Johnston mayor to use eminent domain to buy land for new public safety complex

JOHNSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. released a new proposal that would put a swift end to the proposed construction of 252 low-income housing units on George Waterman Road.

“It wasn’t the fact that it was low-income or apartments,” Mayor Polisena said. “It was the size of it. I mean 252 units for a mid-size community like Johnston; that’s 600-800 people, that’s 1-2% of our population coming from just one housing project.”

Residents who live along the 31 acres of land agree with the mayor.

“The town needs that more than putting in more housing that is going to overload the town, the schools, everything,” Johnston resident, Louis Barletta said.

Polisena plans to take the rare step of using eminent domain to seize the land on George Waterman Road with the hopes of building a brand new public safety complex, featuring a new town hall, police station, and fire station.

This means the town would take all the land and the owner would get what’s determined to be market value for it.

“The way I think of things is ‘what can I do to benefit the community as a whole?’ Police, fire, town hall; that touches everybody,” Polisena said.

“They need to do something about the town hall, the police department, and the fire department,” added Barletta. “After all these years, it looks like that and it shouldn’t look like that.”

The Housing Network of Rhode Island shared the following statement with ABC6 News:

“Using eminent domain to block affordable housing sets a dangerous precedent and undermines efforts to address the housing crisis in Johnston and across Rhode Island.”

Polisena said the town is already involved in homelessness initiatives.

“Give me two million dollars to pay for the citizens that are going to live there and I will not block the project,” Polisena said.

A special town council meeting is set for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Johnston Municipal Court where the council will decide if Polisena can do what he wants.

This is a developing story. ABC6 News will continue to update this article with updates from the special council meeting.