Supreme Court to hear Champlin case

THE R.I. SUPREME COURT is going to consider the Superior Court decision to allow Champlin's Marina to expand its marina in Block Island's Great Salt Pond. /
THE R.I. SUPREME COURT is going to consider the Superior Court decision to allow Champlin's Marina to expand its marina in Block Island's Great Salt Pond. /

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Supreme Court today announced that it has decided to weigh in on a Superior Court decision that would allow Champlin’s Marina to expand farther into Block Island’s Great Salt Pond.

In early May, the high court ordered that work at the site be stopped, pending a decision on whether it would hear appeals. Today’s announcement keeps that order in place. Briefs are set to be filed before July 20 and oral arguments are set for Sept. 29.

The 91-page Superior Court decision, written in February by Justice Netti C. Vogel, had reversed a R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council ruling. In doing so, it allowed Champlin’s to expand its 225-boat capacity by 140 boats. Prior to Vogel’s decision, CRMC had voted 5-5, effectively putting an end to Champlin’s already seven-year-old request. Vogel’s decision disqualified the votes of three CRMC members.

Last month, the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island office filed two appeals, one of which said the R.I. Superior Court should have sent the case back to the CRMC for a review.

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In announcing that it would hear appeals, the high court noted that Acting Chief Justin Maureen McKenna Goldberg, whose husband, Robert D. Goldberg, is a lobbyist who has represented the marina, didn’t participate in the decision.

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