OPINION/LETTERS: Newport zoning changes will support domestic violence survivors

Newport zoning changes will support domestic violence survivors

The zoning amendments proposed by the North End Equitable Development Local Advisory Group and recently adopted by the Newport City Council are an exciting example of the community supporting survivors of domestic violence and creating conditions that will prevent domestic violence in the future.

The lack of access to safe, affordable housing continues to be a main barrier for victims in their journey to safety. During a September 2021 point-in-time survey of R.I. domestic violence agencies, 93% of the unmet victim requests for services in one day were for housing or emergency shelter, due to a lack of resources to meet victims’ needs and the ongoing affordable housing crisis. The lack of housing creates a bottleneck in our system. It is hard for families to move out of our emergency shelter and into our limited transitional housing units because it is so challenging for families in those units to find stable, safe permanent housing.

The recently adopted zoning amendments incentivize developers to build housing that is attainable for working families. This housing will most definitely create more options for our neighbors who are survivors of domestic violence. The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) served 1,200 people in the East Bay in 2021. These survivors are our neighbors, and many are working in our local healthcare, human services, hospitality and service industries. The increase in more affordable workforce housing will directly impact survivors seeking safety for their families.

The amendments also provide increased clarity on the types of green and open space that can comprise the required 5% set aside, focusing on usable, accessible spaces for the neighborhood. This provision supports the prevention of domestic violence in our community. Studies show proximity to trees and parks is correlated with reduced rates of domestic violence, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights increasing access to green space as a promising community strategy for preventing domestic violence.

At the WRC, we envision a future where our services are no longer needed because domestic violence is eradicated. Creating environments that support survivor safety and autonomy are one way we can move toward that goal, together. We look forward to continued partnership with the city as we work to eliminate domestic violence in our community.

Jessica Walsh, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center

Some memories you never forget

On a lighter note (especially during these troubled times): two past personalities of my youth have resurfaced lately: Lucy and Desi, and Julia Child. In the 1950s, as a child, I lived in Miami Beach, Florida, and attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School. In 1957, our school was treated to a visit by none other than Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Desi, in his youth, attended St. Patrick’s as a student. The couple would drive up in a gold Cadillac convertible, the student body would be assembled in the school auditorium and the illustrious couple would saunter down the aisle from the back of the auditorium up onto the stage where they would entertain the enraptured kids with an hour of fun! To say the least, it was difficult to return to Catechism Class and pay attention after their visit.

Fast forward a few dozen years to Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was the manager of a liquor store in Porter Square in Cambridge. Occasionally we would be treated with a visit from Julia Child. I remember how tall she was. To say the least she did not need any help in making her wine selections. Back then, the wholesale price for a bottle of Haut Brion was around $12 and we had just started stocking better French wines. I remember her saying: “These wines really should be laying on their side.” Hence, we started installing bins for the better wines so that the bottles could lay on their side.

Some memories you never forget; a toast to those memories: “Never the old year ends, never the new year begins, but somebody thinks of somebody, old days, old times, old friends.”

Federico Santi, Newport

Proposed gas station is wrong for Tiverton

On the Tiverton Planning Board agenda for May 17 is the Seasons Corner Market, a 24-hour gas station/convenience store with a drive-up coffee shop window planned for the corner of Souza and Main roads. This is being presented in the form of a "development plan for commercial/industrial development" - and is the same identical plan as what they presented as a "concept plan" to the Planning Board on Feb. 2, 2021.

The minutes from that February meeting over a year ago had members of the board bringing up several key issues:

• 24-hour operation and drive-through traffic in a residential area

• Traffic with two entrances on Main Road and one on Souza, citing turning and safety issues

• 10 to 12 fuel truck deliveries per month

• Violates the Pedestrian-Friendly-Destination Zoning on the Main Road side of the lot

• Proposed design layout violates the approved layout in the Form-Based Code

• Not appropriate function for this location, since abuts residential homes and town is small-business friendly

• Neighborhood includes Osborn-Bennet National Register Historic District; Article X of Subdivision Regulations requires new development to be compatible with the existing neighborhood

• Additional traffic to an already heavily trafficked intersection would pose a traffic safety issue

• Institute of Traffic Engineer's "Trip Generation Manual" calculates that a facility similar to this would generate several thousand trips per day which would overwhelm the existing roadway infrastructure and create both traffic congestion and accidents

• Single-lane traffic on Main and Souza roads being queued from the drive-through, similar to what happens at the Dunkin' Donuts in town

• Density concern: three gas stations, two coffee shops, two convenience stores, and a grocery store within one mile of the property

• The board received several letters of opposition from residents to this project, stating traffic, lighting, pollution and noise as key deterrents

In this latest plan, not only is the site plan of the gas station and store identical to what was submitted over a year ago, but they also added a depiction of the site plan showing how the queuing for the coffee shop drive-through window would go: lining up around the corner of the building, past the entrance from Souza Road, so that anyone who wanted to use that entrance couldn't get in. They also added a depiction of how the fuel trucks would get in: from south on Main Road to the southern-most entrance, along the front of the store, and toward the north side of the property in line with the gas pumps. The two entrance/exits on Main Road across the Pedestrian-Friendly-Destination Zone are still making it not a friendly pedestrian destination.

Colbea wants to jam another of their cookie-cutter Seasons Corner Markets into a historic community and neighborhood - within a stone's throw of a National Register District. If you look at their other locations they are all on multiple-lane roadways in commercial areas with no abutting residences. So why do they want to put one here on a two-lane road in the midst of an historic neighborhood?

Tiverton has been a Preserve America Community since 2011. Our Comprehensive Plan states throughout to preserve our historic small-town character. We can't preserve it if we allow a 24-hour drive-through gas station in the middle of our historic residential areas.

Susan E. Anderson, Tiverton

Middletown Center plan needs to focus on community

Instead of only considering the one proposal that is currently on the table, the leaders of Middletown need to entertain as many ideas as possible for the West Main land before committing to any.

The main need within this community is “affordable housing” not “market-rate” housing (which no one can afford unless you are making six figures).

Middletown Center latest: Planning board gives favorable review of Middletown Center, but does have some concerns

How about housing geared towards the working poor which could be marketed as, let’s say, condos that are rent to own? This way you provide sorely needed housing but also create a motive to stay here, contribute to the community, and have pride of ownership. This could work along with a nice new larger library and maybe a decent recreation field.

Ideas like this require philanthropic developers. Ones who are concerned with the greater good of the community and place profit a distant second. These types of developments can, and probably will be profitable, but not as profitable as the plan now before the council.

These philanthropic developers may also have access to funding or programs that support this idea. I don’t know of anything specific but I’m sure something exists out there to support this type of project.

Let’s try to take care of the people who work here year-round and want to live here, before we decide to cater to more tourists.

Wally Christensen, Middletown

Portsmouth pension plan needs to be audited

The Portsmouth Town Council has decided to slam the door on further discussion of the Portsmouth pension plan. The Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) request for an agenda item about the pension plan cost overruns on the April 25 Council meeting was rudely rejected.

A discussion of adding funding for an independent review or audit of the pension plan to the budget was rebuffed by Council President Aguiar during discussions on the proposed budget.

All residents should be alarmed by these actions. They are a very strong indication that there have been serious problems in the administration of the Town Pension Plan. The Portsmouth pension plan is the program which constitutes the greatest threat to Portsmouth’s taxpayers.  Any shortfalls can be huge, and will be made good by increased taxes.

The total cost of the Pension Plan is calculated by the actuary hired by the town. These firms are professional companies hired for their expertise. The current total liability (cost) of the plan to the taxpayers is $108,430,954 thru 2042. The cost has grown $35 million since the plan was closed in 2012. Inflation, mortality rates and other variables are accurately calculated by the actuary.

The PCC has been closely studying the pension costs for three years. We have focused on the overall cost of the program thru 2042. The $35 million overrun can only be paid to some or all of the approximate 300 pension plan members. The council is flatly refusing to tell the taxpayers who is getting how much of that $35 million and why.

We know from public documents obtained through an Access to Public Records Act request that there have been three individuals added to what is a closed pension plan in the last couple of years. There is no record of these people being added by the council in open session. There have also been employees added in prior years. These additions were flatly denied by the administration, but the proof is in their own documents.

We in the PCC believe that there has been substantial misadministration of the pension plan as the cost overrun of $35 million far exceeds the costs of the new employees added. The council is now blocking discovery of what the other cost drivers are.

The council meeting of April 25 lasted one hour and five minutes. Our agenda item was rejected because they did not want to address these problems in public, not because of time. Refusing to fund an audit of the pension implies the council knows, or at the very least suspects, what would be found and do not want it public.  These actions make a mockery of the council’s continuous claims of transparency.

Larry Fitzmorris, president, Portsmouth Concerned Citizens

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: LETTER: Newport zoning changes support domestic violence survivors