A hearing is set tonight on developers' plans to convert a mansion into expensive vacation homes.

09:39 PM EST on Wednesday, March 29, 2006

By RICHARD SALIT
Journal Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- The future of a cherished neighborhood property -- the sprawling estate of former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse's grandparents -- is at the center of a dispute brewing between neighbors and an out-of-town developer.

Core Investments, of Boston, proposes to build 24 luxury townhouses -- in a dozen duplexes -- on the 4-acre property now known as Eastbourne Lodge, but which the developer is tentatively calling Eastbourne Gardens, according to plans submitted to the city. In addition, the mansion would be refurbished and converted from 14 apartments to just 2 and the grounds, already noted for its mature trees and stone walls, would be graced with a water fountain and croquet court.

"It hasn't been well maintained over the past few years. We hope to bring new life to the property," said Robert Shepard, Core's chief executive officer. "We're looking at them as luxury town homes. Probably the market will be not so much year-round people, but people who will use it as vacation homes."

Prices would range from $950,000 to $1.2-million per unit, Shepard said. Core formally closed on the purchase of the property last week from the Irish Partnership and its principal, Thomas Malloy, of Cranston. The site, at 80 Rhode Island Ave. is akin to an entire city block and is bordered by Kay Street, Prairie Avenue and Champlin Street.

Neighbors, however, have united in their opposition to the plans. They packed a Planning Board meeting concerning the property recently and are expected to again turn out in large numbers for a City Hall hearing tonight.

Eastbourne Lodge is situated in an old neighborhood of single-family homes and the proposal to build a cluster of duplexes there threatens the character of the area, said Councilman Stephen Waluk, who represents the ward where the property is located. Traffic could be another problem, he said.

"The neighbors understand something is going to happen there. They just don't want to see it so drastic," he said. "The neighbors just want to preserve what is really a nice neighborhood."

At 7:30, the City Council will hold a special meeting on Waluk's proposal to rezone the Eastbourne property and several adjacent ones from R-10 to R-20. That would require a minimum of 20,000-square-foot lots. If that were applied to Core's proposal, the developer would be limited to about half the units it is proposing and would be entitled only to single-family homes, Waluk said.

The council will probably vote tonight, but a second vote is necessary for passage. That vote, if there is to be one, would take place at the council's next meeting, on April 12.

Waluk acknowledges that Core has already filed a major subdivison application with the city -- it did do so soon after the council proposed the zone change -- and its project will be considered under existing zoning. But, he said, "If for some reason the Planning Board turns this subdivision plan down, I want to see that this property is protected."

The Planning Board last week continued a hearing on the subdivision proposal to its April 17 meeting because it had not been properly advertised.

The board previously reviewed Waluk's rezoning proposal and recommended in favor of it. That's the meeting that drew a large turnout from the neighborhood. More than 200 people signed a petition in favor of the rezoning.

"I've never seen anything like it in my five years on the council," said Waluk, remarking that the neighbors have even organized a phone tree to quickly spread news about the project to one another.

Waluk noted that there is a perception by neighbors that the out-of-state developer and its Providence lawyers "care only about the bottom line."

Shepard said one of his company's principals is from Newport, but declined to identify him. Core, he said, has developed residential projects in the Boston area, but none in Rhode Island.

Shepard said neighbors have unfortunately formed their opposition to the project based on insufficient information about it.

"We hope to get information in front of the neighborhood and really show them what the project is. Everything they have talked about to date is speculation. We have never made an informal presentation to anyone in the neighborhood," he said. "We hope to get with the neighborhood and show them what we are doing and make them understand what we are doing is not going to decrease the value of their homes but help improve a property that has been let go and not maintained over the past several years."

The perception among town officials familiar with the project, however, is that the two sides are pretty well dug in already.

"The end result is that it's going to wind up in court. A Superior Court judge will decide the validity of all of this," precited zoning officer Guy Weston. "No matter [which] sides loses ... the other side will file an appeal."

rsalitATprojo.com / (401) 277-7467