‘Better than before’ after storm?

BACK AGAIN: John Bellone, co-owner of the shuttered Maria’s Seaside Café in Westerly’s Misquamicut village, saw the business destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. He said he’s working with the town on plans to build “something new.” / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
BACK AGAIN: John Bellone, co-owner of the shuttered Maria’s Seaside Café in Westerly’s Misquamicut village, saw the business destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. He said he’s working with the town on plans to build “something new.” / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Misquamicut businesses certainly would not have chosen to be flooded, wiped out or generally whipped by the remnants of Superstorm Sandy – but more than a year after the storm did its damage, the concept of “we’re better than before” is echoing among many of the owners of hotels, motels and restaurants in the seaside village in Westerly.
For some, though, better is still in future tense, as in, “We’re planning to build something new that will be better than before,” while for others, the property is improved, but the insurance problems are worse than ever.
Plans for the Bellone family business in Misquamicut are still taking shape. Its now-shuttered Maria’s Seaside Café was destroyed in the storm, although the five suites on the second floor above the restaurant survived.
“We’re working with architects, engineers and the town on plans to build something new,” said John Bellone, who owns the business with his parents, Nicola and Maria Bellone.
Maria’s Seaside Café was the only Misquamicut business, out of about 40, that didn’t open for the 2013 tourist season in some form, even though the majority of those businesses suffered some level of storm damage.
“We got wiped out by a wave. We had flood insurance on the building and got paid, but we’re not in a hurry. The insurance is just a fraction of what we’ll need to rebuild,” said Bellone. “It’s unfortunate that the hurricane came along, but here’s an opportunity to do something better. We’re planning on making a significant investment in Misquamicut.”
Plans and permits need to be finalized for what Bellone foresees as more of a hotel than the five previous suites, and a smaller restaurant than the former 150-seat configuration. Bellone said the new building “will be in keeping with the shingle style of the beach community.
“We always took pride in our property, and what we are planning will be a benefit and an attraction for the village of Misquamicut,” he said.
The family also owns a property just a few blocks away, the Breezeway Resort Hotel, which wasn’t damaged in the storm, and that’s been a source of income and office space while the plans for the new project evolve.
One Misquamicut business damaged in the storm that’s mostly restored and was opened in time for the 2013 season is the 10-room Sea Shell Motel, called “the pink place” by owner Deborah Stebenne. “We’re better than we were before,” said Stebenne, after losing the four first-floor guest rooms, office, manager’s apartment, dock, Jacuzzi, paddleboats and canoes to Sandy.
“We’re on Winnapaug Pond. It’s a tidal pond, so the beach water came up Winnapaug Road and the pond came in the back of the building,” said Stebenne. Despite being flooded from two sides, the second floor of the motel remained intact.
The first floor had to be gutted and new electrical and plumbing installed.
“Our four downstairs rooms were completely remodeled by necessity, from top to bottom,” said Stebenne. Among the improvements in the remodeled rooms are granite counter tops, LED lighting and memory-foam beds.
It’s straightening out the insurance mess that’s not going to be easy, said Stebenne.
She has lawsuits pending against her insurance agent, Traveler’s Insurance and Lloyd’s of London.
“We had three insurance policies totaling $1.2 million. One is wind, one is water and one is for loss of business income,” said Stebenne. “The wind people said the water did it and the water people said the wind did it. I know it’s a combination of wind churning up the water and in my opinion, they should each have to pay half,” she said.
Stebenne repaired the storm damage using savings, credit cards and grants from the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce.
“Our insurance company gave us the shaft, but our Chamber of Commerce was helpful beyond amazing,” said Stebenne. “They had more fundraisers than I can count. They sold T-shirts and had concerts and black-tie events. They raised money and doled it out to folks who had losses that were not covered.”
The summer of 2013 was a decisive time for the Sea Shell Motel.
“If we hadn’t opened during the past summer, we would have been dead in the water,” said Stebenne.”We still had to pay the insurance, the utilities and the taxes.
Because of a lack of insurance, the bank threatened to foreclose on the motel.
“I was so angry about my insurance that I didn’t renew it when it came up for renewal in April. Then I got a certified letter from my bank that they were threatening to foreclose because I didn’t have insurance,” said Stebenne. “Then I renewed my insurance and at the same time, the bank bought force-placed insurance, which means they force it on you if you don’t have insurance and it costs a lot more than insurance I could get, and the bank charged me for it,” Stebenne said. “Luckily, my bank was acquired by another bank and the new bank worked it all out with me.” For most of the businesses in the seaside village, however, the recovery from Sandy has been more straight-forward, said Caswell Cooke Jr., executive director of the Misquamicut Business Association, a Westerly town councilman and owner of Seafood Haven restaurant in the seaside village.
“I would say Misquamicut operated at about 90 percent this [past] summer,” said Cooke. Business was down slightly for some in the 2013 season, due in large part to getting a later start because of the time it took to repair the storm damage.
“My business was up 10 percent this year,” said Cooke. Being out of harm’s way, and undamaged by the storm, helped Seafood Haven have a good season.
The storm encouraged the town to consider some improvements that in the long run should be advantageous to the businesses, such as raising Atlantic Avenue a foot or so and putting in better drainage, he said.
“We put in place one new ordinance that enables property owners to elevate up to 3 feet above base flood elevation,” said Amy Grzybowski, director of planning and code enforcement for the town. That reduces the cost of flood insurance because it’s a mitigation measure against storm surge, she said.
The extra 3 feet in height, which cannot be living space, offers a commercial advantage. The first level could start at 12 feet or 15 feet and allow some businesses to put a parking area under the building and still meet the 35-foot shoreline commercial-zoning height limit, said Grzybowski.
With Sandy damage now mostly in the rear-view mirror, the future is looking good for Misquamicut businesses, said Cooke.
“I wouldn’t have said this a year ago, but now I think if there’s a silver lining to Sandy, I would say that everyone got a forced renovation,” said Cooke. “All the businesses are looking brand new. I think everything’s going to turn out to be fine next summer.” •

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