In an absolute insane move, the same Newport City Council that tried to schedule the 4th of July Fireworks on July 13th has passed an ordinance stopping any and all development in Newport’s North End for six months. This sends a chilling message to investors and businesses looking to relocate to Newport’s Innovation District.
Why would the Newport City Council do such a thing? Because the majority of Newport’s City Council has been co-opted by anti-growth special interests who cried about the Carpionato group from turning the old dump (it was literally the dump) and current decaying Newport Grand property into an anchor of economic growth and finally tying the most blighted part of Newport into the rest of the city.
Carpionato wanted to spend $100 MILLION turning THIS EMPTY BUILDING with ZERO JOBS
INTO THIS!!!!
This project alone would have created 250 construction jobs, and 500 full-time permanent jobs upon completion while serving as the anchor of Newport’s Innovation District.
Oh the horror!!!
Here’s a live look in on every one of those anti-growth activists upon hearing the decision of arguably the worst Newport City Council this city has seen in the last 100 years.
The Carpionato Group had this to say about the incredibly uninformed decision of the Newport City Council.
“It is unfortunate the City Council has taken this step, which hurts this $100-million project, the Innovation District and the surrounding neighbors. At a minimum, it means a six month delay in the City collecting increased taxes on the property, a six month delay in the creation of 250 construction jobs and a six month delay in the creation of new permanent jobs tied to the Innovation District.There is a misperception among some in Newport that this project was on a fast track, however, that is simply not true. Indeed, we never expected this project to be approved and permitted overnight. In fact, there needs to be at least 9 public hearings before the City Council and the planning board before this proposal could be approved.The real issue here is that development is happening in Newport, and apparently there are some people who are nervous about that progress, but singling out one area of the City for a moratorium like this is the wrong way to go about addressing those concerns. In terms of next steps, all options are on the table,” said Gregg Perry, a spokesman for Carpionato Group.
For those wondering, Mayor Bova and Councilors McLaughlin, Taylor, Leonard and McCalla all voted with the anti-growth activists and FOR making your children leave Newport to find a high paying job.
Councilors Jeanne-Marie Napolitano and Lynn Ceglie voted against this and for PROGRESS!
