Builder plans 28 new homes on Diamond Hill Road

Project approved by Planning Board will be city’s largest new development in a decade

WOONSOCKET – The Planning Board has approved a proposal to build 28 singlefamily homes off Diamond Hill Road, the largest plan of its kind in about a decade, city officials say.

Planners voted unanimously in favor of city-based developer John Laquerre’s plan for Sapphire Estates – a subdivision carved out of roughly seven acres on a new street opposite Fontana’s Flowers, according to Kenneth Finlay, a member of the board.

The three-bed, 1.5 bath raised ranches will generally be situated on lots ranging from 7,000 square feet – the minimum allowed – to about 10,000 square feet, and they’ll carry price tags on the high side for most of East Woonsocket – in the $300,000 to $400,000 range.

Finlay says he sees the plan as a sign of confidence in the local housing market and the increasing willingness of home buyers employed in the Greater Boston area to commute in order to escape the region's astronomical housing prices.

“I think he's got the right idea at the right time," said Finlay. "I think what you're going to see is that the market is very amenable to this."

"Certainly the developer feels there's a sufficient market to put these types of houses up," Finlay added.

The proposal drew some protests from neighbors, partly over the width of proposed Theresa Marie Street. The

road will be 26 feet wide with no concrete sidewalks, just an asphalt berm and grassy borders.

Some thought the road should be wider, with concrete sidewalks and granite curbs, in keeping with stan- dards observed by the Planning Board in some older developments. But Finlay said concrete sidewalks are very costly to maintain and throw more rainwater runoff, and studies have shown that wider streets encourage motorists to speed.

Finlay said he was initially demanding concrete sidewalks for the project, but he changed his mind, partly after soliciting some advice from Grow Smart RI, a private, nonprofit thinktank on land use issues.

One change Laquerre made to the subdivision on the recommendation of the Planning Department was to design Theresa Marie Street as a dead-ender on a cul de sac. The original plan called for it to work as a throughway to Morin Street, but Planning Director N. David Bouley said the design might have also encouraged motorists to speed, so it was changed.

"This is the largest-single family housing proposal we've had in the last 10 years," said Bouley.

In May, the Planning Board approved a multi- phase extension of Holley Springs, off Mendon Road, that called for some 72 units built in duplexes, but Bouley said that project has stalled.

Laquerre gives a St. Louis Avenue home address on planning documents, which means he lives just blocks away from the proposed development.

"There are some minor things he needs to do before he could start construction," said Bouley, including the posting of a performance bond.

The land is zoned for single-family homes, so he doesn't need any permits or waivers from the Zoning Board of Review.