The Preservation Society of Newport County v. City Council of the City of Newport

Citations

• 155 A.3d 688
• 2017 WL 1015278
• 2017 R.I. LEXIS 33

Syllabus

The petitioners, the Preservation Society of Newport County and Newport Catering, Inc., d/b/a Glorious Affairs, Ltd., sought review of a decision of the respondent, the City Council of the City of Newport (the Council), denying two jointly filed applications for victualing licenses. On appeal, the petitioners contended that the Council impermissibly relied upon zoning considerations as its basis for denying their applications for victualing licenses they further argued that, pursuant to the Code of Ordinances of the City of Newport, the Council was required to consider only health and/or safety issues in deciding whether to issue or deny the licenses. The Supreme Court, after a careful review of the entire record, held that the Council in 2014 failed to provide factual findings and legal grounds to support its decision denying the petitioners' applications for victualing licenses. That Council was also in derogation of its responsibilities for its failure to have pointed to any meaningful evidence in the record of health and/or safety concerns—which are, pursuant to § 5.72.020 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Newport, required to be the focus of such licensing decisions. Accordingly, the Court directed the present Council to issue victualing licenses to petitioners forthwith, absent any compelling evidence of significant health and/or safety issues.