NORTH KINGSTOWN – A Coastal Resources Management Council subcommittee rejected arguments laid out by the QuidnessettCountry Club on Tuesday night, and voted to recommend denying the club’s controversial petition to change the classification of the waters along its shoreline.
“We’re pleasantly surprised that they did the right thing,” Jed Thorp, director of advocacy for Save The Bay, said after the meeting.
Country club seeking to change rules after building illegal seawall
Tuesday’s vote is the latest development in a saga that began when Quidnessett illegally built a massive seawall to shore up the golf course’s 14th hole. The country club didn’t seek permission from the CRMC to build the wall, and likely wouldn’t have received it, since seawalls are not allowed in natural, undisturbed Type 1 waters.
Earlier this year, the country club petitioned to change the area’s water type classification so that it could belatedly seek permission for the already-built wall. In September, the CRMC’s professional staff recommended denying that petition.
However, members of the politically-appointed Council who serve on the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee instead voted to hold another meeting where the club could bring in experts to present their case. That meeting was then repeatedly postponed, leading to mounting frustration.