In a unanimous vote last Thursday night, the City Council’s ordinance committee denied the proposed rezoning of an 11-acre forested lot.

An ordinance proposed by property owner Margaret Scaralia sought a zone change on the parcel at the end of Caraway Drive in the Alpine Estates neighborhood. The area in question is an A-80 zone where the minimum lot size is 80,000 square feet, or nearly 2 acres.

Scaralia sought to change the zoning on her property to A-20, which would allow for smaller, 20,000-square-foot lots and raise the number of homes that could be built.

The proposed rezoning faced strong opposition from residents who have long been opposed to zone changes favoring denser developments in the area.

Support for the residents’ opposition to the zone change also came in the form of statements from Mayor Kenneth Hopkins and City Council President Jessica Marino.

Echoing the Planning Commission’s negative recommendation from its meeting a few weeks ago, the committee followed suit with a “no” vote on the ordinance.

The ordinance committee reviews proposed ordinances for the city. It is made up of City Council members with one serving as chairperson; Andy M. Andujar is the chairman of this committee.

Councilman Frank Ritz, who represents the ward that includes Alpine Estates, spoke against the proposal. He said proposed rezoning in the neighborhood was a hot topic when he was campaigning and remains so.

“I know we need more housing in Cranston,” Ritz said, “but it cannot come at the cost of changing why Cranston is such a great city to live in.”

Residents have voiced various reasons for their opposition of the zone change. Some include school overcrowding, increased traffic congestion and flooding issues.

“We are not against expansion,” resident Annette Osborne said in an opinion article in the Herald last week. “Build your property, but build it the way you bought it and don't make a quick buck off all of us.”

Other council members spoke on the matter during the meeting, voicing their support for denying the zoning change based on residents’ concerns and the negative recommendation by the Planning Commission.

Councilwoman Bridget Graziano works as a wetland’s scientist for various towns. She noted the residents’ concerns of flooding and her concern about the infrastructure and sewer capacity in the area.

“I haven’t seen any testing done on pressure for this new proposed facility,” Graziano said. “The neighbors mentioned high water table; that’s a huge concern for me when it comes to meeting the stormwater-management regulations and separation for storm water management controls for larger subdivisions.”

The ordinance committee’s vote will be on the docket for the next City Council meeting, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 24. There will be no vote, as the proposed ordinance was denied; it will simply be a report to the City Council about what happened.

With this denial, the proposed ordinance can be reconsidered, but only after one year.