Tear down this wall
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – October 10, 2024 – A Quidnessett Country Club spokesperson defended the club’s illegal construction of a 600-foot rock wall on the shores of Narragansett Bay as an effort to “protect our cherished Bay” in a story published Sept. 24 in Rhode Island Current.
Rhode Islanders, do not buy what Quidnessett Country Club is trying to sell you.
The fact is, the North Kingstown country club knowingly and flagrantly broke the law. Now, they are trying to change the rules by asking the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) to downgrade protections for Narragansett Bay to keep their illegal wall.
Council members are not required to have expertise in coastal matters, yet seem willing to accommodate the country club despite the recommendations of CRMC’s professional staff to deny their request. In a Sept. 20 memo to the politically appointed council, CRMC’s staff warned of the “potential negative impacts to shoreline lateral access, coastal habitat and marine resources” of such a decision.
CRMC’s professional staff has also taken enforcement actions, including fines and requiring that Quidnessett remove its 600-foot-long rock wall and restore the shoreline and coastal habitats wrecked by the wall. It has been over 400 days since they were issued an order to remove the wall.
Meanwhile, the federal Army Corps of Engineers has issued a notice of violation against the club for illegally filling the intertidal zone of Narragansett Bay.
The country club’s response has been obfuscation and delay. The council, seemingly not bothered by Quidnessett’s response nor moved by the CRMC staff’s recommended denial of its request to weaken protections of bay waters, is giving the country club another bite at the regulatory apple by scheduling a second hearing on Oct. 22 for the club to present its case to the council.
Why would a country club knowingly violate laws that protect Narragansett Bay? In all likelihood, it is because they think, or know, that the politically appointed council is very open to giving politically connected players a pass on the rules or willing to bend the rules so much that they break…Click here to read the full article.