The purpose of this article is to insure that manufacturing operations shall be so developed as to minimize disturbance to the general health, safety and welfare of the Town of Warren, and to minimize their effect upon neighboring property and uses. No structure shall be erected or occupied and no land shall be used for any manufacturing use designated in this ordinance unless such manufacturing use has conformed to the requirements of this article.

The zoning board of review shall act upon all requests for zoning permits for manufacturing uses in accordance with article V of this ordinance, and make findings as to the compliance of the proposed uses to the performance standards of this article. The board shall invite the applicant or his representative to appear before it.

It is intended that the burden of proof for the establishment of compliance with conformance standards shall rest with the applicant. All information and evidence submitted in applications to indicate conformity to performance standards shall constitute certification and an agreement on the part of the applicant that the proposed use can and will conform to such standards. No applicant shall be required to reveal any secret processes.

The zoning board of review may require such evidence as may be pertinent to establish that the proposed use will comply with this article, including expected levels or quantities of noise, vibration, liquid or solid wastes, smoke and other forms of air pollution, heat and glare or other nuisances as set forth in this article in terms easily comparable with the values given in this article.

In cases where corrections devices are to be used they shall be stated, and examples of such correction devices in use will be given with such illustrations as are necessary to clearly convey the methods used to the zoning board. Examples of similar industrial operation in actual use with photographs, testimony and explanation, may be submitted to the board to clearly convey the type of use and its performance.

In the event of a determination by the zoning officer of a violation of the performance standards subsequent to the granting of a zoning permit, a written notice of the violation shall be sent by registered mail to the owner of the manufacturing use. The notice shall further state that upon the continuation of the violation, technical determinations as described in this ordinance shall be made by the zoning officer and that if violations as alleged are found, costs of such determinations, including the costs of hiring qualified experts, shall be charged against those responsible for the violation, in addition to such other penalties as may be appropriate; but that if it is determined that no violation exists, the cost of the determination will be paid by the Town of Warren.

The following standards for the operation of manufacturing uses shall apply:

A.

Noise. Noise shall be measured from any property line of the tract on which the manufacturing operation is located. At the specified points of measurement, the sound pressure level of noise radiated continuously from a manufacturing facility or activity (other than background noises not under direct control of the manufacturing use, such as vehicular traffic) shall not exceed the values given in Tables 1 and 2 in octave bands of frequency, between the night-time hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

The instruments used for these measurements shall conform to the specifications published by the American Standards Association, Inc. New York, N. Y. The sound pressure level shall be measured with a Sound Level Meter (American Standard Specification for Sound Level Meters for measurement of Noise and Other Sounds, (S1.4-1961) and an Octave Band Filter Set, as indicated in Table 1).

Table 1 MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE SOUND-PRESSURE LEVELS

(a)

Pre-1960 octave bands. A standardized series of octave bands prescribed by the American Standards Association in Z24.10-1953, Octave Band Filter Set for the Analysis of Noise and Other Sounds.

(b)

Preferred frequency octave bands. A standardized series of octave bands prescribed by the American Standards Association in S1.6-1960, Preferred Frequencies for the Acoustical Measurements.

If the noise is not smooth and continuous and/or is not radiated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., one or more of the corrections in Table 2 following shall be added to or subtracted from each of the decibel levels given above in Table 1.

Table 2

* Apply one of these corrections only

B.

Vibration. Vibration shall be measured at the nearest property line. No vibration is permitted which is discernable to human sense of feeling for three (3) minutes or more duration in any one (1) hour of the day between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., or thirty (30) seconds or more duration in any one hour between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. No vibration at any time shall produce an acceleration of more than 0.1g or shall result in any combination of amplitudes and frequencies beyond the "safe" range of Table 7, U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin No. 442 "Seismic Effect of Quarry Blasting", on any structure. The methods and equations of said Bulletin No. 442 shall be used to compute all values for the enforcement of this regulation.

C.

Smoke and other forms of air pollution. Manufacturing operations shall conform to the air pollution control regulations of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, issued under the provisions of Chapter 23-25 of the General Laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended, which regulations are hereby incorporated as part of this ordinance.

D.

Sewage and waste. Sewage and waste shall be deposited in the public sewage system when available. No sewage waste shall be discharged into the public sewage system, which adversely affects the efficient operation of the sewage treatment plant, or any part of the system, which is dangerous to the public health and safety. Effluent from any manufacturing use which is discharged into the ground shall at all times comply with the regulations of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management relating to the disposal of sanitary sewage in unsewered areas, issued under the provisions of Chapter 23-1 of the General Laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended, which regulations are hereby incorporated as part of this ordinance.

E.

Heat and glare. Any manufacturing operation producing heat and/or glare (as differentiated from interior illumination) shall be shielded so that no heat or glare can be recorded at the property line. No lighting shall be used in such a manner that produces glare on public highways or neighboring property.

F.

Radiation. Manufacturing operation shall cause no dangerous radiation at the property line as specified by the regulations of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

A.

If the proposed manufacturing operation use involves the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land for sale, lease or other conveyance, or for development, simultaneous or at separate times, and said division of lot, tract or parcel does not meet all of the conditions set out in Rhode Island General Laws 45-23-1 subsections (a) through (d) then, upon the granting of a special use permit by the zoning board of review, the site plan shall be approved by the planning board prior to any issuance of a building permit by the building inspector.

B.

In addition to the normal information required by the subdivision regulations, the submission to the planning board shall include the following information:

1.

Proposed name and location of the manufacturing operation, together with the names and addresses of the applicant and designer or engineer;

2.

Scale of plan, one (1) inch to forty (40) feet, or as required by the planning board;

3.

Date and north arrow;

4.

Contours at two-foot intervals;

5.

Boundary lines of proposed development, indicated by a solid line and the total acreage encompassed thereby;

6.

Location, widths and names of all existing or prior platted streets, railroad and utility rights-of-way, parks and other public open spaces, permanent buildings and structures, and sections and municipal boundary lines, within five hundred (500) feet of the tract;

7.

Existing sewers, water mains, culverts and other underground facilities within the tract, indicating pipe sizes, grades, manholes and locations;

8.

Location arrangement and dimensions of automobile parking spaces, width of aisles, width of bays, angle of parking;

9.

Location, arrangement and dimensions of truck loading and unloading spaces and docks;

10.

Drainage systems and sanitary uses;

11.

Locations, heights and materials of walls, fences and screen plantings;

12.

Ground cover, finished grades, slopes, banks and ditches;

13.

Location and general exterior dimensions of principal and accessory buildings;

14.

Location, size, height and orientation of all signs, other than signs on building facades;

15.

Preliminary architectural drawings for all buildings;

16.

The stages, if any, to be followed in the construction of the development; and

17.

A traffic flow chart showing circulation patterns within the confines of the development.