Planning and Procedures Subcommittee

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, January 18, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. at the offices of Piccerelli Gilstein & Co, 144 Westminster, Providence, RI.

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT
Michael Tikoian, Chairman
Dave Abedon
Paul E. Lemont

STAFF PRESENT
Grover Fugate, CRMC Executive Director
Jeff Willis, Deputy Director
Brian Goldman, Legal Counsel
Megan Higgins, Coastal Policy Analyst

Call to Order.  Mr. Tikoian called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

Mr. Tikoian 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 members of the subcommittee themselves, and to all else at the allowance of the Chairman.  Mr. Tikoian 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. Tikoian asked for a motion to approve the subcommittee’s meeting minutes of October 19, 2004.

Mr. Lemont, seconded by Mr. Abedon, moved to approve the October 19, 2004 meeting minutes.   All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 4.A.  Section 5.7: Management Procedures/Continuances.  Mr. Tikoian and G. Fugate discussed how the Council regularly and consistently receives last minute requests for continuances of applications scheduled to be heard by the Council, even after all mailing, phone calls and other notices have been issued.  Mr. Tikoian and G. Fugate explained how taxing this is to staff not only from a time and effort position, but also as a cost issue, as each continuance requires additional notifications, mailings and often last-minute phone calls to ensure that all parties are contacted.  The subcommittee discussed various options to address the situation and ultimately directed Legal Counsel to develop revisions for future subcommittee consideration that address a cut-off time that requests can be made up to; a maximum number of continuances; setting a fee for such requests; and, allowing the application to be cancelled without prejudice if necessary.

Item 4.B.  Section 300.4: Redbook/Residential Docks.  J. Willis explained that the Council may wish to allow the dock subcommittee to hear variance requests to the dock standard that addresses a minimum water depth at the seaward end of residential dock, currently only able to be heard by the full Council.  This is being suggested due to the nature of the requests in that the impact from such allowances has been minimized through staff input on the dock location and/or design and that the subcommittee has become familiar with these types of requests.

Mr. Lemont, seconded by Mr. Abedon, moved to approve the revision as written.   All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 4.C.  Section 300.4: Redbook/Marina Permit Requirements.  G. Fugate explained a concern that marina ownership could be divided into in-water uses and upland uses, and thus the marina owner could “sell-off” the upland separate from the marina, thereby negating programmatic requirements, which may not be explicitly clear in the regulations.  The subcommittee discussed and ultimately found that the authorities of the Council as embodied in its programs, rules and regulations, and permit documents, adequately addresses this concern.

Item 5.A.  Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program.  G. Fugate explained how the Council developed the program; what the federal requirements were in such development; how the state can qualify for future federal funding when such becomes available; and how the program will be implemented by the Council.

Mr. Lemont, seconded by Mr. Abedon, moved to approve program and begin rule-making.   All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 5.B.  Capital Center Commission MOA.  G. Fugate explained how the CCC approached the Council seeking an MOA on the processes involved for both agencies to address development projects within the CCC (similar to the Land Development Act process) and presented the MOA.  The subcommittee discussed.  B. Goldman offered new language at page 2, paragraph #4 that clarifies that the Council “…will then ‘subject to its rules and regulations’ issue its assent…”

Mr. Lemont, seconded by Mr. Tikoian, moved to approve the MOA with the changes suggested by Legal Counsel.   All voted in favor of the motion.

Item 5.C.  Coastal Habitat Restoration Trust.  M. Higgins gave a brief presentation on the Trust Fund application process and the Habitat Teams’ recommendation to the Council for the funding of projects.  The subcommittee discussed the projects and asked M. Higgins for additional information from all of the projects, such as could be found in the detailed applications of each proposed project, so that the subcommittee could further consider the recommendations as well as the other projects that were submitted.

Item 8.  SAMP Updates.  G. Fugate gave a brief status report of each SAMP initiative.  J. Willis explained how a ListServe was created for the Metro Bay SAMP.

ADJOURN.  Mr. Abedon, seconded by Mr. Lemont, moved to adjourn.  All voted in favor of the motion, and the subcommittee adjourned at 6:01 p.m.

Respectfully submitted February 15, 2005 by

Jeffrey M. Willis

Deputy Director

 

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