NARRAGANSETT – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council will continue a hearing Friday on whether to approve an expansion of Champlin’s Marina on Block Island.
Marina owner Champlin’s Realty Associates Inc. wants to expand its existing stable of 225 slips. The proposal has been in dispute for seven years, pitting the marina against the town of New Shoreham and a host of environmental groups.
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The CRMC initially rejected the proposed expansion in a tie vote in 2006, trigging a court appeal from the marina’s owners. Last year, R.I. Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel sided with Champlin’s, saying that some council members inappropriately discussed the case outside of the hearing room. Vogel’s plan would have allowed the marina to add 140 slips.
The town and environmental groups appealed, and in February the R.I. Supreme Court sent the case back to the CRMC. The council held its first meeting in the wake of the decision in May.
The evidence from the original case seven years ago remains on the record. Jerry Elmer, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island office, said that fact gives environmentalists hope that the CRMC will vote the same way and once again reject the expansion. Elmer’s organization is one of the groups that brought the court appeal.
A CRMC spokeswoman said Friday’s 1 p.m. hearing at Narragansett Town Hall is expected to be followed by at least one additional hearing in July.
Additional information is available at champlinsresort.com.
