By JOHN HOWELL
Under a directive issued by the Small Business
Administration, all residents of Rocky Beach, which is part
of the former Rocky Point amusement park property, were to
have vacated their homes by yesterday.
That hasn’t happened for Carol Amelian, who has lived in
one of the small beach cottages with five of her children
since 1996 and she may not be the only resident who doesn’t
plan on leaving immediately. As of yesterday, Amelian said
there appeared to be residents in nine of the beach houses.
Amelian said last week that she has unsuccessfully sought
to find housing, but that everything is either unaffordable,
would take the family out of the city and the schools they
are attending or split up the family.
Faced with no alternative, Amelian said she would contact
Rhode Island Legal Services in an effort to fight the notice
and, if anything, delay her eviction until April when the
SBA will allow people to occupy the cottages before
permanently closing the summer community at the end of next
summer.
“I don’t want to face eviction. It’s not the route I want
to take,” Amelian said. Nonetheless, she speculated, “If it
goes in front of a judge maybe I won’t have to leave.”
As receiver for the 125-acre park, the SBA is planning to
convey the property to Vanderbilt LLC that offered $25
million for the bayside site in a 2002 auction. Once the
property is zoned and permitted, the company aims to build
about 350 luxury-housing units on the land.
Rocky Beach to the north of the former park is an enclave
of bungalows and cottages on leased land. It was initially a
summer community, but over time as many as 11 of the
cottages have been converted to year-round residences.
After being named receiver, the SBA did not seek to
collect rent from Rocky Beach homeowners. Meanwhile, the
Rocky Beach Association that represents a majority of the
homeowners brought action to stop the eventual sale of the
beach to Vanderbilt. The association had hoped to buy the
property but could not come up with the more than $11
million Vanderbilt was prepared to pay for the land as part
of its Rocky Point bid. The association then brought action
in Federal District Court on the basis SBA had not properly
observed their right for first refusal. In a settlement
reached with SBA, the association was given $150,000 to be
split between its members. Also, under the agreement, Beach
residents were permitted to stay on the property rent-free
until Nov. 30, at which time they would have to vacate their
homes. They are permitted to return on April 1, 2006, but
must permanently vacate the beach as of Nov. 30, 2006.
The decision to vacate their homes is in response to
concerns of the Warwick Fire Department following a fire
last January. Many of the houses fail to meet code and
depend on wood, propane and kerosene stoves for heating.
There is no hydrant on the property, either.
“We’re aware of the situation,” SBA regional director
Mark Hayward said yesterday when informed that Amelian and
possibly others did not intend on leaving their homes by the
Nov. 30 deadline. He had no further comment at this time.
Mayor Scott Avedisian said the city’s family support
services are aware of Amelian’s case and have been working
to find her alternative housing.
Asked if because of safety concerns the city would
initiate action to remove people insisting to stay at the
beach, the mayor said, “It’s not our role to start removing
people.” Whatever legal action is taken is between the
residents and the SBA, he added.
Avedisian regrets the matter has reached this point.
“There has been a lot of lead time. We were hoping they
would not be faced with a bad situation.”
Among the agencies working to find housing for Amelian
have been Westbay Community Action and the Rhode Island
Family Shelter. The shelter did have an opening for Amelian,
but it would have required her to act immediately and to
split up the family. Two of the children would have had to
stay with friends.
Amelian said yesterday afternoon that she had looked at a
place renting for $900 but “it would have meant every penny
I have and nothing for utilities.”
