J. Michael Keyworth said all 321 boating slips at Brewer Cove Haven Marina in Barrington are filled and have been for years. But when it comes to assessing the waiting list for a slip at the marina, where he serves as general manager, he’s hard-pressed for a number.
The reason? People, desperate for a boating slip wherever they can find one, put their names on waiting lists at marinas across the state.
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“It’s kind of like buying more than one lottery ticket,” Keyworth said. “You increase your chances of getting a slip.”
It’s an apt comparison, because tight supply has made the chance of getting a spot at a marina in Rhode Island akin to hitting the jackpot in recent years.
But even with the increased need, there is not a rush to add marinas or expand existing facilities in the state.
Currently, the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council has few applications before it for proposed marinas and marina expansions, some looking to increase by only a small number of slips. Most of the applications before the council currently are for maintenance dredging. However, several larger projects in the state are being discussed.
In Portsmouth, O’Neill Properties has proposed a 1,495-slip marina on Weaver Cove, a project that makes use of land formerly used by the U.S. Navy. On Block Island, residents have been immersed in a battle over the expansion of Champlin’s Marina, a move that Champlin’s said would increase the size of the facility by 240 feet and cover four more acres of water.
CRMC Chairman Michael Tikoian said there is a need for an increase in boat slips in the state, a sentiment supported by both the R.I. Economic Development Corporation and the R.I. Marine Trades Association.
Andy Dzykewicz, senior project manager at the EDC, said with an increase in boating comes an increase in economic impact.
“There is a tremendous multiplier in the number of people in that society,” Dzykewicz said.
Chris Ruhling, general manager of Brewer Yacht Yard at Cowesett in Warwick, said the industry has brought restaurants and jobs with it.
“It brings a lot of spin-off economy to the state as well,” Ruhling said.
As need increases, the issue of better defining regulations regarding marinas has been raised. In a letter to CRMC Executive Director Grover Fugate in December 2004, Tikoian said he would like the council to examine the issue of marina expansion, with a specific focus on how the council would consider requests.
In the letter, Tikoian said he would like to require that marinas have demonstrated that they are making the most efficient use of their existing space before they seek an expansion. Additionally, he said marina operators should address fire safety issues, quality of structure and fuel oil spill plans.
On the other side of the discussion, marina operators long have said the shortage of slips was made worse by their inability to dredge, shrinking the water’s depth and rendering many slips unusable.
But Keyworth, who had previously raised issues with the state’s dredging practices, said that situation has greatly improved.
The state has recently come up with many near-term solutions, he said, and has found increased cooperation between governmental agencies on the issue. And it is likely that in the near future a comprehensive plan for the state’s marinas will create a clearer path to capacity expansion.
Tikoian, in an interview last week, said he expects that proposed regulations for marina expansions – in the form of a Marine Resources Development Plan – should be issued within the next 30 days and they will touch on the key issues he identified.
The issue of developing a set of goals and procedures for marina expansions also was raised by state Rep. Eileen Naughton, D-Warwick, in a letter to the council regarding the development plan, a document outlining CRMC’s strategies.
Early versions of the document, she said, lacked a statewide policy on expansions. Presently, the council is reacting to proposals that come before it rather than having a vision of what they would like to see happen statewide, she said.
With the recent controversy over Champlin’s Marina in New Shoreham and previous issues surrounding the Greenwich Bay Marina expansion plan, Naughton said she hoped that the council would include the vision in the development plan.
In an interview last week, Naughton said she would like to see goals for expansion outlined explicitly in order to develop performance measures for marinas.
She said that anticipated marina expansions are a way to keep environmental concerns as part of the public debate.
“The best way for us to continue to protect our waterways is to have people on them,” Naughton said.
Protection of the water is Christopher D’Ovidio’s goal. As a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation, D’Ovidio has spoken out against the Champlin’s proposed expansion. The foundation opposes the expansion, he said, because of issues regarding aesthetics and the carrying capacity of Great Salt Pond, where the marina is located.
“There are certain places where marina expansions are not recommended,” D’Ovidio said. “Champlin’s is one of them.”
However, D’Ovidio said the foundation does not oppose all forms of marina expansion and instead promotes responsible expansions and developments.
He said the foundation supports projects similar to the one on Weaver Cove in Portsmouth, where the slips will fit in with other nearby uses and aesthetics.
