Committee approves temporary parking allowance for Brown University Health with 50% storage cap

The City Council committee on ordinances approved a temporary-use amendment to allow a principal-use parking lot on certain downtown parcels for a limited period while Brown University Health constructs a new parking structure.

Robert Azar, deputy planning director, said the petitioner—Brown University Health (formerly Lifespan)—is proposing a new parking structure that will displace a number of spaces; the petitioner requested temporary use of a downtown gravel lot at 145 Globe Street (the former Victory Plating site) to replace those displaced spaces during construction. Azar described constraints staff and the City Planning Commission recommended: a one-year temporary permit renewable annually, with a maximum total of three years or until the construction project obtains a certificate of occupancy, whichever is shorter, plus surfacing requirements and limits on demolition and landscaping/stormwater rules for newly paved areas.

Council members pressed for clarity about how much of a temporary lot could be used for staging construction materials. Councilman Justin Royas asked whether the language might allow a temporary lot to function mostly as storage; Azar proposed clarifying language that the area devoted to storage "shall be less than 50% of the area of the temporary parking lot." Kelly Morris Salvatore, counsel for the petitioner, told the committee the petitioner agreed the storage should be incidental and supported the 50% cap: "We think that it should be incidental and no more than 50% of the lot." The committee voted to amend paragraph f accordingly.

The committee then closed the public hearing and approved the item as amended. The record includes the City Planning Commission letter and related exhibits entered at the hearing.

Next steps: The ordinance will be converted into formal ordinance language by staff and the committee’s amendment specifying the less-than-50% storage limit will be part of the adopted text.