In accordance with notice of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s Planning & Procedures subcommittee, a meeting was held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 4:00 pm at the Administration Building, Conference Room A, located at One Capitol Hill, Providence RI.

MEMBERS PRESENT
Raymond Coia, Chair
Don Gomez
Chuck Horbert, RIDEM
Anthony DeSisto, Legal Counsel
Mark Hartmann, Legal Counsel

STAFF PRESENT
Jeff Willis, Executive Director
Laura Miguel, Deputy Director
Bruce Lofgren, Coastal Policy Analyst
Richard Lucia, Supervising Engineer

 

Call to Order. Chair Coia called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m.

Item 2 Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes:

September 24,2024 - Mr. Gomez seconded by Mr. Horbert moved to approve the minutes as presented. All voted Yes in favor of the motion (3-0).

Item 3. Old Business/Works in Progress

Staff had no old business or works in progress to discuss.

Item 4. Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Petition for Promulgation of Rules

A. Petitioner Presentation: 2024-04-071 Quidnessett Country Club Petition for Change to Map of Water Type Classification for North Kingstown (north)

Anthony DeSisto, CRMC Legal Council introduced the agenda item and asked the petitioner to keep their presentation limited to the proposed change in water type.

Attorney Robin Main, representing the Quidnesset Country Club, introduced the petition to the subcommittee. Ms. Main stated that she had 3 witnesses to present. The first witness was Joseph Klinger, who was sworn in and stated that he is a principal environmental scientist and vice president of Ecotones Inc.; Mr. Klinger described the Petition and the basis for the Petition.

The second witness was Timothy Gerrish who was sworn in and stated that he is a registered landscape architect, and golf course architect based in Providence. Mr. Gerrish testified regarding whether the Quidnessett Country Club’s golf course could be redesigned to retreat from coastal erosion.

The third witness was Abraham Cohen who was sworn in and stated that he is the Vice President of Business Development at Marquis Health Consulting Services, which oversees the nursing facilities at Bayview at Scalabrini, a facility that abuts the Quidnessett Country Club to the North. Mr. Cohen testified that Bayview at Scalabrini supports the Petitioner’s Petition.

After Attorney Main presented her witnesses, CRMC Staff responded to the presentation. Specifically, CRMC Staff indicated that the witness testimony would not change the staff recommendation that the Petition be denied for the following reasons:

• The appropriateness of the current Type 1 WTC;
• Inconsistency with coastal planning mandated by the CRMC’s enabling legislation and state regulations contained in the Redbook1; and
• The potential negative impacts to public shoreline lateral access, coastal habitat, and marine resources

Mr. Gomez made a motion to recommend denial of the petition to the Council based on the staff report, previous meetings, and the petitioner’s presentation. The motion was seconded by Mr. Horbert. All voted Yes in favor of the motion (3-0).

Item 5. Other Business

There was no other business.

Item 6. New Business

There was no new business.

Item 7 Staff Reports

There were no staff reports.

ADJOURNMENT.

Chairman Coia, seconded by Mr. Gomez, moved to adjourn. All voted Yes in favor of the motion (3-0) and the meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by
Bruce Lofgren, Coastal Policy Analyst

 

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