Just in time for new laws that may make the appeal unnecessary
In one of its last actions before it ceased to exist, the State Housing Appeals Board (SHAB) overturned the EG Planning Board’s denial of the proposed 410-unit housing development on Division Road Saturday, Dec. 30. (New housing legislation passed in 2023, called for SHAB’s dissolution Dec. 31, with all future housing appeals to be heard in state Superior Court.)
A few hours later, the Town of East Greenwich filed an appeal of SHAB’s decision to Superior Court but whether or not either decision even matters remains a question. That’s because those same new housing laws abolished the “master plan” stage, the exact step the Planning Board denied. Town Solicitor Andy Teitz described the decision to appeal the SHAB ruling as an act of insurance. As Teitz said after the Jan. 3 Planning Board meeting, he likes his shorts to have “an elastic waist, drawstring, and belt loops.”
“In my almost 37 years of practice, I’ve never had a jurisdictional entity go out of business like that, so I don’t know what some judge is going to say a year from now about what that means,” Teitz said. “The cost to do it was just so minimal, why not just take that extra step to protect us, just in case?”
Teitz said it costs $165 to file an appeal and that his time was “minimal.”
Meanwhile, regardless of the SHAB ruling and town appeal, developer Ned Capozzi can now apply, using the same plan, for “preliminary plan” approval but to gain that approval, the project will need all its engineering done – including for all the roads and utilities. One significant aspect of that work will be figuring out how the sewer line will connect with the Coventry sewer system and that involves going underneath Route 95.
“It’s a process. It could easily take a year. It’s just really time and money,” Ranaldi said of the preliminary plan application. He added, “He’s not going to waltz in here with a set of plans under his arm and submit any time soon.”
Find the EG Planning Board’s denial of the 401-unit Division Road project here: Exhibit 1
Find the SHAB decision to overrule the Planning Board here: Exhibit 2
Find the Town of EG’s appeal of that decision here: Division Road appeal complaint
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The sorrow and despair will come later, when it is too late.
East Greenwich town council (and solicitor) failing the residents once again. Show your not in the back pockets of the developers looking to rape our community and Take this ridiculous “comprehensive permit” law to the Supreme Court!
I don’t know the specific details but we need to support, in general, the building of low-income affordable housing here in east Greenwich. We need to help this current crisis of lack of affordable housing.
Ever read Poverty, By America?
Great book, enlightening, and many chapters on need for affordable housing. Matthew Desmond rightly asserts and proves why poverty is “an injury, a taking” by self-interest of the haves, over the have-nots…Basic point author makes is rich or middle class families benefit much more from gov aid than poor ones…(Healthcare, 529s, college loans, mortgage interest reduction, cap gains taxes, etc) and we need to end that. We are the reason poverty exists, us, we are the takers. The book will hurt, but a needed hurt. Several chapters on how racism and exploitation feed on each other, how poor families continue to pay higher rents in worse buildings and locations and how rent is increasing more because of greed, not need.
Did you know that landlords make $300 per apartment per mo. in poor areas and $250 in rich areas?! We also need to support affordable housing in suburbs, not just cities, and help to remove exclusionary zoning laws on R2 zoned apartments – we need more apartments, we need more socio-economic diversity – we need to support this type of housing.
Again, I don’t know the details – but I do know it is a min 25 percent deed restricted to low income..