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	Providence Diocese to Sell Tract in Westerly Church Needs to Raise Cash; Little League Foundation Might Have Some Interest By Joe Wojtas The Day September 21, 2007 http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=76ed2057-19e7-47b3-b2a5-c99b9291d71c Westerly — Forty-two years ago the Diocese of Providence bought a large piece of land just east of Dunns Corner-Bradford Road with the intent of possibly building a Catholic high school there. In 1990 it sold some of the land to the local foundation that established the Paul E. Trombino Sports Complex on Moorehouse Road. Now the diocese wants to sell the rest of its property, which totals more than 131 acres. Although the town is no longer interested in buying the property, Eugene Trombino, who is president of the foundation that built and runs the Little League complex in memory of his son, said Thursday night his group is interested in the property. He said he is sending a letter to the diocese expressing the foundation's interest in the land, which comprises two parcels of 10.4 and 121.4 acres. He said the foundation would entertain an option to buy the land if it could raise the needed money. The foundation is currently building a fifth baseball field but once that is completed there will be no more room for expansion, he said. If the foundation could acquire the land it would only be used for youth sports activities, Trombino said. The land is one of seven properties the diocese announced Wednesday it was selling across Rhode Island to raise cash. Some of the proceeds will go to create an endowment that will pay for the upkeep of hundreds of diocesan properties, according to diocesan communications director Michael Guilfoyle, with the rest helping pay off the diocese's $6 million debt. Some of that debt was incurred when the diocese paid more than $14 million to people who were sexually abused by diocesan priests and filed lawsuits. "The bishop wants the diocese to be debt-free," Guilfoyle said Thursday. In his announcement of the sales this week, Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin said many of the diocesan ministries and agencies that serve the community are in buildings that need repair. Guilfoyle said Tobin and a diocesan committee decided to sell the Westerly property and the six others because they did not see any future use for them. The diocese is currently not using the seven properties. Commercial real estate firm Meredith & Grew of Boston will market the Westerly property along with two others in Newport and Narragansett that the diocese feels are most valuable. The town has appraised the Westerly land for $1,229,300. Guilfoyle said that whoever buys the properties would have to agree that they will not use them for any immoral purposes or for anything that contradicts the teachings of the Catholic Church. This is not the first time in recent years the diocese has sold a Westerly property. In 2003, it sold a 16-room waterfront mansion in Watch Hill that was used as the bishop's summer retreat for $7 million. That money was used to help fund the payments to sexual abuse victims. Westerly Town Planner William Haase said he received a call Thursday from someone inquiring about the possibility of building a 400- to 500-unit assisted living project on the property. He said interested developers would need to review the town's zoning regulations to see what is possible. As it is zoned now, development options are very limited. There are no sewer lines to the property, but there is a water line on Dunns Corner-Bradford Road. The narrow 10.4-acre site along Dunn's Corner-Bradford Road and south of Moorehouse Road is zoned for homes on 1.5-acre lots while the 121.4-acre parcel further east has no frontage on a town road and is zoned for open space and recreation. The 22.9-acre Trombino site separates the two parcels. Haase said developers could ask the Town Council for a zone change. The 10.4-acre site is in the town's most restrictive residential zoning designation, which is designed for areas that have agricultural land, wetlands or other natural resources that need to be protected. It is also for areas that do not have municipal sewer and water. Single-family homes are allowed and cluster developments of four or more units are allowed with a special permit. Zoning for the 121-acre site allows athletic fields, playgrounds and golf courses. Uses such as social clubs, schools, government buildings and post offices, cemeteries, libraries and museums, day care centers, and community centers are allowed by special permit. Town Manager Joseph Turo said Thursday that four years ago the town met with the diocese to discuss buying the 121-acre parcel as a water source. But tests results showed it would not have been compatible with the rest of the system and the plan was dropped. Turo said the town also looked at the smaller parcel but decided against buying it as well. "So we're not pursuing it at this point," he said. Contact: j.wojtas@theday.com
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