PROVIDENCE – A Providence County Superior Court justice yesterday issued a restraining order against the Town of Johnston, barring the town from issuing any further permits at the site of FM Global’s future headquarters, according to a lawyer for Capital Lease Funding Inc., which had appealed zoning procedures at the development.
The order, issued by Superior Court Associate Justice Michael A. Silverstein in response to a May 1 motion by CapLease, extends a stop-work order for the property that the town had imposed last month, said Edward Pare, a lawyer with Providence law firm Brown Rudnick, which is representing CapLease subsidiary Prefco II LP.
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The original stop-work order was a result of an appeal by CapLease, which owns FM Global’s current headquarters, concerning the steps taken to expedite the company’s proposed $60 million headquarters on a nearby parcel. (READ MORE)
“We have appeals pending with the [Johnston] Zoning Board, but [the judge] obviously heard and understood our concerns,” Pare said. “We’re scheduled to report back to him, depending on what the Zoning Board does tonight.”
Tonight at 7 p.m., the Johnston Zoning Board of Review will hear “a much more extensive presentation of all of our claims, with respect to all four plans,” at the Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School in Johnston, Pare said.
Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena recently told Providence Business News that the town undertook all due diligence in assessing the FM Global permit application. The CapLease appeal doesn’t reflect negatively on the state’s Certificate of Critical Economic Concern (CCEC) expedited permitting program, Polisena said. (READ MORE) “Prioritization does not mean that we don’t have to follow rules at the state and municipal level,” added Saul Kaplan, director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
To learn more about Capital Lease Funding Inc. (NYSE: LSE), visit www.caplease.com.
FM Global, the state’s largest private employer, is a commercial and industrial property insurer with 4,800 employees in 52 offices worldwide. Its roots in Rhode Island stretch back to 1835. For more information, visit www.fmglobal.com.
