Planning and Procedures Subcommittee

Coastal Resources Management Council
40 Fountain Street 2nd Floor
Providence, RI
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
5:00 p.m.

MINUTES

In accordance with notice to members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council's Planning and Procedures subcommittee, a meeting of the subcommittee was held on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 at 5:00 p.m. at the Coastal Resources Management Council, 40 Fountain Street, Providence, RI.

MEMBERS PRESENT
Paul E. Lemont
Michael M. Tikoian, CRMC Chairman

STAFF PRESENT
Grover Fugate, CRMC Executive Director
Brian Goldman, Legal Counsel
Jeff Willis, Deputy Director

Call to Order. Mr. Lemont called the meeting to order at 5:12 p.m.

Mr. Lemont opened the meeting with a brief statement of the subcommittee's function and purpose. The Planning and Procedures subcommittee meeting is an open public meeting; it is not a public hearing. Therefore, discussion is available to the Council members themselves, and to all else at the allowance of the Chairman. Mr. Lemont further explained that the subcommittee is the program and policy development arm of the Council, and that any programmatic decisions made by this group must ultimately be approved by the full Council in accordance with all proper procedures.

Mr. Lemont asked for a motion to approve the subcommittee's meeting minutes of November 19, 2002.

Mr. Tikoian, seconded by Mr. Lemont, moved to approve the January 21, 2003 meeting minutes. All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 4.A. Section 5.12: Mgmt Procedures/Permit Extension. B. Goldman explained that the proposed changes makes clear that this section applies to the date associated with the request for an extension, not the date associated with the assent issuance, which could be interpreted by the original language of this section. Mr. Tikoian asked how municipalities and RIDEM handle similar requests. B. Goldman explained that both zoning and RIDEM decisions simply end after a window of three years from original issuance. Mr. Tikoian offered that instead of possibly allowing three one-year extensions, that the subcommittee should consider one three-year extension. Mr. Tikoian also brought up the issue that extensions should apply only to public/infrastructure projects. After discussion, the subcommittee directed staff and legal counsel to develop a definition of public infrastructure, and made changes to the proposed language as shown on the Master Agenda.

Mr. Tikoian, seconded by Mr. Lemont, moved to approve the revisions as revised by the subcommittee on the Master Agenda copy. All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 5.A. Federal Navigation Projects: Priorities for Dredging. G. Fugate and J. Willis explained that Rhode Island's federal delegation has asked for a list of prioritized federal navigation projects slated for dredging. The purpose for such a list is to help the delegation forward projects through the federal appropriation process. Staff is asking that the full Council approve such a list prior to sending it to the delegation. Mr. Tikoian asked if staff had developed a decision document for the list, and better, if a point system could be developed to help with prioritization. Staff has developed such a document and will revise it to incorporate a point system.

The subcommittee directed staff to develop such a prioritization system and bring it back to the subcommittee for consideration.

Item 5.B. Lateral Access at Residential Boating Facilities. This item was placed on the agenda at the request of member Neill Gray.

B. Goldman explained Mr. Gray's concerns that access along the shore may at times be compromised by residential boating facilities. Mr. Gray would like to see language that existed in previous versions of the RICRMP which explicitly stated how lateral access would be addressed by applicants for docks (eg: build dock high enough so that people can walk under it; or, build steps up from sides onto dock).

The subcommittee discussed and concluded that such issues should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Item 5.C. "Pre-existing" Residential Docks. J. Willis explained that staff has raised questions regarding the policy of docks that may have pre-dated the Council (1971) and which did not take advantage of the Council's pre-existing permit program (which allowed such structures to be reviewed and receive a permit under certain conditions if a permit had never been issued for the dock). B. Goldman discussed legal issues and advised staff and the subcommittee that unless an applicant can produce proof of a permit (predecessor agency) for the dock, then the Council must accept an application for an "as-built" structure and subsequent review would be measured against current regulations. If such a structure did have proof of a permit from a predecessor agency, then the Council could review the application as a maintenance activity under 300.14.

Item 6.A. Subdivision Jurisdiction. G. Fugate explained that the policies for subdivisions found in the Program may be interpreted such that certain activities that were always intended to be subject to programmatic policies may not be. Subdivision policies state that subdivisions of "...six units or more..." are subject to appropriate density requirements, however cooperatives and other land developments may not fall under the definition of a subdivision - thereby circumventing the density requirements Ð due to fact that the land on which such development is occurring is not being subdivided. Environmental impacts from such development could be substantial, particularly to groundwater. The Council's intent from the first iteration of this policy was to ensure that development projects that consisted of six units or more be subject to density controls to minimize the impacts to, among other issues, groundwater. The subcommittee discussed and made revisions to sections 920.1.A.2(c) and 920.1.B.2(c) of the Salt Ponds SAMP, and sections 920.1.A.2(c) and 920.1.B.2(c) of the Narrow River SAMP.

Mr. Tikoian, seconded by Mr. Lemont, moved to revise sections 920.1.A.2(c) and 920.1.B.2(c) of the Salt Ponds Region SAMP, and sections 920.1.A.2(c) and 920.1.B.2(c) of the Narrow River SAMP as discussed. All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 7. Staff Reports. G. Fugate and J. Willis made various presentations on the status of the following CRMC projects: Allin's Cove salt marsh restoration; South Coastal habitat restoration; Greenwich Bay SAMP; Providence River Dredging; and, the Coastal Habitat Restoration Portal (website).

ADJOURN. Mr. Tikoian, seconded by Mr. Lemont, moved to adjourn. All voted in favor of the motion, and the subcommittee adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted May 12, 2003 by

Jeffrey M. Willis
Deputy Director

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