Narragansett Times: SK debates need for affordable housing, open space

KENDRA GRAVELLE | Jul 27, 2018

kgravelle@ricentral.com

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — An application by the South Kingstown Land Trust requesting funding from the town's open space bond fund to purchase and preserve a 43-acre property sparked a debate Monday about how closely the issues of land preservation and affordable housing are tied.

Following hours of back-and-forth—with around a dozen members of the public speaking in favor and nearly 40 individuals and organizations expressing support in letters and emails—the town council decided in a split vote during its meeting Monday to approve the request for $382,000 to purchase the property. Councilors Liz Gledhill and Joe Viele opposed.

“One of the things about this parcel is that there's lots of different natural resources,” Joanne Riccitelli, land protection director at the SKLT, said Monday about the land, owned currently by the Boy Scouts. “Often we come [across] a project that is just about farmland, it's just about forest, it's just about wetlands—this one is about almost everything.”

Located on the south side of Worden's Pond Road, the land features healthy soil, is a rare species area and could provide drinking water protection.

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Courtesy of Narragansett Times