Larry LeBlanc's Land: an end game?

At 7 PM tonight, the Town Council is holding a special meeting – and maybe a vote – to acquire Larry LeBlanc’s land on King’s

Factory Road

overlooking Route One.

Since acquiring the nearly 100 acres of undeveloped land from Narragansett Electric in 2003 for $1.1 million, LeBlanc has proposed various things that have made vocal elements in town go berserk, such as:

• A very large affordable housing development
• Selling the land to the Narragansett Tribe to add to nearby land where the tribe has wanted to build affordable housing
• Or maybe a casino,
• And if the town doesn’t like that, buy the land for $5.5 million (reduced to $4.5 million) and then more recently
• Two industrial sized wind turbines
• Or maybe a smaller affordable housing development and
• You don’t even want to think about what else he might have in mind.
• Or the town can buy the land (Larry’s first offer: $3 million)

Personally, I think it’s time to put an end to eight years of aggravation and work a deal to buy the land for open space. The prospect of a big new block of open space should make Ruth Platner very happy. In fact, her Planning Commission has a workshop scheduled for tomorrow to discuss buying the land for open space, though usually such a workshop happens before, not after, a Town Council vote.

The wind turbine proposal and the hints at a deal with the Narragansetts both caused huge spikes in the consumption of Xanax by the town’s population and particularly by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance’s followers.

They’ve had a bad case of agita over Larry LeBlanc and all his various proposals to the point where they dominate CCA’s collection of anonymous e-mails.

I like using Groucho Marx’s “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It” as background music when I go through the CCA’s angry anonymous e-mails about the various Larry LeBlanc projects, whether it’s the wind turbines, (earlier ones here) , the Whalerock deal with the former Town Council, or casinos. 

I have never met Larry LeBlanc, but by all accounts, he’s a shrewd businessman. From his actions, I also conclude that he is very skilled at yanking Charlestown’s chain and seems to enjoy doing it.

I’m certainly curious about the next step in Charlestown’s long-running Larry LeBlanc drama. Will he stick to the $3 million offer or deal lower, since the land is now assessed at just over $1 million, close to what he paid in 2003. Will our Town Council decide it’s time to buy? Will Ruth Platner support or oppose the Town Council? Will Charlestown be struck by Comet Elenin?

If the town finally does strike a deal with LeBlanc, what’s left for CCA’s supporters to complain about, really?

Author: Will Collette