NDN Target proposed for Portsmouth

NDN online 3.14.07

By Meaghan Wims/Daily News staff

Sixteen acres at the intersection of West Main Road and Union Street in Portsmouth is the proposed site for a Target department store.


	(David Hansen/Daily News staff)

PORTSMOUTH - Target has its aim on Aquidneck Island.

Portsmouth officials said the "upscale discounter" chain is considering building a 500-foot-long store on 16 acres of vacant land at West Main Road and Union Street.

Town Administrator Robert G. Driscoll said Target's local lawyer, Robert M. Silva of Middletown, contacted the town about two months ago to say that the retailer was interested in building a store on commercial property owned by Jack Egan.

Silva confirmed that Target is interested in building at the Portsmouth site.

"We're beginning the process to present the proposal to the appropriate municipal authority and make sure the project meets the requirements of the community and is in keeping with the parameters of development in Portsmouth," Silva said.

Silva declined to give further details on the still-emerging proposal. Target corporate officials could not be reached for comment.

Town officials said they met with Target officials last week to talk over general plans.

Target is amenable to working with the town's Design Review Board to develop a more aesthetically pleasing façade and landscaping than the department store's usual look, Driscoll said.

The building would take about a year to construct.

"I think we've given the message, and it's been received, that we want to be in the 15 percent of Target stores that don't look like your usual Target stores," Driscoll said.

"We want something that works here, not some behemoth looming over Portsmouth," Town Planner Robert W. Gilstein said. "That was made very clear to them. We want a good design and lots of landscaping."

Traffic-calming measures will be crucial, Gilstein said. Target will need state Department of Transportation approval for acceleration and deceleration lanes and a new traffic signal closer to the store's entrance.

"They won't get anywhere with the community without traffic measures," Gilstein said.

Target is expected to submit preliminary plans later this month or next to the Zoning Board of Review, which will decide on whether to issue the company a special-use permit and what conditions to attach to that approval. The Planning Board and design board also will review the plans.

If approved, this would be Target's first store on Aquidneck Island - the retailer toyed with the idea in 2003 of building at Middletown Plaza on West Main Road, before Home Depot took the spot - and it would be the first big-box store in Portsmouth. The town historically has focused on new businesses that meet the needs of current residents, rather than larger stores that will likely draw many shoppers from out of town, Driscoll said.

"I'm not thrilled by it," he said. "But you've got to accept what people want. This is a departure for us, but it's probably something that's inevitable."

"It's big," Gilstein said. "But I guess we kind of knew something was going to come someday and this is as good a spot as any. When you have something like this that you're not used to, the first thought is, 'Oh, geez, how do I deal with this?' They do have a right to come in and make a proposal and the town has a right to put conditions on it."