Appeal of Breakers Welcome Center Approval is Likely

The controversial plan by the Preservation Society of Newport County to build a welcome center on the grounds of the famed The Breakers mansion got the backing of the Newport Zoning Board in a 4-1 vote last night but it could be many more months before the issue is legally resolved once and for all.

R. Daniel Prentiss, a lawyer representing members of the Bellevue-Ochre Point Neighborhood Association, which has staunchly opposed the plan from the beginning, said in an interview Tuesday that an appeal of the board’s decision is likely.

“I’m going to meet with my clients and my expectation is, and I think everyone anticipated this, is that it’s going to be in Superior Court,” Prentiss said.

It’s up to his clients whether or not to appeal the decision, Prentiss said, but he noted the association and other clients “have been very committed to trying to prevent this from happening.”

The Preservation Society of Newport County applied for a special use permit to construct the $4.2 million visitors center to offer ticketing services and restrooms along with offering light food fare, such as sandwiches and snacks.

The facility would be located on the grounds of the fabled The Breakers mansion, the former a summer cottage for the Vanderbilts and the crown jewel in the collection of mansions maintained by the preservation society in Newport.

The Zoning Board’s vote Monday night followed months of litigation. The city’s Historic District Commission rejected the plan on the basis it didn’t meet historical standards for the area. The Zoning Board overturned that decision, which was appealed by the neighborhood association to Superior Court. That appeal, along with the dismissal of a separate lawsuit, ended up kicked back to the Zoning Board, which finally rendered a decision this week after months of hearings and a spirited public debate.

Prentiss said Monday’s decision was disappointing for the BOPNA, but he believes the law is on their side and ultimately, the issue will be decided by the Supreme Court.

“The reality is this opens the door that any museum in Newport can open a restaurant,” Prentiss said. “That is the legal ramification.”

Specifically, Prentiss’ argues that the city’s zoning ordinance, adopted in 1994, limits museums to six specific uses, one of which “doesn’t remotely involve the sale of food to the public.”

The law made a clear delineation that museums are not to be launching pads for any other collateral activity, he said.

The controversy stems not just from the esthetics of the design or the implications of disturbing the soil on an historic site, but because “the zoning ordinance doesn’t allow it yet the Zoning Board has nevertheless granted a special use permit for a prohibited use.”

The implication is that anyone could open a museum and serve food, regardless of the type of museum or location, Prentiss said. And the proper place to set limits on what kind of museum can serve food isn’t within the framework of a special use permit, but within the zoning ordinance itself.

But changing the zoning ordinance would require convincing the City Council to make the amendment, since they’re the only entity that can make the changes.

During the pair of December hearings before the Zoning Board, the preservation society’s lawyer, William Landry, argued that restaurants are clearly defined under existing zoning laws as an establishment that primarily serves food. That’s distinctly different from simple refreshments.

And the preservation society has made a substantial effort to ensure that the project would be harmonious and historically appropriate to the unique setting in the Bellevue and mansion areas of the city.

A call to the Preservation Society of Newport Country was not immediately returned. This story may be updated.