How housing and this Cranston neighborhood became a political minefield

CRANSTON – Unlike in many communities, it feels like a proper Rhode Island election year among the clicking lawn sprinklers here off Scituate Avenue, where campaign signs decorate the scenery and candidates knock on doors through the August dog days.

Cranston has the highest-profile mayoral contest in the state this year – both primary and general election – plus nine City Council races and eight campaigns for the state legislature.

Every community's local politics is unique, but Cranston is the only Rhode Island city at the moment where the two major political parties still duke it out for control of municipal government.

Republicans have held the mayor's office here since 2009.

And so with Cranston in the spotlight, Political Scene paid another visit to Alpine Estates, the affluent western Cranston subdivision where a developer's plan to build eight houses has roiled City Hall for the last five years – and shows no signs of stopping.

Last month, the Democrat-led Cranston City Council failed by one vote to override Republican Mayor Ken Hopkins ' veto of a zone change that would have allowed the houses to be built and ended a court fight.

Now the woods at the end of a cul-de-sac on Sage Drive remain quiet behind chain-link fencing, and the legal battle ramps up again.

The dispute is over the hypothetical cars that might drive to those houses and children living in them who may need to be educated at the nearby elementary school – things neighbors say the city cannot afford.

But, more broadly, it reflects the politics of development at a time when state leaders are grappling with soaring home prices.

The heart of the issue: Half-acre lots

Built in the 1980s and 1990s where Scituate Avenue meets Furnace Hill Brook, Alpine Estates was one of the first of what would become many modern subdivisions on what used to be western Cranston farmland.

It features large Colonials with stately garages – some might call them " McMansions " – on half-acre lots. Only one home was listed for sale in the neighborhood on Zillow last week: a 3,200-square-foot three-bedroom whose owner was asking $800,000.

The undeveloped western edge of the neighborhood still requires a minimum of 2 acres per lot because, despite the city's Comprehensive Plan calling for it, it was never rezoned to match Alpine Estates.

In the 1990s, a 9.5-acre property within those woods was acquired by members of the Casale family, first Thomas Casale before it was transferred to his brother John Casale III , for development. Thomas Casale, the more outgoing of the two, owns Casale Auto Body in Johnston, is a prolific campaign donor and is a member of the state's Judicial Nominating Commission.

In 2019, the Casales asked the city for a zone change to half-acre minimum lots so they could build eight houses in Alpine Estates instead of the four possible under the existing 2-acre zoning.

Neighbors balked.

Eight new houses would bring traffic, flood during storms and overcrowd the classrooms at Orchard Farms Elementary, they argued to planners and council members.

After a COVID-delayed process, the City Council in 2021 voted 7 to 2 to deny the zone change requested by the Casales' attorney, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi .

John Casale, the silent partner and legal owner of the land, hired Adler Pollock & Sheehan and appealed the denial in Superior Court. His argument: Under state law, the Comprehensive Plan trumps the zoning ordinance.

Fast-forward to this spring, and the city, represented by outside legal counsel Nicholas Hemond , signed a consent order saying the council denial was "inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan" and giving Casale the chance to reapply for the zone change.

"Once the petition is acted upon by the defendants, in conformity herewith, this matter shall be dismissed with prejudice, without fees and cost," the order said.

Casale reapplied, and in June the council voted along party lines, 5 to 2, in favor of the half-acre zoning.

However, Mayor Hopkins vetoed the zone change.

On July 22, the council voted 5 to 3 , with one recusal, to override the veto. But since overrides require a two-thirds majority, it failed.

That sent the case back to Superior Court. A hearing was scheduled for July 31, but it was continued again until Sept. 19, according to court records.

The court may not be able to compel the city to change its zoning, but Casale may be able to recover damages.

The city has spent $1,815 in outside legal bills on the Casale case so far, not counting work done by the city solicitor, according to Hopkins' office.

Why the veto override failed

In voting for the zone change and, later, the veto override, members of the council's Democratic majority cited the advice of the city's attorneys and potential legal ramifications in explaining their votes.

But the deciding vote – or non-vote – that ultimately doomed the override was the result of an unusual chain of events going back to the first controversial bid for a zone change in 2021.

New Councilwoman Kristen Haroian , who joined the council's six-member Democratic majority this spring, recused herself from the Alpine Estates vote.

Why?

According to the recusal letter Haroian filed with the city clerk's office, it is because she is a staffer in Shekarchi's office at the State House, and Shekarchi used to represent Casale.

"Employer has represented [John] Casale III in the past," Haroian wrote. "Did not have time for written ethics advisory."

Haroian was only on the council because of the surprise resignation of former Councilwoman Aniece Germain in April.

Germain said she resigned because council President Jessica Marino , a fellow Democrat, threatened to hold hearings on alleged improper fundraising by her charity Hope and Change for Haiti.

Hopkins' City Solicitor Chris Millea , a former state representative, asked the state police to investigate whether Germain was blackmailed. The case is under investigation.

There is no way to know for certain, but it is likely Germain would have voted with her fellow Democrats and provided the final vote to override had she not left the council.

Anything else happening in Alpine Estates?

It's unrelated to zoning, but according to Rhode Island Monthly's feature on the drug arrest of the nephew of Providence's police chief, the accused Josh Perez lived and allegedly ran his drug business out of a house in Alpine Estates.

What do the candidates say?

In his message to the council, Hopkins cited traffic and potentially having to educate more children as the reason for his veto.

"The current capacity of the Orchard Farms Elementary School should be reviewed, and the impact of this zone change clearly understood," Hopkins wrote to the council. "The impact of additional traffic entering and leaving the plat should be considered."

His Republican primary opponent, Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung , doesn't take issue with the veto, but after speaking with Sage Drive neighbors, she blamed Hopkins for not heading off Casale earlier in the process. (Exactly how he would have done this was not specified. The development began when Fenton-Fung's husband, Allan Fung , was mayor).

"In reality, it's a complete failure of leadership from the mayor that it ever got this far, because Hopkins has no vision for the city and there is no strategic plan to work on housing needs," Fenton-Fung wrote in an email about Alpine Estates. "I would've opposed the zoning change from the beginning, just as earlier zoning changes to Alpine Estates were defeated. The flooding alone right behind Sage Drive begs for more open land, not less."

Whichever candidate comes out of the GOP primary next month will face Democrat Robert Ferri in the general election.

Ferri, an at-large member of the City Council, voted against the Alpine Estates rezone in 2021 and for it in June, citing the advice of city legal counsel. He declined to comment on it further last week because of the pending Casale court case, his campaign said.

Before his vote in June , Ferri said he'd received more comments from residents on the Sage Drive houses than on any other issue since he has been in city government.

While not commenting on the veto, Ferri did hit out at Hopkins on housing policy more broadly.

"He hasn't really done anything on housing, and he definitely has stopped some potential large developments from moving forward due to being unable or unwilling to work with the developers," Ferri wrote in an email. "So he has not been a positive force for creating more housing. I think he might believe Cranston is good with the housing we have."

If elected, Ferri said he would "engage experts," "identify opportunity areas" and collaborate with various stakeholders and partners to improve housing affordability.

"Unlike Councilman Ferri, I chose to stand with the Alpine Estates neighbors," Hopkins responded. "The Democratic majority on the City Council also sided with the developer on this change of zone. Clearly, we need to balance a property owner’s right to seek rezoning on a parcel of land with the impact on city services and facilities."

Asked whether he thinks Cranston would benefit from having more homes, Hopkins would only say that his administration does "not have a specific goal on number of houses. Market conditions establish the rate of development."

As many neighbors of the proposed development have pointed out at hearings, a handful of potentially million-dollar homes in Alpine Estates are not going to make housing in Rhode Island affordable.

But the dispute shows just how radioactive development politics often are at the local level.

As for how she would tackle the housing affordability crisis, Fenton-Fung told the story of a woman who has lived in the same house for 60 years, but wouldn't be able to remain in the neighborhood if she left it.

"Cranston certainly needs more strategic housing options for seniors so they can live in place," Fenton-Fung wrote. "We also want more workforce housing so that your grandchildren can afford to stay in Cranston after graduating school. There are great opportunities for such to work with mixed-use developments that would support our village hubs and create a truly dynamic city once again, with a focus on condominiums to help younger families build equity early on."

Thomas Casale has given more than $200,000 to various Rhode Island politicians over the years and he hasn't left Cranston out.

He gave $1,000 (at the time the maximum individual contribution) to Hopkins in 2020; $500 to Fenton-Fung in 2021 and $2,000 (the current maximum) to Ferri June 30.

With Fenton-Fung leaving the House to run for mayor, two candidates are running to replace her in House District 15: Republican City Councilman Chris Paplauskas , who voted against the Alpine Estates override, and Democrat Maria Bucci , who as chairwoman of the Cranston Democratic Party was involved in discussions around Germain's resignation.

Neither responded to requests for comment on Alpine Estates.

Councilwoman Lammis Vargas – who is running for the state Senate in the Democratic primary against Darrell Brown , Melissa Carden , John Croke Jr. and Bernice Morris – also voted in favor of the Sage Drive veto override.

What happens next?

Casale's attorney Elizabeth Noonan in an email declined to comment on the future direction of the case.

In 2021, Thomas Casale told neighbors and the City Council that if he is only allowed to build four houses on the property, he wouldn't be able to cover construction and infrastructure costs and would be forced to build a "livestock farm" on the site.

Janice Cataldo , a Sage Drive resident who has fought Casale's plans for years, said Casale wrote a recent letter to neighbors indicating that if he can't rezone he will seek federal grants to turn the property into a farm employing rehabilitating military veterans.

Cataldo said because of his veto in the Casale case, she's voting for Hopkins.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: How housing and this Cranston neighborhood became a political minefield