By JOHN HOWELL
Remember those days at Rocky Point…the fireworks, eating clam
cakes while gulls circled for handouts, the cool splash of the
Flume and the bands that seemed to always tie up traffic on
Warwick Neck Avenue?
Those days are long gone, and it would seem the fate of the
123-acre amusement park has fallen into some kind of black hole.
It was three years ago that the Small Business Administration put
the property up for auction. The SBA had hoped to get a bid of $13
million to recover loses from bankrupt park owner Moneta Capital,
and when they didn’t they stepped in to make sure it didn’t go for
less.
It turned out to be a wise move. There was a lot of interest in
the property, and the SBA asked competing developers to put their
proposals on the table. Plans for the park fell into two
categories: conversion into high end housing and a facility that
would offer elderly residents a range of services from independent
housing to assisted living and nursing care.
A second two-hour long telephone auction was conducted among
those submitting plans and, to the amazement of many, Vanderbilt
LLC bid $25 million. The company, with ties to Toll House
Brothers, plans to build about 350 housing units on the former
park.
That was over two years ago. Nothing seems to have happened
since then. The purchase and sales agreement with Vanderbilt has
not been signed. Applications for the zone changes and permits
required haven’t been made. It would seem everything is at a
standstill.
That’s not the case, says SBA district director Mark Hayward.
Pegee Malcolm, vice president of the Rocky Beach Association,
also knows there’s movement.
Rocky Beach, once an area leased by the park to people who
built summer homes on the land, is part of the Rocky Point Park
package Vanderbilt bid on. There are 48 occupied houses on the
property, 10 of them owner-occupied and another nine of them
renter-occupied full time, says Malcolm. Malcolm is concerned what
will happen to many of these families when the Vanderbilt
agreement takes effect.
“Some of these people,” she said, “can’t afford to go
elsewhere.”
She and others living at Rocky Beach aren’t spending the money
on the upkeep of their homes and would like to have the SBA pay
them to pack up and leave.
As was worked out prior to the auction, the SBA agreed to give
the association first refusal to acquire Rocky Beach. Based on
Vanderbilt’s offer, however, the 29-acre beach property is worth
$11.25 million, an amount those who had leased land could not
afford.
The association argued the amount was inflated and took their
case to Federal District Court, claiming the SBA abused the first
refusal because the agency never got a proper appraisal on the
property. When Justice Ronald Legueux ruled in favor of the SBA,
the association appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, it opened a dialog with the SBA in an effort to strike
a deal. They proposed that the SBA pay Rocky Beach residents $2.5
million. The SBA refused, offering a lump sum of $150,000.
Split up between beach tenants, Malcolm says, the $150,000 is
not enough to pay the first and last month rent on an apartment
large enough for a family of four. She says at least five families
won’t have a place to go.
“When this comes to an end they have to go somewhere,” she
said.
Meanwhile, beach residents don’t know what to expect or when
they may be evicted from the property.
“Since 1993 we were told this was the last year,” said Malcolm.
Though tenants, Rocky Beach residents don’t have leases and
they don’t pay any rent. The annual fee had been $2,500, in the
case of the Malcolms.
“We do appreciate getting something for nothing, but it’s to
their [SBA’s] benefit, not ours,” she said.
Hayward said Tuesday that Vanderbilt remains interested in the
property and that “we’re moving forward.”
He expects that movement will come Sept. 7 when the court is
scheduled to hear the association’s appeal. As for why the agency
has not initiated action for the permits and approvals needed for
the project, Hayward said it would be premature.
Once the court case is resolved, Hayward expects more visible
activity as the project moves forward. In the interim, since a
suspicious fire destroyed the Big House, once used to house
amusement park employees, on Sept. 2, 2004, SBA has beefed up
security at the property.
“We continue to have a substantial presence,” said Hayward.
Also, he said, the SBA continues to pay city taxes and water
bills.
Hayward said the SBA had the carousel demolished about two
weeks ago after what he described was a “breach.” The structure
was thought to be close to collapsing.
Mayor Scott Avedisian said yesterday, “All along the goal is to
see they [Rocky Beach residents] are treated fairly.”
Nonetheless, he said, the longer residents wait to find
alternative housing the more difficult it will be. Given the long
delays in resolving the future of the park property, Avedisian
said, “there is a false sense of security there.”
He advised, “The SBA is very clear about moving forward with
the sale.”
