Zone changes and complaints the city could do more headlined Monday’s City Council meeting, which included three separate public hearings.

The first of three hearings involved rezoning more than 350 acres from residential to open space.

Many residents spoke in favor of the rezoning many pressed for conservation easements to make sure the land remains open space in perpetuity.  Some council members agreed, however, City Planner Tom Kravitz said adding that provision would take time.

 “This is a great first step- I just don’t want to see us get bogged down in legal challenges over time,” Council President Stephen McAllister said. “Even if a developer or someone tries to change this, they would have to go through the whole process of zoning, planning and going before the City Council as well.”

The council voted unanimously to rezone the land to Open Space, and left the door open for more specific changes for individual parcels of land.

Additionally, the city council voted unanimously in favor of amending the zoning ordinance to allow Glenn and Mary Miga Taylor to build a duplex on Arnolds Neck Drive.

“I did go through those documents, I met with the attorney before this, I reviewed the planning, their notes, what they went through, and everything is in line- the way our zoning laws are written does allow this,” McAllister said. “But I don’t want it to go unmentioned that this will affect about three to four houses across the street.”

Some Arnolds Neck residents showed up to oppose the development.  Between 35 and 40 residents signed a letter sent to Mayor Frank Picozzi and the City Council urging them to deny the rezoning allowing the duplex.

This is likely be the last time such a proposal is brought before the City Council, as according to Kravitz, the third ordinance taken up in public hearing- updating amended Warwick’s zoning ordinance to conform with changes in state land use laws. Under the change approved by state legislators as a means of increasing housing, duplexes would not require specific zoning.  The ordinance passed unanimously.

“We felt that a duplex, for a city of 83,000 people, it really doesn’t make sense to have the duplexes come to the City Council for the hearing process,” Kravitz said. “Two-families would really be handled through the planning board and not come through the City Council.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting residents of Mary’s Creek, near the Arnolds Neck neighborhood, accused McAllister of going back on his word to put no parking signs in the area, which they say is dirtier and more littered than it has ever been.

“I see it deteriorating year by year, with no assistance from anyone, no matter who I reach out to,” Lisa McDuff said. “Every week, I’m picking up garbage and landfill debris along Mary’s Creek. How would you like this in your yard? In your area? Where you live? Where you want to feel safe?”

Also during public comment, resident Phyllis Stafford shared she is three weeks away from becoming homeless, and is looking to give the City Council a bit of a jolt to help change the city’s zoning.

“I’m living in a house with no windows, no heat, rats dropping from the ceiling every night, but I’m grateful for that, because if it wasn’t for that, I’d be living in a tent on the streets,” Stafford said. “Why does Warwick have so much blighted, abandoned property, and they’re not doing anything with it, where we could put a tiny house in and pay rent every month? I know you’re waiting to have huge properties come in and make renovations and whatnot, I’m just trying to say keep an open mind for people who are like me.”

The discussion about general malaise also manifested itself during three items passed by a 6-3 vote during the bid package- spending for repairs to snowplows, sand and salt spreaders and rebuilding exchange transmissions. Each of those three packages included vendors added on to the project that had not bid.

“We’ve been down this road before,” Councilman Edgar Ladouceur said. “I’ve discussed ad nauseam about various departments moving to award bids or include them as vendors when they didn’t bid on the book of business in the first place. That, I think, is counterproductive from a business standpoint, makes no sense whatsoever.”

Councilman Anthony Sinapi said that if the bids were not handled in the way that they were, the items would likely have to go back out to bid, a lengthy process.

“Many of us on the council are aware that over the years, we’ve had a harder and harder time with getting vendors to respond on RFPs,” Sinapi said. “So yes, we’re in an unfortunate situation by those circumstances, and it seems like the best way forward for now is making do with what we can to get things done as opposed to putting more and more on the back burner.”

Ladouceur, Jeremy Rix and Donna Travis voted against the three packages.

The council passed a resolution dedicating Chepiwanoxet Point as a municipal public trust, which former city planner Jonathan Stevens, who was in attendance, called a “terrific accomplishment. It also approved a zone change allowing Cellco Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless to build a cell tower in Conimicut near Clegg Field to replace one that burned.