NEWS

Council grants 1st passage to Carvel zoning; approves license plate cameras

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 10/19/22

With two issues of high interest on the agenda, members of the City Council were prepared for a long meeting Monday night. The issues – a contract for the city to lease ten license plate …

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NEWS

Council grants 1st passage to Carvel zoning; approves license plate cameras

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With two issues of high interest on the agenda, members of the City Council were prepared for a long meeting Monday night. The issues – a contract for the city to lease ten license plate identification cameras and first passage of a rezoning that will allow for a bank at the site of the former Carvel ice cream at the intersection of Airport and Post Roads – sparked objections although not ones to drag the meeting to the midnight hour.  The 2-year lease of Flock cameras and an ordinance regulating their use was approved by a vote of 7 to 2 with Councilmen Jeremy Rix and Ed Ladouceur opposed.

The partial rezoning of five lots at 1795 Post Road for commercial use sought by Premier Land Development was unanimously granted with several council members saying the agreement reached with the developer to save about 18 percent of the 1.5 acre site as open space a benefit to the community and a bank and retail store, which were not identified, as the best possible use for the highly visible property.

Identified as “Carvel Plaza,” development of the site has an extended history of community meetings since David Corsetti, president of Premier bought the former Carvel building for $920,000 in January 2020 and then acquired in March 2020 auction the vacant land behind it from the Rhode Island Airport Corporation for $400,000 .  RIAC ownership of the residentially-zoned land predates RIAC when state airports were run by a division of the Department of Transportation.  Using Federal Aviation Administration funds, the DOT acquired homes on the site as they were in the high noise contour that were later torn down. The lot has become a park where people walk their dogs and play a pickup soccer or toss a football cared for by RIAC.   More than two years ago RIAC looked to sell the land.

While Corsetti agreed to deed 12,000 square feet to the rear of the property as open space, several residents said the development would destroy the neighborhood. There were also accusations that from the point the land went up for auction its sale was part of a “done deal” to bring in a bank. Ward 3 Councilman Timothy Howe, who early in the process said a bank would be the best development for the neighborhood, vehemently denied any knowledge a bank could be looking at the site.

Guilford Drive resident Harold Quimette sarcastically declared “it is  nice to meet you (Howe) for a first time.” He said what’s nice about Rhode Island is that everybody knows everybody, “sometimes it’s not.”  He went on to list the meetings held concerning the development and how Howe was not present.

Howe held his response until after public comment. He said Mayor Frank Picozzi represented him at a meeting he had been unable to attend because of a prior commitment and from the start his concerns over development of the Carvel property centered on parking and safety and as early as 2017 he concluded “a bank was the best case scenario.” City Council President Steve McAllsiter came to Howe’s defense, saying Howe worked hard on behalf of the ward.

Pell Street resident Dennis Paolucci sought to bridge issues raised by his neighbors and what he viewed as the best possible outcome for the site. He said, “these are our homes, we were here first before the airport…why are we being forgotten?”  Nonetheless, he said the preservation of open space, “will be something for us.”

He urged the council, “please think of us first. I want to make it work.”

Citing how private property has been taken in other countries, Ward 2 Councilman Jeremy Rix said referring to the loss of some of the existing park like lot, said, “in no way is anyone taking away anyone’s land.” He pointed to the 18 stipulations recommended by planners, concluding “what’s going to happen here is something far better (than what it is now).”

In a concession to those opposed to the development, he said, “not everyone is going to be happy, but all property owners have rights.”

Entrance and egress to the bank and adjoining retail store are expected to be addressed when Premier Land returns to the Planning Board for preliminary master plan approval. Also to be resolved is who would hold title to the open space. John Ricci of the Preservation Society of Rhode Island, who attended the meeting, suggested it could be that organization.

Camera lease approved; privacy rights debated

Use of license plate reading cameras provided by Flock Safety have fueled debate since Cranston and other Rhode Island communities started using the ALPR technology to track stolen vehicles and pinpoint the times and locations of vehicles believed to have been used in criminal activity. The cameras have also been helpful in locating missing persons.

Warwick Police Col. Brad Connor recommended use of the technology prompting invasion of privacy concerns and how the data could be used to tack people and, for example, be used by states with strict anti-abortion laws to arrest residents who obtained abortions out of their home state. The ACLU strongly opposed use of the cameras. Protection of individual rights under the Fourth Amendment and how police are to use the information gleaned from the cameras were also raised by council members resulting in the drafting of an ordinance broadly outlining use of the technology.

The ordinance prohibits use of the technology in conjunction with facial, voice, iris or other technologies to federal immigration enforcement and sale of sharing of the data with third parties. In addition, the cameras are not to be used to photograph, record or produce images of occupants of motor vehicles, pedestrians or passersby.

Rix called the ordinance a step in the right direction, adding that it didn’t go far enough. He questioned the urgency to acquire the cameras, suggesting police look at options.

“I don’t see any particular emergency on this,” he said. His observation resonated with members of the public. Barry Cook questioned if other companies provided the technology and he noted that while Flock is to purge its system of stored data at the end of 30 days how does that guarantee that other departments working in collaboration with Warwick Police have deleted the information?

“We have a lot of mistrust in government,” summed up one objector. Another speaker questioned the constitutionally of camera use urging the council, “please mind the Fourth Amendment.”

Ladouceur observed that Warwick Rep. Joseph Solomon Jr. is working to draft legislation regulating use of the technology, requesting that the council table action on the cameras “until the General Assembly takes action.”

“For us to jump into this now when clearly this is not a life threatening situation doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

zoning, cameras

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