Court Upholds Approval of Controversial Welcome Center at The Breakers

NEWPORT, RI -- A Superior Court Judge on Monday dismissed all appeals of a Newport Zoning Board’s decision to approve a welcome center at The Breakers mansion, the iconic waterfront getaway of the Vanderbilt Family during the Gilded Age.

The decision ends a multi-year legal battle that had as many twists and turns as a Victorian period drama, including stern letters from heirs to the Vanderbilt empire and the primary abutter to the project stunningly announcing this summer that he was named in the lawsuit without his consent.

“This is a tremendous victory for the Preservation Society and for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to The Breakers each year,” said Donald O. Ross, Chairman of the Board of The Preservation Society of Newport County, which owns and operates the mansion.

The Preservation Society of Newport County applied for a special use permit to construct the $4.2 million visitors center to offer ticketing services and restrooms along with offering light food fare, such as sandwiches and snacks.

The city’s Historic District Commission first rejected the plan on the basis it didn’t meet historical standards for the area. The Zoning Board overturned that decision, which was appealed by a local neighborhood association to Superior Court. That appeal, along with the dismissal of a separate lawsuit, ended up kicked back to the Zoning Board, which finally rendered a 4-1 decision in favor of the project.

The latest decision Monday by Judge Walter Stone in Newport Superior Court to reject the appeal should be the end of the matter, lawyers for the Preservation Society said.

“There is no automatic right of appeal from today’s decision by Judge Stone. The Rhode Island Supreme Court would have to grant extraordinary special permission for the case to proceed further” said Lawyer William Landry.

In August, John Noffo Kahn, a philanthropist who had recently sold the mansion Fairholme for $15 million, sent an email to lawyers for the case saying that he never agreed to be a part of the court action and only granted permission for his name to be used as an abutter during an appeal process before the Newport Zoning Board.

“I wish to go on record as stating that I am not now, nor never have been, to my knowledge, an appellant in any Superior Court action regarding the special-use permit granted to the Preservation Society for the welcome center at The Breakers,” Noffo-Kahn said. “Since the special-use permit was issued. . .I have had no correspondence whatsoever with the appellants and/or their counsel.”

The lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of the Bellevue-Ochre Point Neighborhood Association, R. David Prentiss, declined comment, citing attorney-client privilege.

The case hinged on the fact that Noffo-Kahn was the only direct abutter to The Breakers when he owned Fairholme. The BOPNA does not qualify as an abutter because as an organization, it does not own property abutting The Breakers, lawyers for the Preservation Society argued, and that means it had no standing.

The neighborhood association has vigorously fought the plan since it was first proposed by the Preservation Society of Newport County, which hopes to build the welcome center, which would include tourist information, snacks and restrooms. Opponents said the facility would harm the architectural integrity of an important historic district.

The Breakers Mansion is the former summer cottage of the iconic Vanderbilt family and is the crown jewel in the Preservation Society’s collection of mansions that woo visitors from across the globe.

The Vanderbilts sold the breakers to the society in 1972 with no restrictions, pledges or promises “at a premium price,” an attorney who negotiated the sale said.

The controversial letter accused the Preservation Society of exploiting the mansion and called for a change in the tone of its leadership.

The society responded with its own letter, stating that the Vanderbilt letter was “rife” with inaccuracies.

Since 1972, the Society has spent over 20 million dollars preserving, restoring and maintaining the building. That expenditure continues today at a rate of about $1.5 million per year,” the statement read.

“The Preservation Society’s mission is to protect, preserve and present The Breakers and its other historic houses. There are many facets and manifestations to accomplishing this mission. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Preservation Society’s interpretation of this National Historic Landmark is the most highly visitor-valued historic house experience in America. Attendance at The Breakers is at an all-time high and financial support for the Preservation Society has reached record levels, with more than $1,000,000 contributed to its Annual Fund in the fiscal year just ended,” the statement continued.