NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – A developer who mistakenly built a $1.8 million waterfront house on parkland has been ordered to remove it.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court found that the Narragansett home was built entirely on land owned by the Rose Nulman Park Foundation, and therefore must be removed.
The developer, Four Twenty Corp., began building the home in 2009, but it didn't discover the error until 2011. It argued it should not be penalized for an innocent surveying mistake.
The court said the park's property rights outweighed that.
Foundation lawyer Mark Freel says it's not known whether the unoccupied house can be moved or will have to be torn down.
He says the house has been there for a long time already, and it's time for it to go.