A developer in Warwick has been relentless in trying to build on 10 acres along the shore of Narragansett Bay and squarely within a flood plain, says Mark Carruolo, the city’s planning director.

When told the area was too low, the developer proposed hauling in enough fill to raise the 10 acres by 14 inches. The city rejected the idea as altering the land to an unacceptable degree, but the developer, even after the recent flooding, is still attempting to find a way to build homes on the land.

About one-third of all structures, or roughly 11,500 buildings, in Warwick fall within a federal flood plain. And people still keep building or trying to build in areas city planners know will inevitably flood, laments Carruolo.

“Human nature takes over and if something is financially viable for someone they’ll do what they have to do to develop the property,” Carruolo said. Or in at least one case, to lower the cost of operating an existing property.

Carruolo has seen too many property owners with dismissive attitudes toward floods and with short memories. Even the record flooding will not deter people from building in flood plains, both he and his Cranston counterpart, Peter Lapolla, predict.

In both cities water from the Pawtuxet River flooded hundreds of homes and businesses, including the Warwick Mall. Weeks after the flooding, as business owners and homeowners were still picking up the pieces, applicants in both communities were moving forward with plans to build in flood plains, said the planners.

In Cranston, Stop & Shop remains on track to build a supermarket along Warwick Avenue and within a flood plain. Lapolla said store planners said they want to raise the store above the flood zone and lower the parking lot to create a bowl to catch floodwater. If it works, that would prevent floodwater from rushing downstream while protecting the market itself.

Given the choice, Lapolla, a planner for 33 years, would not locate his business there, saying it appeared inevitable damage would occur. But legally he cannot stop people from building in a flood plain as long as they follow federal guidelines, which Stop & Shop has said it will.

Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have consistently ruled that cities cannot implement regulations that drastically devalue or limit options on private property. Lapolla and Carruolo said the best they can do is caution people about the risk.

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