Andrew M. Teitz

Lawyer Andrew Teitz, who represents several of the waterfront industrial businesses also opposed the variances for the festival, said that festivals are the wrong use for the property.

"We're concerned about the festivals and whatnot because they do have an impact.The people are parking everywhere, they're parking on the streets.There have been incidents," Teitz said, stating that several business owners have had conflicts with event attendees trying to use their facilities for parking.

Teitz said that Conley is now using the festival as blackmail to get his variances.
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"He's basically trying to blackmail the Zoning Board tonight, and the Licensing Board — saying that if they don't approve it, the Puerto Ricans are going to be out all this money," Teitz said yesterday.
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Teitz said that the site is still toxic, and it is not appropriate to have children attending festivals there.

"Kid drops a quarter, bends down to pick it up, and you've got petroleum waste and cyanide on your hands," he said.

The Chamber also hired lawyer Andrew Teitz to study valet parking programs in other communities around the country.

Anticipating legal challenges to the town's enforcement actions on the Great Salt Pond , regarding the Hi-Speed and Montauk ferries , the council hired lawyer Andrew Teitz to represent the town.

Andrew M. Teitz, lawyer for the yacht restoration school, called Blake Henderson to present evidence that soils in the West Extension Street Channel, where the public dock would be relocated, are contaminated.

The appeal was filed Aug. 11 by lawyers Andrew M. Teitz and Jeanne M. Scott on behalf of the town.

Andrew M. Teitz, a lawyer and planner who is recognized as an expert on zoning, said that traditional zoning was appropriate 40 or 50 years ago, but is not appropriate for many communities today.

Today, flexible zoning - which is sometimes called conservation zoning - gives a community a chance to decide what it wants and to develop rules to achieve that goal.

For instance, a rural community would first have to decide what it wanted to preserve, Teitz said.Did it want to save the open fields and hide the houses in the trees, or did it want to save the forests and have the houses in the fields?Is the view from the road or the view from the mountain more important?

"The first thing you have to decide is what does the community want," Teitz said."Then you set priorities."

He cited a harbor walk in Bristol as an example of this type of planning.
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Teitz answered that in Rhode Island, the people on planning and zoning boards are appointed by the city and town councils that voters elect.

"We deserve the government we get," he said."The key is at the ballot box.You've got to be able to trust the people you elect, and if you don't, then you've got to elect people you can trust."

Teitz, who grew up in Newport, agreed that the waterfront was a lot different when he grew up."We have to remember that Thames Street was not a nice place then," he said."Thames Street was Blood Alley."

He said he has a vision in his mind of what it could be.He encouraged setting a height limit for all future development along the waterfront.Whether the limit is set at 30 or 50 feet, not even a flagpole should be allowed above the limit, he said.He said he would oppose any more hotels along the waterfront.
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Teitz agreed that flexible zoning can be risky.He urged interested residents to become involved and "co-opt" the process.

Portsmouth Town Planner Robert Gilstein said he preferred the term "performance-based zoning" because it includes performance standards.Standards would be set as to what kind of open spaces is to preserved and what standards a developer would have to meet, he said.
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Teitz, who stressed that each community needs to develop its own goals and vision, also said Aquidneck Island was a natural place for regional cooperation.The Aquidneck Island Planning Commission is a step in the right direction, Teitz said, and he encouraged developing a single comprehensive plan for the island's "four governments" - the three municipalities and the Navy.

"We deserve the government we get," said Andrew M. Teitz, a lawyer and planner - and expert on flexible zoning - who was the event's main speaker."The key is at the ballot box.You've got to be able to trust the people you elect, and if you don't, then you've got to elect people you can trust."

Several members of the audience echoed his sentiments.

But Teitz went a step further: If you can't find trustworthy people to vote for, he said, you've got to run for office yourself.