— Delivered Via Electronic Mail —
December 10, 2025
Coastal Resources Management Council
Attn: Raymond Coia, Chairman
Stedman Government Center, Suite 3
4808 Tower Hill Road
Wakefield, RI 02879-1900
Dear Chairman Coia,
I write to express Save The Bay’s serious concern at the lack of enforcement action against Quidnessett Country Club for its unpermitted, illegal rock wall. This structure has been allowed to stand for 835 days since CRMC staff issued a cease-and-desist order on August 28, 2023. During that period, damage to the shoreline and shoreline habitats has continued without restoration. The public’s ability to access that same stretch of shoreline remains severely compromised.
On June 10, 2025, the Council voted unanimously to uphold the CRMC staff recommendation to require Quidnessett Country Club to remove their illegal wall and restore the shoreline. On September 23, 2025, the Council voted unanimously to direct CRMC’s Legal Counsel to “pursue all appropriate enforcement actions” to enforce the June 10th Order to Restore. Save The Bay’s review of publicly available documents indicates that, in the eleven weeks since the September 23rd Council vote no action has been taken.
Responsibility for this now 835-day delay rests squarely with the Council. It is the Council that delayed enforcement while it entertained Quidnessett Country Club’s application to downgrade protections of adjacent waters – a back-door attempt to allow the wall to stand and destruction of the Bay shoreline and public access to remain permanent. It is the Council that put aside the staff’s enforcement order and delayed restoration of the 600 feet of damaged Narragansett Bay shoreline to give the country club yet another opportunity to avoid responsibility for its egregious ongoing violation. The perpetuation of Quidnessett Country Club’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 game and require Quidnessett Country Club to immediately restore the shoreline to allow the public to regain access to its tidelands and repair the Bay habitat harmed by its blatant violation.
Sincerely,
Topher Hamblett
Executive Director
Cc: The Hon. Daniel J. McKee, Governor
The Hon. Peter F. Neronha, Attorney General
The Hon. Valerie J. Lawson, President of the Senate
The Hon. K. Joseph Shekarchi, Speaker of the House
Mr. Jeffrey Willis, Executive Director, CRMC