MIDDLETOWN -- Interested in finding out what the zoning
restrictions are in your neighborhood? Or maybe you'd just like to
peruse the town's Comprehensive Plan.
Now, with just a click of a mouse, you can. A new Web site set up by
Middletown First, a local grassroots environmental group, went on line
this month, offering an interactive map of the town, a copy of the
zoning ordinances and forms for variances and special use permits.
The Web site --
www.middletownfirst.org -- was set up to help educate townspeople
about the laws that govern the development of Middletown, said Gail
Greenwood, the founder of Middletown First.
"The average person doesn't know what the rules are and what they're
entitled to see," said Greenwood, of Forest Avenue. "If you've got a Web
site you can go in anytime."
Greenwood's group formed last year to fight the development of a
108,000-square-foot shopping plaza on West Main Road.
The nonprofit lost that fight -- the shopping plaza, Middletown Square,
could break ground as early as this month -- but Middletown First lives
on, setting its sights on urban sprawl throughout town and preserving
"the unique (and vanishing) charm" of Middletown, according to the Web
site.
The group purports to be against sprawl only, not growth in general.
Greenwood said development should proceed only according to the
Comprehensive Plan.
"We believe in planned communities and smarter, sustainable growth," she
said.
The Web site has a forum for people to comment on development issues in
town. It also allows residents to post photos of -- in Greenwood's words
-- the character of old Middletown.
But perhaps the most useful part of the site is a map of town that
allows residents to click on any neighborhood and find out the various
building restrictions and requirements there.
The map was put together by Principal Planning Services, a consulting
firm run by former Town Planner Michelle Maher.
The Web site was established with the help of grants totaling $3,500
from the Rhode Island Foundation and the Montpelier, Vt.-based New
England Grassroots Environment Fund.
They weren't the first grants the two organizations have given
Middletown First. Earlier this year, they gave the group money for
traffic and real estate experts to testify against Middletown Square.
The town has yet to issue a building permit to the developers of the
square but an application is pending, according to the building
inspector's office.
