The Pulpit Rock is on an eight-acre lot that is zoned SL (Suburban Low density.) SL might make you think there would be 2 or 3 residences on it but land in the SL zone has an option of a special variance for a motel or hotel. That variance says 50 rooms plus another 15 for every acre, I believe.
The plan submitted to the town planning board asks for 90+ parking spaces and, in addition to a huge building, it shows four separate two-story “cottages” of 2,000 square feet on it (twice as big as my three-bedroom house.)
They obscure the monolith from the road. It probably won’t be that big that after they have gone through the planning board process.
Let’s say it is reduced to half of that or even a quarter and it is all pushed back behind the rock, it will still dominate the site and that is because the plot is only just large enough to show the rock in all its glory.
Any two-story building within sight of it will be taller than it and will diminish it. (There is a reason why the Lincoln memorial is set in a 30-acre field/lawn/park — think of it with a six-story housing development next to it.)
Regards,
Jane Newman
Pioneer Farm
Warwick