Developer Ralph Santoro, left, speaks to the media at the 31-acre site in Johnston his family co-owns with Salvatore Compagnone Jr., right, on March 19, 2025. The town is trying to seize the land to build a new public safety complex and town hall. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Like a punch to the gut.
That’s how one of the owners of 31 acres of undeveloped land in Johnston said he felt after his family learned via a social media post on March 14 that the property now belonged to the town.
“It was like we were physically assaulted,” developer Ralph Santoro said at a press conference on the property off George Waterman Road Wednesday morning. “It’s something I hope never happens to anyone else.”
It’s the first time the family has spoken out since the town announced on Jan. 27 it was going to seize the land.
Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, Jr. announced on Facebook Friday that the town had formally acquired the George Waterman Road property as it moves forward with plans to build a new public safety complex and town hall.
But the town’s ownership didn’t last long. On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Christopher Smith ordered the town to change the land records back to the family-owned homebuilder corporations of Santoro and Salvatore Compagnone — whose families have owned the land since the 1980s, they say.
That same afternoon, the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island accepted a motion for a temporary retraining order to prevent the town from taking further action until the Santoros’ legal team receives a hearing for a preliminary injunction.
“Yesterday, the court set things right,” Kady Valois, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, told reporters. “Our clients, the Santoro family, have a right to their property — at least until they have their day in court.”
The California-based libertarian-leaning nonprofit is representing the Santoro family in its federal lawsuit against the town, arguing that the land seizure is merely a pretext to halt the land’s owners from building a 252-unit income-restricted apartment complex.
Polisena called the Superior Court’s ruling a means to preserve the status quo as the legal process continues.
“We remain committed to advocating for the best interests of the current residents of Johnston,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “I have no intention of succumbing to these developers or their elitist, California-based legal organization.”
The mayor said his mission remains to provide the town’s first responders with a state-of-the-art public safety complex. But attorneys for the Santoro family argue that Polisena’s push for a public safety complex only came after he made multiple public declarations that he would use all the governmental power he had to halt the planned apartment complex.
“Never was a municipal complex mentioned until Jan. 28,” said Providence attorney Kelley Morris Salvatore, referring to the meeting where Johnston’s Town Council authorized the use of eminent domain. “We had literally never been notified.”
The town received the title after filing a petition in Providence Superior Court and depositing $775,000 to the court. That valuation was based on an appraisal by Andolfo Appraisal Associates, Inc., of Providence, which found that only roughly 14 acres were buildable due to an on-site pond and nearby wetlands.
Santoro and Compagnone declined to comment on the town’s price tag for their land.
Under Rhode Island General Law, eminent domain can be used to remove hazardous buildings, revitalize abandoned lots, and clarify land ownership. Municipalities typically reserve this legal tool for road projects.
“Eminent domain is an awesome power and it must be used carefully,” Valois said. “It’s considered a last resort for a reason, but here the town has weaponized that power not to help the public, (but) to prevent a use it doesn’t like.”
Santoro and Compagnone intended to take advantage of the state’s Low and Moderate Income Housing law, which limits the ability of municipalities to block projects if less than 10% of their residences qualify as affordable. About 7.9% of Johnston’s housing units are considered affordable, according to the 2024 HousingWorksRI factbook
Preliminary plans for Waterman Chenango’s proposed development showed five rectangular apartment buildings arranged at the end of a road off George Waterman Road and around connected parking lots. Rents for the apartments would range between $1,850 to $2,100, Santoro told reporters.
The statewide average for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,887 a month, according to a 2023 HousingWorksRI Rental Survey.
Compagone called the project the ultimate dream for his father, who died in January 2024 at the age of 95.
“That’s what he wanted, and our dream is to build a complex here that we can give to the people,” he said.
But Polisena has made it clear he does not want high-density apartments in his town.
“We will continue to promote owner-occupied, single-family home construction,” he said Wednesday. “This is about prioritizing the future of Johnston and its current taxpayers — not about some rich developers making a major profit.”
Santoro and Compagnone laughed at that notion.
“We work with blood, sweat and tears every day,” Santoro said. “We know our tenants, we manage our buildings, and we’re on site all the time.”
The two told reporters that they have had issues with trying to build in Johnston in the past, proposing a 60-unit complex on the same parcel two decades ago only to be rejected by the town, which they said was never explained.
Despite the town’s history of halting their planned apartments, Santoro said they will not give up on building in Johnston.
“If we give up, everyone else is going to give up, aren’t they?” he said. “That’s not the American way, you fight hard.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.