NEWPORT -- The city should lend its voice
to off-again, on-again efforts in Middletown to transform the Navy's
former Anchorage housing site into a mixed-use development with
affordable housing, says City Councilwoman Jeanne-Marie Napolitano.
The city has accomplished so much in the North End in recent years that
it should strive for similar progress in Middletown, according to a
resolution proposed by Napolitano. The resolution endorses a plan for
Church Community Housing Corp., of Newport, to acquire and redevelop the
Anchorage property, which the Navy privatized earlier this year.
Many months of talks between the Town of Middletown and GMH Military
Housing, which acquired the surplus apartment buildings from the Navy,
have yet to come to fruition. Recently, the talks got bogged down over
pollution issues at the 28-acre site.
Town officials said they were surprised to learn from the state
Department of Environmental Management of the extent of soil
contamination at Anchorage and said the price GMH is asking for the
property should be lowered. But GMH regional manager Robert Rulli said,
"If they don't want to have to deal with it, they don't have to buy it."
Amid the controversy, Napolitano is seeking to apply pressure favorable
to Church Community Housing's acquisition of the site.
Her resolution calls on the city to support "the efforts of the Town of
Middletown and CCHC [Church Community Housing Corp.] in securing the
ownership and rehabilitation of the Anchorage into a new mixed-income
neighborhood."
The resolution also "respectfully requests that the congressional
delegation, the General Assembly delegation, and the governor of the
State of Rhode Island support and assist in any way possible, the
efforts of the Town of Middletown and CCHC to acquire and revitalize the
Anchorage for the continued betterment of our two communities."
Napolitano's resolution will be presented for a possible vote when the
City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.
In her resolution, Napolitano describes the improvements that Newport,
with the support of Middletown, has made in the North End. The city
acquired a 16-acre parcel donated by the Navy, which led to the
construction of a new Community College of Rhode Island campus and a New
Visions of Newport County preschool program. Meanwhile, the nearby
public housing at Tonomy Hill is being demolished and replaced with a
mixed-income development called Newport Heights.
This redevelopment needs to extend into the Anchorage site, she
maintains.
Now, the resolution reads, "Middletown, with the assistance of Church
Community Housing Corp. is continuing these revitalization efforts by
creating a mixed-income neighborhood at the former Navy housing site
known as the Anchorage ... The acquisition and rehabilitation of the
Anchorage by CCHC will benefit both the City of Newport and the Town of
Middletown."
Reporter Richard Salit can be reached at (401) 277-7467 or by e-mail at rsalit
[at] projo.com
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