Carpionato Group has withdrawn two proposed ordinances from Cranston City Council consideration after a city review questioned their benefit to the community.
Kelly Coates, CEO and president of the Johnston-based commercial real estate firm, said the company withdrew two requests for tax stabilization ordinances on Friday.
The two measures were introduced last December and heard by the council in January. Originally, they were to provide 10-year tax treaties for Carpionato-related entities for properties on Oaklawn and Scituate Avenues in Cranston.
Documents provided by the Cranston City Council stated that the two pieces of land were to be used to build one multi-family residential building, providing 12 multi-family residential units.
On Nov. 13, both ordinances were amended during the finance committee to increase the terms of the tax treaties from 10 years to 12.
Coates said the decision to withdraw came about after Cranston came forward with new facts about the ordinances that the company did not agree with. For example, the city review concluded the projects were too costly for the city.
“We wouldn't do it if it wasn't positive for the community,” Coates said. “The way business works is called win-win. So, it's a win for the community and a win for the developer, win for the residents to get to move in. If it's not a win-win, you don't do it.”
Cranston Council President Jessica Marino, who sponsored the ordinances, said she had supported the affordable-housing component of each.
“The reason for my sponsorship of the ordinance is that in my whole time on council, there have not been any shovels in the ground relative to affordable housing,” Marino said. “I've heard from constituents that they're on waiting lists, and I confirmed that with the developer, they have waiting lists for their properties.”
According to the same court documents, the residential buildings were to provide about a 20% margin of affordable housing for Cranston residents. In other words, out of the 12 residential units proposed by Carpionato Group, two would be affordable housing units.
Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins believes these tax deals were too rich and not affordable for taxpayers.
“Residential development in our city is the core to our economic growth,” Hopkins said in a statement. “Residential development tax giveaways threaten our tax base expansion and adds uncertainly to our financial stability.”
“In short, Cranston cannot afford this legislation.”
Marino emphasized that without the affordable housing component, she would not have sponsored the bill.
“[If] doing something like this will help to expedite getting shovels in the ground and housing units, then it was worth the exploration,” Marino said. “And I mean it sincerely, sometimes we have to take different approaches and think a little outside of the box. So maybe the way we're doing things is not conducive to the development, because it's not occurring. It's not happening.”
In the mayor’s eyes, the legislation was wrong for the taxpayers and “opens Pandora’s box for future tax revenue uncertainty.”
“Importantly, these tax deals threaten the sustainability of future revenue growth for our city that will lead to an unfair tax burden to our existing taxpayers,” he said.
Coates believes that without the mayor’s endorsement, there was nothing to consider. In his words, “It doesn't work for Cranston, then why in the world would anybody vote for it, if it's not good for Cranston?”
To Coates, the mayor is a crucial and important role for running a community.
“And his staff that he relies upon tells him this doesn't work, well, that's it,” Coates explained. “That's it. I mean, there's no politics here. This is what is good for Cranston.”
For now, with the ordinances withdrawn, there are no immediate plans for the two parcels of land on Oaklawn and Scituate avenues.
“We have vacant land that is generating pennies of revenue,” Marino said. “If we can give a TSA (Tax Stabilization Agreement) that again is encouraged on a federal and a state level, for affordable housing to expedite that development, then that is more revenue than the city is going to see by having vacant land.”
Despite the outcome, Coates is steadfast about Carpionato’s investing in Cranston.
“We love Cranston, we want to invest in this community, and we want every one of our developments to be something everybody can stand behind and say, ‘I'm proud I took a part in that.’”
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