allowed in travel lanes or parking areas so as long as the loading/unloading occurs during nonbusiness hours.

Fire lanes. The ROD must include fire lanes, which shall be approved by the Johnston Fire Marshal.

Parking lot lighting shall be provided to meet the minimum standards developed by the Illumination Engineering Society.

Exterior lighting shall be directed downward in order to reduce glare onto adjacent properties. Use of minimum-wattage metal halide, color-corrected sodium light sources, or superior technology is encouraged. Non-color-corrected low-pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights are prohibited, except in light industrial areas where access by the public is restricted.

General screening. Where screening is required by this section, it shall be at least three feet in height, unless otherwise specified. Required screening shall be at least fifty-percent opaque throughout the year. Required screening shall be satisfied by one or some combination of:

Parking lot landscaping and screening. All parking and loading areas fronting on collector streets or abutting a residential use shall provide:

Parking area interior landscaping. The corners of parking lots, "islands," and all other areas not used for parking or vehicular circulation shall be landscaped. Vegetation can include turf grass, native grasses or other perennial flowering plants, vines, shrubs or trees. Such spaces may include architectural features such as benches, kiosks or bicycle parking. In large parking lots containing more than 100 spaces, an interior landscaped area of at least 300 square feet shall be provided for each 50 spaces or fraction thereof, containing one canopy tree. The remainder shall be covered with turf grass, native grasses or other perennial flowering plants, vines or shrubs.

Screening from adjacent residential uses. In reviewing any new use proposed to be developed within the ROD adjacent to existing residential uses, the Johnston Planning Board may require additional screening, landscaping or buffering, including, but not limited to, the construction of fences, walls or other architectural barriers the purpose of which is to mitigate any adverse impacts upon adjacent residential property.

Refuse areas. All outdoor refuse storage, collection and recycling areas shall be enclosed and solidly screened by wood or fence enclosure, with a minimum height of six feet, and shall extend on three sides of such an area, with a gate or door on the fourth side. The Johnston Planning Board may modify this requirement if such area is not visible from abutting property or streets and, in the opinion of the Board, is not necessary in order to screen or buffer abutting property or streets or to otherwise meet the purposes of the Johnston Comprehensive Community Plan or this Zoning Ordinance.

Entrance sign. The Johnston Planning Board shall limit the number of entrance signs to roads or driveways which provide access to major complexes of uses and buildings within the ROD, and not to individual uses or buildings. No such entrance sign shall be permitted for individual uses or buildings. Such entrance signs shall be not more than 1,000 square feet in sign display area per side and no more than 40 feet in height.

Wall-mounted signs (per building side). For retail, commercial, institutional, office and light industrial uses in the ROD there may be one or more wall-mounted sign(s) for each building side, the total of which does not exceed one square foot for each lineal foot of the building frontage on which the sign is located, not to exceed 300 square feet.

Freestanding signs. In addition to permitted wall-mounted signs, there shall also be allowed one freestanding sign for each building not to exceed 50 square feet per side. Such freestanding signs shall not exceed 30 feet in height above the ground. No such freestanding sign shall be erected in such a manner as to materially impede vision or obstruct access to or from any public or private street, sidewalk, driveway, off-street parking or loading facility or any other access required by this section.

Sign allowance variations. In consideration of the comprehensive sign plan for a building or buildings, the Planning Board may increase the size of the wall-mounted signs by reallocating, in whole or in part, the allowable square footage of the freestanding sign to the wall-mounted sign. Where such consideration is granted by the Johnston Planning Board, no freestanding sign shall be permitted.

Sign revisions. Revisions to signs in an approved comprehensive signage plan shall be reviewed by the Administrative Officer as an amendment to an approved plan, as provided in the Subdivision and Land Development Review Regulations.

Sign lighting. Signs within the ROD may be illuminated or indirectly illuminated.

To encourage the preservation of open space for its scenic beauty and the appropriate use thereof;

To preserve historical and archeological resources;

To protect the natural environment and the varied landscapes of Johnston;

To protect the value of real property;

To promote more sensitive siting of buildings and better overall site planning;

To perpetuate the appearance of the Town's traditional New England landscape;

To allow landowners a reasonable return on their investment and to reward landowners with reduced infrastructure costs and density bonuses;

To facilitate the construction and maintenance of streets, utilities, and public services in a more economical and efficient manner; and

To offer an alternative to conventional subdivision development.

To grant this waiver the Board must find that:

Open space lots, within an approved conservation development may have zero frontage on a street, if the Board approves private access to the open space by easement.

Applicants are encouraged to modify, lot size, shape, and other dimensional characteristics within an FDRP.

Lots must conform to all dimensional requirements except frontage for the applicable zone.