Twin River refines Tiverton casino plans to protect wildlife, wetlands

Totally cool.
AN UPDATED RENDERING of the proposed Tiverton casino shows how the developer expects to allow existing forest to be a more effective buffer to the surrounding neighborhood. / COURTESY TWIN RIVER MANAGEMENT GROUP

LINCOLN – Working with Tiverton residents and representatives of the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, the Twin River Management Group has refined design plans for a proposed casino and hotel in the town in an effort to protect wetlands, wildlife and the surrounding environment.
The parking area footprint has been significantly reduced in order to increase the buffer zone from perimeter wetlands and the emergency access road, which went through swamp area, that will now be crossed via bridge, according to TRMG Chairman John E. Taylor Jr.
“Like most of our design plans, these changes reflect input we initially received from the residents of Tiverton and now, the RIDEM, who we reached out to provide feedback on preliminary designs,” Taylor said in a news release. “While our first site plan and design honored the wildlife and wetlands on the property, we were asked to do better, so we did.”
In order to provide the public and land use regulators with data to assess the impact, if any, on wildlife populations and what mitigation steps could be implemented to lessen or eliminate long-term impacts, TRMG retained Natural Resources Inc. of Burrillville to conduct a wildlife and wildlife habitat assessment.
That assessment concluded the forested swamps and shrub swamps provide the most “utilized and diverse habitats” within the 290-acre assessment area. As a result, the study recommends targeting development in the forested upland habitat, which is the least valuable area and avoids the forested swamp.
The study also recommends designing road crossings in wetland areas to accommodate unrestricted wildlife movement, as achieved by the proposed bridge in the swamp area.
“The wetlands crossing for the emergency access road was one of the key areas that required attention as outlined in our four-season wildlife study,” Taylor said. “We are happy that we have come up with a solution that benefits both the wildlife that currently resides in that area as well as the wetlands.”
Should Question 1 statewide and Question 8 in Tiverton on the November ballot be approved, RIDEM will begin a formal review of the casino proposal.

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