R.I. Airport Ordered to Stop Rental Car Business
WARWICK, R.I. --- The city of Warwick issued a notice of violation to the Rhode Island Airport Corporation ordering it to stop Hertz, Avis and Budget car rental companies from doing business in a condemned residential zone.
WARWICK, R.I. --- The city of Warwick issued a notice of violation to the Rhode Island Airport Corporation ordering it to stop Hertz, Avis and Budget car rental companies from doing business in a condemned residential zone, the Providence Journal reported.
The Building Department issued a notice of violation, citing the airport corporation for using residential land for commercial purposes, the newspaper reported.
The airport corporation began condemning houses in 1987 due to high levels of jet noise. After clearing out 15 acres of residential zones, the airport corporation took the land off of the tax rolls.
The rental car agencies, doing business at T.F. Green Airport, first leased the land in 1999.
According to officials, Rhode Island tax assessors could start levying property taxes on land that the airport corporation leased. A recent memo to officials said that the land is still taxable and still governed by the city’s Zoning Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan, according to the newspaper report.
The city currently receives income-generated taxes from Hertz, Avis and Budget, not taxes on the value of the real estate. Instead, the report said, the companies are taxed, not as airport tenants, but as condominiums would be.
The airport corporation has 30 days from the Sept. 5 issuance of the violation to appeal to the Zoning Board of Review.
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