Family farm will split into housing development, open space preservation
LINCOLN — John Cullen is finally seeing his vision for his family farm off Old River Road come true as work starts on a 150-unit, age 55 and older, private condominium development that will be located on the farm, overlooking the Blackstone River and the village of Ashton across the river in Cumberland.
United Home Construction of Cranston has purchased an approximate 80acre parcel of the Old River Road farm, and after completing site clearing, is now beginning work on the Whipple-Cullen Farm residential development’s grading and roadways.
Cullen and his wife, Barbara, still live in the 300-year-old colonial farmstead at 99 Old River Road that they once ran as a local bed and breakfast, and will be watching with interest as the new age-restricted development begins to grow on the abutting land rising above the village of Quinnville and bordering Route 116 and Cullen Hill Road. The home is located on a 3-and-a-half-acre parcel of land the Cullens continue to own.
In all, the Whipple-Cullen Farm development will feature 75 duplex condominium buildings located along a private road running down from a connection with Old River Road just east of the Cullens’ historic home, before turning west through a now cleared section of regrown forest before looping back to an outlet on Route 116.
The housing construction is planned for 40 acres of the overall parcel sold by the Cullens for the development. The remaining 40 acres purchased by the developer – 10 acres of hayfields along Old River Road and 30 acres of remaining forest and wetlands along the parcel’s Quinnville side – will be retained as open space within the development under a conservation easement agreement granted to the town in perpetuity.
The fact that half of his family’s former farmland will remain in a natural state has Cullen feeling like his longtime effort to develop the property was worth the time he put into his dream.
“I’ve been working on this plan for
25 years,” Cullen explained from his home this week. “It was an unbelievable odyssey and an unbelievable saga.”
Cullen started out hoping to develop a portion of the land as residential units and conserve the remaining portion, in keeping with the “soul” of the property – its agricultural heritage under its ownership by just two local families, the Whipples and the Cullens.
Over the years, however, some in town thought the land would be better suited to a single-family home development, while others wished no development to occur there, according to Cullen.
Single-family home development would have carved up the total acreage into lots for large homes. That would have consumed the rural look of the longtime farmland, something Cullen did not want to do.
The farm was originally owned by the Whipples, who had a profitable share of the Lime Rock Quarry in its early days, as well as a quarry on the other side of the Blackstone in Ashton that was another of their many colonial period endeavors.
The farmhouse Cullen lives in today was constructed with the Whipples’ wealth in 1713 and provided basic substance farming for the family. It was his great-grandfather, John Cullen, who purchased the land for his family originally in 1876 after taking on many mill-related construction and development endeavors during a hard-working life as an Irish immigrant.
Cullen, 74, said his grandfather, John Cullen II, continued to develop the farm on Old River Road during its time as a local dairy operation; and his father, John Cullen III, also lived at a nearby house with his family while his parents and aunts and uncles lived in the main house over the years.
The dairy farm operation ended in the 1940s as Cullen’s father, who served in World War II, came home to new business opportunities.
Cullen himself initially became a teacher before moving into business and running a real estate agency and a self-storage operation on a piece of family property along Route 116 for many years.
He has also put his hat in for runs for town council, town administrator, and seats in the general assembly, taking primary victories along the way. He sees his political success as providing a voice for accountability, both on the local and state level, over the years.
The farm development project became a greater focus after Cullen’s retirement, as his interest in finding a good purpose for his long unused farm property increased.
There was always resistance to contend with, both from the town and from neighbors living on abutting properties the Cullens had sold over the years.
“People always fight development,” Cullen said. “They will fight a good thing. It’s just the way it is.”
A property owner has the right to use their property, especially given what they pay to maintain it, according to Cullen.
As for the odyssey he set out on, Cullen noted that he had to gain local approval for his development plan.
Cullen pursed his “compromise” concept of preserved land and consolidated senior housing under a comprehensive permit process allowed for projects that include affordable housing units but saw the local planning board reject the proposal in June 2016. He then filed an appeal with the state housing board which ultimately remanded the development back to local planners for further review in July 2019.
Initially proposed at 158 units, the development was eventually reduced to 150 units, with a list of stipulations approved by the local planning board in June 2020.
Town Planner Albert Ranaldi said this week that he recommends approval of the revised development plan, given its provisions for increased affordable housing, the age restrictions and private development provisions reducing the overall impact on the town and the included preservation of the agricultural fields along its frontage on Old River Road.
“Preserving as much of that scenic land along Old River Road as we could was always one of my goals,” Ranaldi explained.
The two fields on either side of the historic Whipple-Cullen farmhouse will remain as hayfields and even continue to be harvested, Ranaldi noted.
The development’s contribution to the town’s existing stock of affordable housing was also an incentive, according to Ranaldi.
In all, 38 of the total units will meet Rhode Island Housing’s designation of affordable housing in Lincoln, representing 25 percent of the total development, the planner noted.
The planners also approved 14 stipulations for the project that include requirements such as spacing the duplex buildings at a minimum of 30 feet apart and a number of other provisions for access and site layout.
Unlike a smaller 28-unit condominium development now under construction at the former Highridge Swim & Tennis Club at 192 Old River Road opposite the Kirkbrae Country Club, the Whipple-Cullen project will provide its affordable units within the overall development as duplex buildings holding the designated units interspersed with the rest.
The Highridge development near Kirkbrae will pay the town an affordable housing contribution that it can use for affordable housing elsewhere.
In addition to providing preservation of the open fields along Old River Road, Cullen said he was pleased that the Whipple-Cullen Farm project will provide local seniors with an affordable home option when they choose to downsize.
The “ups and downs” of the project aside, Cullen believes the final outcome is what he originally wanted to see for the longtime family farm.
“It’s what I dreamed of 25 years ago,” Cullen said as he looked over the development site this week. “It will be a senior housing development that does not destroy the soul of land – its past use for agriculture.”
Carol Lamountagne of Lamountagne Real Estate, the developer’s local agent, said the Whipple-Cullen Farm project presents an opportunity for local seniors to downsize to an easier-to-manage property than the single-family homes in which they currently live.
“All the years they have lived in their big homes, they have paid the taxes that have built the town, and now it’s time to help them out with this type of development,” Lamountagne said.
All of the units will be one floor with no stairs to climb to a second level. Everything will be designed with senior accessibility in mind, she noted.
And then there is that amazing view overlooking the valley that will be visible from all parts of the development, according to Lamountagne.
Although actual construction has not yet begun, Lamountagne said word is getting around – even to people who had moved away from town in the past.
“People are calling me from everywhere – New York, Connecticut,” she said. “They want to come home and be close to their families.”