Connect with us

Rhode Island

Johnston mayor threatens to challenge RI affordable housing law over project. Here’s why.

Published

on

Johnston mayor threatens to challenge RI affordable housing law over project. Here’s why.


play

JOHNSTON – Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. is threatening to challenge the constitutionality of Rhode Island’s three-decade old affordable housing law − and recent efforts to turbocharge it − in order to thwart a proposed 252-unit apartment complex off George Waterman Road.

“If you insist on moving forward with the currently proposed project, I will use all the power of government that I have to stop it,” Polisena wrote in a statement after the project’s developer brought it before the town Planning Board Tuesday night.

Advertisement

“If you think you’ll breeze through the newly created Land Use calendar in Superior Court, I will be forced to challenge the constitutionality of the low-to-moderate-income housing law itself to grind this project to a halt while the courts deliberate on the statute’s constitutionality,” he went on.

Background: Here’s the project he is challenging

The developer, Waterman Chenango LLC, is proposing to build the apartment complex using the state’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, which limits the ability of towns to block affordable housing projects if less than 10% of their residences qualify as affordable.

As it stands 7.9% of Johnston homes qualify as affordable, giving Waterman Chenango the option of applying for a streamlined “comprehensive permit” instead of the typical Johnston planning and permitting process. (If built the project is estimated to take Johnston over the 10% threshold.)

To combat an acute affordable housing shortage, in 2023 the General Assembly changed the Low and Moderate Housing Act to allow developments that are entirely income restricted to include 12 additional units per acre than they would normally be allowed to under local zoning. The change was part of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s housing affordability package.

Advertisement

In the case of the 31-acre George Waterman Road property, this nets out to 255 units, according to Waterman Chenango.

Growing movement against dense housing projects

While many political leaders across the state and country have adopted pro-development positions in response to soaring home costs, Polisena is among the Rhode Island elected officials to maintain a “single-family only” approach to land use and opposition to residential density.

In neither his Tuesday letter or an interview with The Journal Wednesday, did Polisena lay out a legal case for why the state’s affordable housing law, which has stood since 1991, might be unconstitutional.

“I would like not to do it, but if it is a mean to challenge this project, if it’s our only opportunity to do so, I will do it,” Polisena said Wednesday when asked whether a constitutional challenge was serious or a bargaining move. “And I’m aware that that statute’s inception was 1991, but there have been significant changes over the past couple of years … So just because it hasn’t been challenged doesn’t mean that it’s not ripe to be challenged now.”

Advertisement

Neighbors rally against the project

Neighbors of the would-be apartment complex on Tuesday night railed against the proposal backed up by Planning Board members including Robert Pingitore, who according to WJAR-TV said it would be the “future Chad Brown of Johnston,” referring to a Providence public housing development.

On Wednesday Providence City Councilman Justin Roias called Pingitore’s comments “blatantly racist” and a “cheap shot dripping with prejudice.”

“If he’s so terrified of affordable housing, I invite him to visit Chad Brown and meet its residents − the parents juggling jobs, the kids chasing dreams, the neighbors looking out for each other,” Roias wrote in a statement distributed by the City Council. “Spoiler alert: They’re not the bogeyman he’s conjured up.”

Is the challenge serious?

Asked about Polisena’s legal warnings Wednesday, Shekarchi said he’s aware some people do not like the affordable housing law and are welcome to go after it in court but “to the best of my knowledge it has been good law since 1991.”

Advertisement

Another layer to the housing debate: Johnston’s town planner is Tom Deller, who chairs a House land use study commission that has worked on several of the pro-development bills in Shekarchi’s housing packages.

Preliminary plans for the George Waterman Road development show five rectangular apartment building arranged at the end of a driveway off the street and around a 255-space surface parking lot.

Waterman Chenango was founded by Salvatore Compagnone of Providence, who died early this year. The current applicant on planning documents is Lucille Santoro.

No votes were taken and the developer is expected to return to the board with more detailed plans in the spring.

Going deeper: Why are opponents against the project?

Objections to the George Waterman Road proposal from Johnston residents and officials focus on the familiar concerns of increased traffic, crime and the cost of educating new school-aged residents who live there.

Advertisement

Polisena said he would eagerly support the construction of new owner-occupied, single-family homes at the Waterman Chenango site, but not rental apartments, which he does not consider reflective of the “American Dream.”

Asked how low or middle income Rhode Islanders can afford a newly built zoning compliant single-family home, which might cost $600,000, Polisena said he would also potentially entertain attached condominiums for a lower price point.

Kelley Morris Salvatore, the attorney representing Waterman Chenango had this response to Polisena Wednesday:

“It is disappointing that the town appears to be judging the proposal without having all of the information needed to make an informed decision. My client is proposing a development for much-needed housing in Rhode Island, where state law provides a clear formula for increased density where affordable housing is proposed. We are confident that our formal proposal will meet all of the legal standards required for the development. “



Source link

Advertisement

Rhode Island

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

Published

on

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick


WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

Advertisement

The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.

Advertisement

Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.

Follow us on social media:

 

 



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

Published

on

Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information


A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

Advertisement

McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Advertisement

The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

Published

on

Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe


As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending