Charlestown RI seeks to maintain its quality of place while avoiding architectural design that appears generic and placeless.To retain the unique character of Charlestown and its historic villages, design standards provide guidance and consistency for commercial property development. The Charlestown Commercial and Village Design Standards are a comprehensive set of standards for guiding the design and development in an historically sensitive rural context.These standards have been carefully drafted to ensure that commercial development aligns with the cultural and environmental characteristics of Charlestown while promoting sound design principles and encouraging building design that is appropriate to Charlestown’s vernacular architecture. As part of this project, Libra Planners chronicled development patterns in Charlestown’s historic villages. The Charlestown Design Standards are responsive to the town’s built environment while supporting best practices and contemporary design, uses, and materials. For more information visit: