The Photo Above Is the Growth Inside the Lighthouse Inn Pool Area located inside the hotel.

My Recently Printed Letter in the Local Papers in South County:

RIDEM’s Mismanagement Must Stop

Throughout this summer, the RIDEM has allowed Procaccianti to operate a parking lot lease on lots 256-257 in Galilee. This is outrageous! The two lots are zoned GB-Galilee Business. In the GB zone, a parking lot cannot be operational unless the Town of Narragansett grants a Special Use Permit.

I therefore am suggesting the Town of Narragansett issues a Cease-and-Desist Order to the RIDEM and Procaccianti Developers. If the Town does not issue a Cease-and-Desist Order, then the Town will be culpable for not upholding and enforcing its own zoning ordinances. It would behoove the town to also attach a hefty fine of $5,000 dollars per day for each day the parking lot has operated without a Special Use Permit.  If any other business in the Town of Narragansett operated in an area not properly zoned, it would be shut down and the owner would be fined heavily for a violation.

The Lighthouse Inn is a health, safety, and an environmental hazard.

Why did the RIDEM allow PRIX (Procaccianti – Paolino) to abandon the hotel and create a health, safety, and an environmental hazard under their watch? It is the duty and responsibility of the RIDEM to protect our environment. For the RIDEM to condone the reckless actions of PRIX, it shows gross mismanagement and an egregious error that can create irreparable harm to our environment.  

Despite the harm PRIX has caused Galilee, the RIDEM, is still allowing Procaccianti and Paolino to operate a parking lot lease on the area of land they trashed, enabling them to make hundreds of thousands of dollars over the summer season.

Why did Director Terrance “Terry” Gray get reappointed unanimously by our Senate during the Senate Nomination Hearings with his department failing to prosecute and hold Procaccianti and Paolino accountable for their gross neglect?  

The RIDEM noted they rejected the Town’s submitted proposal because it included temporary affordable housing to be made available for the fishermen, as it noted that housing was out of compliance with zoning in the area. Yet, they are allowing PRIX to operate a parking lot in an area that is out of compliance with zoning.

It is ironic that RIDEM erroneously feels that parking will assist commercial fishermen more than temporary affordable housing, as they are not questioning a parking lot operation in an area that is in noncompliance with the zoning as ordinance for that area.

Why have Governor McKee, our Senators, and our Representatives all remained quiet on the gross mismanagement of the RIDEM and the gross neglect by PRIX — based upon its apparently deliberate abandonment of the Lighthouse Inn? Why have the news media failed to report the gross neglect of the five-acre parcel in Galilee as a result of the RIDEM condoning the reckless actions of PRIX by abandoning its hotel?

Finally, the taxpayers of the state of RI should definitely not be asked to fund the demolition of the Lighthouse Inn as was proposed by the RIDEM. It carries a probable cost of over a million dollars due to the necessity of the safe removal of mold, asbestos and other toxins that have been allowed to rampantly spread.

Why has the RIDEM noted we need to “Tone Down the Volume?” The delay in demolition of the Lighthouse Inn is believed by many as another stall tactic by the RIDEM as it is election season.   

At the recommendation of Town Councilman, Patrick Murray, I visited the Seamen’s Church Institute in Newport, RI. The Institute provides many advantages and benefits to the community, the area fishermen, and to the city of Newport. In addition to short term, inexpensive boarding rooms, it serves as a cooling and heating center during the day, serves as an AA and social meeting center, serves as a food servicing center during Thanksgiving and Christmas, has a café that serves food, low-cost rooms for tourists and fishermen, a chapel for services, and an educational center on marine affairs for grade school students as well as inexpensive housing for students during the off-season.

These are services which would prove invaluable to our Seaport of Galilee.

Albert Alba

Narragansett