The proposed design for the Trolley Barn property received updates to its landscape, parking, bike path and building locations. At the July 12 Planning Commission meeting, Senior Planner Joshua Berry shared the new changes with commission members.

Located on Cranston Street on the border of Providence, the Trolley Barn property is a 35,000 square foot multi-use, commercial development that could include an AutoZone, car wash, gas station/mini-mart and fast food restaurant.

The fast food restaurant, which was initially proposed to be located on the southwestern corner of the site, has been relocated to the southeastern corner. Additionally, the bank that would have been in the southeastern corner has been replaced by a car wash.

Berry said the plan also clearly delineates a spot for the future 20 foot wide bike path connection between Cranston and Providence. The planning staff added that the bike path connection would be a significant benefit to the city and state, and there will be bike racks at three of the property’s buildings.

The applicant added an island in front of AutoZone to break up the parking and provide a sidewalk connection; multiple crosswalks throughout the complex have been added. As for entering and exiting the commercial space, the right-out only curb located on the project’s southwestern corner has been removed and, in lieu, a right-out only land has been added to the main access point.

As for the landscape, a variety of shrubs and plants including Red Sunset Maple trees, tulip trees, Princeton Elms and Kousa Dogwood will be planted. For shrubs, there will be two types of Hydrangea, holly, Juniper and others.

This project has gone through extensive revisions to address staff, DPRC, the traffic peer review and landscape peer review comments. For key observations, the commission noted that the project received a zone change and comprehensive plan amendment, and the applicant complied with the conditions of the master plan approval with the understanding that the conditions for solar and EV charging stations were exploratory/aspirational.

Berry said the staff would have preferred a different combination of uses that would operate better in terms of parking, pedestrian accessibility, internal circulation, synergy between uses and hours of operation.

He added that the project will bring much needed economic development to the site since it has been vacant for decades.