PROVIDENCE, R.I. – December 11, 2025 – It has been 836 days since the staff of the Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMC) issued a cease and desist order to Quidnessett Country Club, to remove the illegally-erected wall and restore the shoreline. Meanwhile, damage to the shoreline and shoreline habitats continues, and the public’s ability to access that same stretch of shoreline has been severely compromised.
Save The Bay has written a letter to the politically-appointed governing Council of the CRMC, urging the Council to stop delaying enforcement against Quidnessett Country Club and to require immediate restoration of the site. This letter follows two votes taken by the Council. On September 23, 2025, the Council voted unanimously to direct CRMC’s Legal Counsel to “pursue all appropriate enforcement actions” to enforce the Order to Restore that was unanimously agreed to by the Council on June 10, 2025. To date, no further action has been taken to enforce the order to restore and remedy the harm caused to the shoreline.
“Responsibility for this now 836-day delay rests squarely with the Council,” said Topher Hamblett, Executive Director of Save The Bay. “The perpetuation of Quidnessett’s unresolved violation on our Bay shoreline not only disincentivizes environmental compliance but also gives the appearance of unequal application of the law. The Rhode Island public cannot help but wonder on whose behalf the Council is working. Is it the people of Rhode Island who expect their coastal agency to protect Narragansett Bay and abide by its own rules and regulations? Or is it well-connected actors who brazenly violate coastal protection laws, knowing that the Council will assist them?”
The Council must end its delay tactics and take immediate action to require Quidnessett Country Club to swiftly restore the shoreline, thereby allowing the public to regain access to its tidelands and repairing the Bay habitat harmed by its blatant violation.
About Save The BayFounded in 1970, the Rhode Island-based nonprofit Save The Bay seeks to protect and improve Narragansett Bay and its 1,705-square-mile watershed. The organization works to achieve its vision of a fully swimmable, fishable Narragansett Bay, accessible to all, through its advocacy, education, and habitat restoration and adaptation work. Learn more about Save The Bay at www.savebay.org.