OPINION/LETTERS: Commercial real estate interests own Middletown

Library should be priority of new center

I was astonished to read that plans for the new Middletown Center included a smaller public library tucked away from West Main Road.

Our current public library is too small. Shrinking its area by a whopping 4,000 square feet is 180 degrees off from the direction in which we should be moving. Our new library should be bigger, nicer and prominently positioned right at the entrance to the Town Center. Why do libraries still matter? Libraries are one of the few places where families can go without someone trying to sell them something. Libraries spark imagination, love of learning, and curiosity among the young and the old. Libraries are the rungs on the ladder to success in education and in life.

Libraries are where my mother, an immigrant working to improve her English, could take her two children to learn and grow while she studied to make a better life for us all. Libraries are where I put in the work that led to multiple graduate degrees and significant professional success. The Middletown Public Library should - no, must! - provide a spacious, welcoming, state-of-the-art facility. The library sends a very clear message to the people of Middletown, one way or another. Let's make it a message stating that our town cares about education, cares about growth, cares about us. Let's put that beautiful library right at the entrance to Middletown Center, let's name it Pottsy Memorial Library to honor SSG Christopher Potts, and let's make it something all of Middletown can use with pride.

Alex Ellermann, Middletown

Commercial real estate interests own Middletown

Let's be clear. Commercial real estate interests own this town. For years the town council, through its own actions, and its appointments to the zoning and planning boards, have all but assured that the skids will be greased for any project real estate investors propose. Don't believe me?

The development of the vacant property on West Main Road, known as Middletown Center, has received a proposal from Rocky Kempenaar and others. It includes market-rate apartments, “affordable housing” and commercial spaces. Also, Kempenaar, who already owns four hotels in Middletown, wants to build another hotel on this property. When he was informed that this hotel might not be in the best interests of Middletown, here is what Kempenaar's representative said:

“There are elements of those concerns we’ve heard tonight that we will certainly discuss and try to incorporate or address, but in terms of elimination of the hotel ... those would be a nonstarter for the development team.”

The discussion of whether another hotel is needed or wanted is worthwhile. What is not worthwhile, what is not acceptable, is the “take it, or leave it” threat offered by Kempenaar.

Having been accommodated for decades, Kempenaar and his partners feel entitled to demand anything from the town. This will continue until the voters finally wrest control from those long-serving town councilors who have failed to act in the best interests of the town.

Lawrence Frank, Middletown

Volunteers make a difference at Portsmouth Dog Park

The Portsmouth Dog Park celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, April 23, in its own inimitable fashion. All hands and paws were on deck for a very productive, delightfully chaotic spring clean-up. What a wonderful crowd!

Big thanks to everyone who worked so hard. Lots of volunteers appeared with their rakes and shovels and wheelbarrows and, of course, their dogs. Twenty-three very productive Marines from the Naval Justice School also returned by popular demand. And this year, Rumford Pet Express and Animal Earth sponsored the event with yummy food, goodie bags and a raffle to support the Dog Park.

Special thanks as well to the Urban and Community Forestry Program for donating eight new trees to the Dog Park. Brian Woodhead, director of the Portsmouth DPW, and his team planted the trees, and supplied the mulch and topsoil for us to use during the clean-up. We appreciate everything the town of Portsmouth does to support this wonderful haven for dogs and their humans.

The dogs showed up in full force, played and romped and happily ignored all the activity around them. If they only knew all the people who came together on Earth Day to help make their playground clean and safe! On their behalf, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Please check out pictures from the event on our website at portsmouthdogparkri.com.

Jane Regan, chair, Portsmouth Dog Park Committee

Middletown Center plan will take away from the town

Please help us save the library, softball field and basketball court. Developer Chris Bicho, owner of The Landing, stated in a news clip dated Oct. 20, 2021, that there is "a hodge-podge of things that are not really being used much, currently there is an open field, a softball field, a basketball court and the Middletown Public Library and a former elementary school."

Growing up in a community without a substantial library will adversely affect this community. People will not want to move to a community that does not have a library that is visible and ever-present. If you move the library to a back of a shopping mall, what message are you giving everyone? Our children need a place to learn and explore our world through books. Curiosity feeds growth. Playing outside is good for the soul. Children need places to play baseball and basketball.

If Chris Bicho really loves his community, he would be developing a shopping center that does not take over our town, but enhances it. Don't make our community a transient shopping area; give us a place where we can be away from a store, have peace of mind and explore and be creative and engaged with nature.

Cynthia Patistea, Middletown

Not all short-term renters are the same on Aquidneck Island

All short-term summer rental owners cannot be painted with the same brush.

Many owners are indeed absentee owners — off-Islanders, out-of-staters and probably out-of-country, who purchased properties purely for investment purposes. Often these houses are dark in winter. Often, they are also the “problem properties,” which are rented to unrelated young people, often cited for noise violations. In our Ellery Avenue neighborhood, there are two such houses, which are the source of complaints by the Renfrew Park resident recently featured in the Newport Daily News.

Then there are local owners, like us. We live in Portsmouth. We are very much hands-on, and have never had a noise complaint. We rent to families and mature adults who have good reviews on VRBO or Airbnb. Our two sons (both of whom have had setbacks) live there nine-plus months of the year. The income realized from summer rentals allows us to pay the expenses for this arrangement. I’m sure there are many other local landlords with similar stories.

I hope the town of Middletown will consider the facts for each type of landlord, and tier their tax increases accordingly.

Shirley Lally, Portsmouth

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: LETTERS: Commercial real estate interests own Middletown