NEW SHOREHAM – The R.I. Office of the Attorney General is seeking to intervene in the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council’s closed session approval of a Block Island marina’s expansion.
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Monday that his office has petitioned the R.I. Supreme Court to intervene in the case filed as Champlin’s Realty Associates v. the Coastal Resources Management Council. Specifically, the motion petitions the court to deny a joint memorandum of understanding filed by Champlin’s and the CRMC that would allow the expansion to move forward.
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By participating in this case, Neronha said he is seeking to protect the state’s coastal environment and ensure the CRMC follows legal requirements necessary to approving Champlin’s bid to expand its marina.
“This office has a constitutional and common law obligation to protect the public interest, our environment, and our shared natural resources. When it becomes apparent that the process designed to protect our resources is not being followed, it is our job to intervene in order to protect the public interest,” said Neronha. “While I understand the CRMC’s and Champlin’s desire for finality, that cannot come at the expense of an established, transparent, regulatory process – one that has been approved by the courts. To do that, agencies’ final decisions must be visible and accessible, and any facts the agency relied on to support its decisions must be clear.”
Neronha said the “matter has a long and complex history, and its resolution will have a lasting impact on the natural resources of Block Island.”
The attorney general’s office said it opposes the MOU between the CRMC and Champlin’s on the basis that the CRMC negotiated the agreement without jurisdiction to do so, arguing instead that the R.I. Supreme Court has jurisdiction over the application; that the agreement was created without following the CRMC’s regulations and procedures or provisions; that the agreement does not comply with the Administrative Procedures Act because it does not contain findings of fact to explain or support its new position with regard to the marina expansion; and that the settlement process failed to comply with the steps the Court required the CRMC to follow when considering a new plan.
Conservancy groups on Block Island have opposed the marina’s expansion for the past 20 years, having their legal battle funded through donations. The groups assert the issue is that the CRMC gave closed session approval to the marina’s requested expansion of 156 feet into the Great Salt Pond without issuing notice the meeting was being held, and even though the case is pending in the Supreme Court, as well as assuming that a mediated settlement had been reached between the parties.
The 250-slip marina has pursued expansion of its trident-shaped dock since 2003, which would expand the dockage into the Town of New Shoreham’s mooring field.
The dock extension would add about 150 slips to the shoreline property, which was purchased by the Procaccianti Companies on Dec. 23 from owner Joseph Grillo, who had owned it since 1986. The property includes a hotel, dockside buildings, a swimming pool, restaurant, and a movie theater.
Henry DuPont, the founding director of the Committee for the Great Salt Pond, said his group is “surprised and delighted” to learn of the attorney general intervening in the CRMC’s approval of the expansion. Opponents to the expansion include New Shoreham, the CGSP, the Block Island Land Trust, the Block Island Conservancy and the Conservation Law Foundation.
“The people of the state … own the pond,” said DuPont. “What if a developer wanted to develop and build into Roger Williams Park? That is what Champlin’s wants to do with the Great Salt Pond.”
DuPont said Champlin’s Marina and the CRMC “cooked up a back room deal that never should have happened. The CRMC can’t do anything when the case is before the Supreme Court. The CRMC has no standing.” DuPont called the CRMC’s action and approval “outrageous.”
DuPont said there is a “problem with the current makeup of the CRMC’s council,” which he feels is predominantly pro-development and not inclined to follow the written recommendations of its staff. “The chair is the only one on the council that votes against development.”
The CRMC council, the body that votes on policy and proposals is chaired by Jennifer R. Cervenka, and comprised of Vice Chair Raymond C. Coia, DEM Director Janet Coit, Michelle Collie, Lisette Gomes, Donald Gomez, Michael Hudner, Joy Montanaro, Patricia Reynolds, Jerry Sahagian.
“We need a change in the construct of the CRMC’s council members,” said DuPont.
The CRMC was not immediately available for comment regarding the attorney general’s intervention.
Monday’s motion to intervene is the Neronha administration’s first involvement in the longstanding legal battle.
Environmental Unit Chief and Special Assistant Attorney General Tricia K. Jedele and Special Assistant Attorney General Alison B. Hoffman are representing the attorney general’s office.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. You may reach him at Shuman@PBN.com.
