By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD — The Planning Board Thursday will hold a public hearing for the remaining three phases of Dowling Village, a massive 120-acre shopping complex proposed for Route 146A on the Woonsocket city line.

The public hearing, which had been postponed on Nov. 13, is for phases 2-4 of the project and will be held at 7 p.m. at Kendall Dean School, 83 Green St., Slatersville.
First proposed four years ago, Dowling Village is a 133-acre, $85 million mixed-use development.
A master plan for phases 2 and 3 of the project have been submitted to the planners for approval and consists of seven retail buildings totaling 555,504-square-feet; three restaurants totaling 16,442-square feet; and a three-story 75,000-square-foot office building and parking for a total of 2,689 vehicles.
The planning board will review project impacts from all four phases, including phase 1, which is partially constructed and includes a 17,762-square-foot CVS pharmacy — which opened last year — and a 5,000-square-foot restaurant, and phase 4, which consists of 76 residential condominiums.
The project as proposed has two entrances, one at the Dowling Village Highway/Route 146A and the other just north of the National Grid power line between 408 and 322 Eddie Dowling Highway.
The hearing on Thursday is the kick off to what will likely be several hearings on the preliminary master plan.
Last June, Bucci Development, the developers of Dowling Village, announced it would move forward and secure final local approval for the project after the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) approved a permit for the last three phases of the project.
That month, the DEM approved a permit for phases two, three and four of the project, which was the last state regulatory approval needed in order for Bucci Development to move forward to secure final local approval from the North Smithfield Planning Board.
Tomorrow’s hearing was supposed to have been held on Nov. 13, but the planners agreed to support a request by lawyers representing the developer to continue the hearing.
Attorney Michael Kelly, who made that request in a letter to the planners, cited several reasons for the continuance, including the fact that one member of the board was to be absent from the Nov. 13 meeting and that two-newly elected members weren’t scheduled to take their seats on the board until Dec. 15 and would need to be brought up to speed on the proposal.
A second reason was that developers were still awaiting approval from the Department of Environmental Management on an underground infiltration system permit, which is part of the project.
Phase one of Dowling Village, off Route 146A and abutting Woonsocket, is nearing completion with the opening of an 18,000-square-foot CVS pharmacy last July. The later phases will bring the construction of more than 600,000 square feet of commercial space as well as additional construction in office space, restaurants, and residential uses.
The project has its supporters, who say the tax revenue generated by the project will be an economical boon to the town. Opponents argue the project will create ecological and other problems.