It’s happening more and more these days in Rhode Island. Someone buys an old saltbox by the ocean, levels it, and builds a big beach house in its place. It’s a boon for the state’s economy. Realtors make commissions, contractors stay busy, and tourism prospers.
This coastal development boom, however, may be coming at the expense of the coastal environment.
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“Obviously, as the houses grow larger, the impervious area on the lot increases. Impervious area creates more runoff (into the ocean),” said Grover J. Fugate, executive director of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council.
Fugate, whose agency has authority over development within 200 feet of the coast, described some other drawbacks of the state’s coastal construction craze.
People spending millions of dollars to own a waterfront lot want to see as much of the sea as they can. They are clearing trees and other vegetation for their views, decreasing the natural buffers that have stood between the ocean and polluted runoff for years, and cutting back wildlife habitats.
Fugate estimated that eight of the last 10 fines that the CRMC has issued were for “buffer violations,” in which property owners altered the landscape in front of their coastal dwellings without required approval from the council.
During the last 20 years, according to the CRMC, its number of assents for coastal building projects has skyrocketed from about 200 to more than 700 per year.
Many of those wishing to rebuild an old beach cottage seek the CRMC’s approval to clear more of their property to make way for a larger yard, Fugate said. The council has weekly boat patrols to monitor coastal properties and issue fines for buffer infractions.
“A lot of (people) want double or triple the size of their structure,” Fugate added. To limit this, and thus the expansion of impervious surface along the coast, the CRMC eliminates buffer requirements for people if they agree not to enlarge the footprint of their home by more than 50 percent.
In other cases, people want to move their dwellings closer to the water. And sometimes they take umbrage with people walking in front of their expensive homes. However, state law provides the public with open access to the coastline, Fugate said. “People want to get as close to the water as they can, but there are a lot of reasons why they shouldn’t, and that’s the battle we face every day.”
Another issue facing the coastal environment, Fugate said, is more people are seeking building permits to build on smaller lots or those with high water tables and wetlands. What’s placing the CRMC in a “bind” is that modern septic systems are better able to treat sewage, and are passing muster with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management.
Though these septic systems meet standards for cleaning sewage before it leaches into the groundwater, Fugate explained, the CRMC still has regulations that prohibit construction on lots with high water tables.
Older septic systems and cesspools are major sources of nitrates that feed oxygen-depleting algae blooms in Narragansett Bay. Fugate noted that a recent study of the waters off the coast of Warwick and East Greenwich found that about 40 percent of nitrates in the water came from septic systems.
Especially during periods of heavy rainfall, cesspools and septic systems are unable to sufficiently treat waste before it flows into the groundwater, Fugate said. Nitrates are also found in fertilizers used to keep lawns green.
Fugate noted that coastal communities have taken some action to limit the release of nitrates into the bay. Warwick installed a system last year at its sewage treatment plant to filter nitrates from wastewater, and East Greenwich recently began to implement a similar system at its sewage facility.
Other coastal communities, especially those without public sewer systems such as Charlestown, have instituted mandatory septic system inspections and pumping. If systems fail to pass, homeowners are required to replace them.
Ultimately, state regulators want to ban the use of the older cesspools, Fugate said. The DEM has drafted legislation that would require homeowners to abandon their cesspools and install new septic systems. The bill has yet to gain enough support to pass in the General Assembly, however.
