The Hope Mill (Scituate, RI)

A developer from Massachusetts named Paramount Development Group (PDG) is planning to

convert eight of the ten existing buildings in the Hope Mill complex into 193 apartments. The
development will consist of 334 bedrooms (141 two-bedroom apartments and 52 one-bedroom
apartments) and 236 parking spaces. More than half of the project will be new construction. At
the moment, eight of the ten Hope Mill complex buildings are under agreement to PDG but that
sale has not closed The current owner of the eight buildings is in receivership.
After, the sale is closed, two of ten buildings in the Hope Mill complex will remain in the hands
of another owner. Those buildings will not participate in PDG's development.
Not much is known about PDG. The head office listed on PDG"s Master Plan application, is a
Regus virtual office location in Boston where anyone can rent as little as the office address and
a phone number. According to PDGs website, they have converted a few derelict buildings in old
industrial cities in Massachusetts into low-income housing projects. They have never tackled a
project as complex as the Hope Mill project nor one located in a semi-rural area where there is
little public infrastructure to support the project, nor one in which the project is the dominant
building in its area.
The proposed development will consist of a mixture of low-income housing (supported by
federal tax credits) and workforce housing. Workforce housing is a euphemism used by
developers for low rent housing intended for low income workers (e.g. Walmart, McDonalds
employees) that is not subsidized by the government. The balance between the two types of
housing will be determined by how many tax credits the state of Rhode Island awards the
project. PDG has said that they will take as many tax credits as they are offered. Most developers
in PDGs position seek to build 100% low income housing projects for economic reasons. To
meet the requirements for low income housing tax credits, the planned development must
include few amenities and consist of basic one and two bedroom apartments.
PDG plans to construct a large-scale septic system to serve the development on the Hope Mill
site.
In January of 2016, PDG filed with the Scituate Plan Commission a master plan for their
proposed development. PDGs master plan calls for the conversion of eight of the existing Hope
Mill buildings into 94 apartments. An additional 99 apartments will be constructed in two new
four-story buildings be built in the rear of the existing mill buildings. The new buildings will be
built on pillars with parking underneath. The new buildings will located in a parking lot in the
rear of the mill complex and they will rest on pillars with parking underneath the buildings. The
existing mill buildings will be restored in accordance with National Historic Preservation
guidelines established by the National Park Service in order to secure federal Historic
Preservation tax credits.
Upon completion, PDG expects occupancy of the project to be about 450 residents. Currently
Hope Village has 157 housing units and a population of approximately 410 people. PDGs Hope
Mill project will double the population of Hope Village. The Town of Scituate has no plans to
improve the infrastructure in Hope Village to accommodate such a large increase in population.

The site that PDG is purchasing consists of 32 acres. 28 acres are located in Scituate and 8 acres
are located in Coventry. 13 acres of the site are classified as either wetlands or swamp. The Hope
Mill is located on a 32 acre island. 16 of the 32 acre Hope Mill site being purchased by PDG are
located on the east side of Route 116(including the mill buildings) and 16 of the 32 acres are
located on the west side of Route 16 (including the Hope Mill dam and Hope Mill Pond). The
Hope Mill is located in a Natural Heritage Area (RIDEM) and Conservation Opportunity
Area/Corridor (RIDEM). The site is located in the Hope Village Historic District and is a
Historical Candidate site (state of RI), The existing mill buildings are listed in the National
Register of Historic Places as part of the Hope Village Historic District.
In January of 2016, The Scituate Town Council approved a tax agreement with PDG which
among other things forgives the approximately $550,000 that is owed by the Hope Mill complex
to the Town of Scituate for unpaid property taxes and $55,000 for expenses incurred by the
Town to secure and repair the Hope Mill buildings. This decision was reached after less than a
minute of deliberation without any discussion of the consequences of the Hope Mill project for
Hope Village, for the Town of Scituate or for residents of Coventry who will live near the project.
According to current Scituate zoning ordinances, the proposed Hope Mill development will be
approximately 160 acres short of the land area required to build a 193 apartment complex. To
get around this requirement, PDG is attempting to use permits, variances and approvals that
were granted to a previous significantly different project involving the Hope Mill that was
proposed and given conditional approval in 2006. So far, the Town of Scituate Town Council
and Plan Commission appear to be going along with this ruse. In fact, the permits, variance and
approvals granted in 2006 expired in 2008.
In 2006, a developer named Hope Mill Village Associates secured conditional permits, variances
and approvals to convert all ten of the existing Hope Mill complex buildings into 155 luxury
apartments ("Class A" full service apartments with recreational facilities and service related
facilities) and a museum of local history. An additional 52 condominiums were to be located in
approximately ten small newly constructed period buildings to be built along the Pawtuxet River
front. To secure permits, variances and approvals for the project, Hope Mill Village Associates
agreed to construct and donate to the Town of Scituate a $4 million sewer line which would also
serve buildings in Hope Village owned by the Town of Scituate. Hope Village Associates also
agreed to donate 32 acres of land to the Town of Scituate, to construct public walking trails
along the Pawtuxet River on their property, to build a public bridge across the Pawtuxet River,
to create a museum of local history and to construct a public stone staircase leading into a public
park in Hope Village abutting the Hope Mill. In 2008, Hope Mill Village Associates went into
receivership and then filed for bankruptcy. In 2008, all of the permits and approvals granted to
Hope Mill Associates expired. At that point, no construction had started on the Hope Mill
project and Hope Mill Village Associates had incurred $85,000 in violations for unlawfully
logging wetlands on the Hope Mill site.

The manner in which the Scituate Zoning Board and Scituate Plan Commission awarded
permits, variances and approvals to Hope Mill Associates in 2006 was flawed, incompetent and
biased in favor of Hope Mill Village Associate, the developer. During 2006, Rhode Island was in

a historic mill restoration boom and the Scituate Zoning Board and Scituate Plan Commission
got caught up in the euphoria. They ignored public concerns raised at public hearings on the
Hope Mill project and gave the Hope Mill developer nearly everything he asked for. The Zoning
Board's and Plan Commission's decisions were based solely on the developer's representations
and promises and not on any independent evaluations by unbiased experts. No assessment of
the likely consequences or costs to Hope Village, the Towns of Scituate or the Town of Coventry
was attempted by the Scituate Zoning Board, Scituate Town Council or Scituate Plan
Commission. No attempt was made to assess the Town of Scituate's ability to absorb and
assimilate a project of this scale. The Hope Mill is the largest building complex in Scituate by a
large margin. No attempt was made to assess the impact of the project on life in Hope Village or
the surrounding areas.The question of whether a 200 unit condo/apartment complex belongs in
Hope Village (which had roughly 150 housing units at the time) and what effect such a dense
housing development would have on Hope Village's existing community (which is protected by
the historic district regulations concerning density) was ignored. Scituate's Comprehensive Plan
was almost completely ignored. Scituate's Comprehensive Plan states that the citizens of
Scituate had considered the future of the Hope Mill complex and had decided that the Hope Mill
buildings should not be used for housing. The Hope Mill project was granted a 160 acre
dimensional variance without the Zoning Board determining whether the project actually met
the conditions necessary for such a large variance. The Plan Commission ignored questions of t
Scituate Police and Fire departments capacity to deal with such a large and dense housing
project, and they minimized traffic congestion problems likely to result from the Hope Mill
project despite concerns from Hope Village residents. In the end, only the financial interests and
views of the developer were considered.
The permits, variances and approvals granted to Hope Mill Village Associates expired in 2008,
but the Scituate town government has been unwilling to acknowledge this fact. PDG is
attempting to use these expired permits, variance and approvals as though they were still in
force and the Town of Scituate has been going along with the ruse.
In January of 2010, eight of the ten Hope Mill Buildings were sold to a second developer, New
England Development. New England Development went into bankruptcy in August of 2010. The
master plan submitted by PDG is similar to the master plan proposed informally by New
England Development(NED) in 2010. NEDs master plan concept was never formally submitted
to nor approved by the Scituate Plan Commission. New England Development's master plan
includes the construction and donation to the town of a $4 million sewer line and appears to
include other dedications to the Town of Scituate that had been proposed by Hope Mill
Associates in 2006. PDG's master Plan does not. PDG has not offered any dedications to the
Town of Scituate, no land, no foot bridge over the Pawtuxet River, no stone staircase, no sewer
line, no museum. Such public dedications are required of all large developments.
PDG is trying to use the expired permits, variances and approvals granted to Hope Mill
Associates in 2006 to allow them to build their proposed project. Those permits, variance and
approvals have expired.
PDGs project Master Plan must be treated as a new Master Plan application as the law requires,
and that any application that PDG makes to the Scituate Zoning Board must be treated as a new
application which is what it is. We believe that the Scituate Plan Commission and Zoning Board

will try to skirt the law and pretend that the permits, variance and approvals granted in 2006
are still valid. We also want to compel the Scituate Zoning Board and Plan Commission to
diligently adhere to existing zoning laws and the Town Comprehensive Plan and stop acting as
lackeys for the developer as they have done since 2006.
The Hope Mill is the largest building in the Town of Scituate, Hope Village, Hope and any
building in the surrounding neighborhoods in Coventry. The Hope Mill is the dominant building
in its area. What happens to the Hope Mill will have a profound effect on Hope Village and all of
its surrounding areas.

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The cost to the Town of Scituate of the Hope Mill project:
1. PDG expects the Hope Mill project to house 445 residents with approximately 45 school aged
students. No one knows how many school aged students will live in the project if it is completed.
There is no reliable way to estimate that number. 15% of the population in Scituate, Providence
County and Rhode Island are school aged students. Towns in Rhode Island with a higher
percentage of renters do not have a lower percentage of school age students. Expecting 15% of
the residents in a project like the Hope Mill is a reasonable guess but it is just a guess. PDG's
estimate of 10% is also a guess. If two-thirds of the two bedroom apartments housed a school
aged child, the number of school aged children in the complex could be 95 or more. It costs the
Town of Scituate about $11,000/year to educate a student (net of state grants to the town to
fund education).
45 x $11,000 = $495,000.
95 x $11,000 = $1,045,000.
150 x $13,500. = $1,650,000.
However many school age students live in the Hope Mill project, the Town of Scituate will have
to foot the bill. If the project were to be built as proposed and all of the apartments built are lowincome housing, the project could house over a hundred fifty school age students. Federal law
requires owners of low income housing to house the neediest applications first. "Neediest" could
be interpreted as families with children.
2. The Town of Scituate spends $3,500 per resident and receives $700 per resident in state aid
and grants. The expected cost of town service on Hope Mill residents is:
($3,500 - $700) x 445 = $1,246,000
Property taxes generated by project
$350 per resident for low-income housing
$900 per resident for "workforce" housing
Expected deficit to Town of Scituate is $845,000/year to $1,100,000/year for town services to
Hope Mill residents:
The deficit to Town of Scituate if all apartments are low-income housing:
445 residents x $350/resident = $155,750 property tax collected
$1,246,000 - $155,750 = ($1,090,250)

The deficit to Town of Scituate if all apartments are "workforce" housing:

445 residents x $900/resident = $400,500 property tax collected
$1,246,000 - $400,500 = ($845,500)
Owners of property in Scituate who do not live in the Hope Mill will be forced to pay
significantly higher property taxes to cover the cost of services that the Town of Scituate will be
obligated to provide residents of the Hope Mill.
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The demographic of the Hope Mill project:
3. The Hope Mill project would more than double the population of Hope without the Town of
Scituate planning any additional investment in community infrastructure in Hope Village to
accommodate the increased population. The current population of Hope is about 408 people
(2.6 occupants per housing unit x 157 housing units). The expected Hope Mill project population
is 445 residents. The Hope Mill project would increase the total population of Hope Village at
build out to a population well beyond the number planned for in the town's Comprehensive
Plan.
4. If the Hope Mill project is completed as proposed, more than half of population in Hope will
be renters (transient residents). At the moment, the majority of residents in Hope Village are
owner/occupiers. That creates a very different dynamic in the community as renters have no
longe stake in the community.
5. The income profile of community is likely to fall sharply. Among other things, this has
implications for property values. The Hope Mill project is likely to cement Hope Village's fate as
a low-income community.
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The Hope Mill project will create congestion problems:
6. There will be increased road congestion and congestion at public facilities/parks in Hope
Village with no public investment planned by the Town of Scituate to mitigate the increased
congestion. 200 unit apartment complexes belong in cities. They do belong in small villages in
rural areas. Cities have the infrastructure and are organized to absorb such large projects. They
have master plans and capital investment budgets which can accommodate such large projects.
Hope Village has none of these capabilities nor access to capital for infrastructure improvement.
The Town of Scituate does not even employ a town planner nor have a town planning
department. None of the members of the Scituate Plan Commission have any professional
education in town planning or meaningful experience in town planning. Hope Village lacks the
basic infrastructure needed to serve its existing population no less absorb a doubling of its
population.

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Likely social effects of the Hope Mill project:

7. The increased congestion and the influx of a large transient population will be damage to the
social fabric ("camaraderie") of Hope Village Renters who live in the Hope Mill have limited ties
to community and little stake in the community's future. Their attitudes and behaviour will
reflect their their transitory position in the community.
8. The Hope Mill project is not likely to be a pleasant or sociable place to live. Large apartment
complexes rarely are pleasant. Half of the apartments in the complex will have windows that
face into other apartments. The other half will have windows that face into a parking lot. Public
space within the project buildings will be the minimum that HUD allows (12 square feet per
apartment). Federal law sets minimum and maximum quality/size limits for low-income
housing supported by federal tax credits. Federal regulations do not allow developers to add
amenities, upgrade apartments or undertake extensive landscaping.
In January of 2016, PDG submitted drawings for its proposed project to the Scituate Plan
Commission. The mill restoration proposed by PDG will look like a factory of no particular
distinction and no particular age surrounded by a sea of asphalt. Little of the architectural detail
or elements that has been lost will be restored. Historic restoration is an exercise in storytelling,
often with details added to better tell the story of the buildings being restored. PDG's mill
restoration proposed will tell no story. PDG plans to add no architectural elements which might
more clearly reveal the mill's history or rebuild important structures that were destroyed . The
renovated mill will have better windows and a more attractive roof but will otherwise look much
as it did fifty years ago which is neither attractive,inspiring or edifying.
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Project defeats goals of historic preservation:
9. Hope Village is located in a special zoning district called the Hope Village Overlay District.
According to Scituate Town Ordinances and Comprehensive Plan, the purpose of the Hope
Village Overlay District is to direct development in Hope Village to insure that the Hope
Village's character and social fabric ("camaraderie") is maintained, that new development is
compatible with the existing scale and building fabric of Hope Village, that architectural quality
and historical character in the village is maintained and that mixed village building use,
characteristic of traditional mill villages, continues in Hope Village.
10. The restoration of the Hope Mill proposed by PDG would restore historic mill buildings at a
significant cost to the social fabric and character of Hope Village and the surrounding areas.
PDG's development will effectively convert Hope Village into a single use district. PDG's project
is largely a new construction housing project. More than fifty percent of the apartments built in
the Hope Mill project will be in newly constructed buildings. The project will be single use.
When the Hope Mill functioned as a textile factory (its historical use), mill workers lived in
Hope Village. The village was a social environment. Everyone in the village knew each other.
Village residents lived, worked, worshiped, were educated and shopped in the village. Hope
Village residents circulated through the village throughout their day and the the course of their
lives. The scale, density and single use of the Hope Mill project will destroy whatever traditional
social character and fabric is left in Hope Village. It will convert Hope Village into an impersonal
bedroom community. Hope Village will transform from a traditional village with a strong sense

of community, frequent social interaction and diverse building uses into a suburban sprawl
community. Suburban sprawl communities are the antithesis of traditional village life. They are
characterized by impersonal single purpose districts connected by automobile travel between
districts. They create few interactions within a neighborhood and a depersonalized living
environment. People live in one district, travel by car to another district to shop, travel to
another district to work, and another to attend school.
11. Historically, villages in Scituate were self contained worlds. People lived their wholes lives in
the villages, They worked shopped, lived, were educated, worshipped and died in the villages.
They were complete social environments. According to the Scituate Ordinances, the objective of
the Town of Scituate is to both preserve Hope Village's old buildings and to preserve its social
fabric and the unique quality of life that the Hope Village has long enjoyed. The Hope Mill
project would destroy the cultural legacy and social fabric of Hope Village in order to allow a
developer and his investors to earn fat profits.
The traditional sense of community that defined the lost Scituate villages is the aspect of Hope
Village that is most worth preserving. That is what will be lost. A village is a social structure, a
form of social organization and a social experience. It is not a collection of buildings of a
particular style, vintage or organization. Saving old buildings in a manner that destroys
fundamental underlying social structures, organizations and experiences is a form of demolition
not preservation.
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The Hope Mill project will flatten Hope Village into a suburban sprawl. It will not revitalize Hope
Village:
12. Today, Hope Village is a sleepy former mill community, with potential for rebirth. Village
residents appear to be waiting for an injection of capital and infrastructure to revive the village.
Hope Village has suffered a long decline but appears to be showing some modest signs of
stabilization.
Many of the houses in Hope Village are in good condition and several have been lovingly
restored. However, the overall impression one gets of Hope Village is one of a village that as a
whole is less than the sum of its constituent parts. What is missing and deficient in Hope Village
is the public infrastructure, public spaces and master plan that ties the constituent parts of a
community into a greater whole. This is the glue that only the town government can provide and
that Scituate Town government has failed to provide. This glue includes all sorts of things large
and small from a grid of regular sized secondary roads to walkable neighborhoods, to welldefined public spaces, to street trees to slow traffic and enhance the streetscape, to a municipal
sewerage system. These deficiencies are what has been preventing Hope Village from springing
back from its long decline. Hope Village suffers from a lack of public investment that only the
town government can provide. The Hope Mill project will only contribute to these deficiencies
by further overtaxing the limited infrastructure in Hope Village.
13. The Hope Mill project proposed by PDG will not the answer Hope Villages hopes of
revitalization. Rather than revive Hope Village into a vibrant community, it would flatten Hope
Village into a soulless characterless suburban sprawl. The heart and soul of the community will

be extinguished. The project will exacerbate the public infrastructure deficit that has been
holding Hope Village back and over tax what little public infrastructure and public amenities
currently exist in Hope Village. Friendliness and sociability will be replaced by impatience,
irascibility and depersonalization.
14. The Hope Mill project is likely to lead to decline in the number of public spaces in Hope
Village. For many years, residents of Hope Village, Hope and Coventry have accessed the Hope
Mill Pond to fish and swim through property that will be owned and developed by PDG. This
open access has turned the 16 acres of land on the west side of route 116 belonging to the Hope
Mill property effectively into a public park. It likely that the public will lose access to the Hope
Mill Pond through the Hope Mill property if the Hope Mill project proceeds.
15. Given the low amount of property taxes that the Hope Mill project will generate for the Town
of Scituate, the Hope Mill project will not generate any money to pay for much-needed
infrastructure improvements in Hope Village. In fact, the Hope Mill project is likely to consume
over one millions dollars per year in Town services above the property taxes that it will pay the
Town.
16. The Hope Mill project is likely to pull down the quality of life in Hope Village and all of the
surrounding neighborhoods.
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Integrity and competence of Scituate Town government is limited:
17. The Scituate Town Council, Zoning Board and Plan Commission have not competently or
honestly handled proposals to develop the Hope Mill in the past. The have been obsessively
concerned with the welfare and interests of the developers who have expressed interest in the
property and ignored public interests. This pattern is unlikely to change if the Scituate Town
government's actions are left unchallenged.