Breakers Welcome Center project moving forward after latest appeal rejected

HERE IS THE PROPOSED MAIN entry of the new welcome center at The Breakers. On Monday, a Superior Court judge dismissed all appeals of a Zoning Board decision that approved its construction.  / COURTESY THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY
HERE IS THE PROPOSED MAIN entry of the new welcome center at The Breakers. On Monday, a Superior Court judge dismissed all appeals of a Zoning Board decision that approved its construction. / COURTESY THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY

NEWPORT – The Breakers Welcome Center project will move forward after a Newport Superior Court judge on Monday dismissed all appeals of a Zoning Board decision that approved its construction.
According to a news release from The Preservation Society of Newport County, Judge Walter Stone decided that none of the appellants had legal standing to challenge the approvals.
“This is a tremendous victory for the preservation society and for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to The Breakers each year,” Donald O. Ross, chairman of the board of The Preservation Society of Newport County, said in a statement.

The Zoning Board in February voted 4-1 to grant a special use permit for the welcome center, concluding that it would serve the public interest, met all criteria specified in the zoning ordinance and was consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan, the release said.

The release said this is the second time a Newport Superior Court judge has rejected the Bellevue-Ochre Point Neighborhood Association’s challenge to the welcome center. Last year, Judge Benjamin Gallo also dismissed the association’s appeal of an earlier zoning decision relating to other aspects of the project.

Said Preservation Society attorney William Landry, “There is no automatic right of appeal from today’s decision by Judge Stone. The R.I. Supreme Court would have to grant extraordinary special permission for the case to proceed further.”

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