PROVIDENCE — The Supreme Court of Rhode Island has ruled in favor of the City of East Providence in its on-going and long-standing joust with land owner Ken Foley and the property at One Dexter Road familiarly referred to as "Pond View."

In a decision written by Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell published on Thursday morning, June 23, the Court deemed the following:

"We are well satisfied that, in considering the notice of violation, the zoning officer and zoning board properly reviewed the record to determine the scope of the use permitted by the 1998 use variance and that the findings of fact by the zoning board were not '[c]learly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence of the whole record.' Section 45-24- 69(d)(5). We hold, therefore, that the trial justice erred by reversing the decision of the zoning board."

Chief Justice Suttell's conclusion read as follows: "For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we quash the judgment of the Superior Court and remand the case to the Superior Court with instructions to enter judgment for the city. The record of the case shall be returned to the Superior Court."

The matter stems back nearly two decades when Mr. Foley was granted a use variance by the city for the property back in 1998. At that time, Pond View, as the business was known then, was registered with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management as a processing facility. The plant was initially allowed limiting the grinding of materials to 150 tons per day; restricting the grinding hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

In February 2003, DEM granted Pond View a license to increase the processing capacity to 500 tons per day.

However, things began to unravel between the city and the business when in 2005 East Providence sought both a declaratory judgment stating Pond View was violating its use variance by receiving more than 150 tons per day of C&D debris and an injunction precluding Pond View from operating its facility.

It was the determination of the city that Pond View was in violation of the original 1998 permit because it expanded beyond the 150-ton limit, began accepting products other than wood, operated beyond the permitted hours of operation and failed to maintain an earthen berm while adding additional equipment to the site. 

The case, formally known as Kenlin Properties, LLC et al. v. City of East Providence et al., has been bouncing back and forth in the courts as well as between local and state authorities ever since.

Read the entire Supreme Court decision here...