UPDATE: RI Supreme Court denies Champlin’s Marina expansion deal with CRMC!
In a March 26, 2021 ruling, the Rhode Island Supreme Court denied Champlin’s Marina’s expansion deal with the CRMC.
This ruling means the Memorandum of Understanding reached by CRMC and Champlin’s in December, which went behind the backs of the case’s intervenors (the Block Island Conservancy, the Town of New Shoreham, the Block Island Land Trust, and the Committee for the Great Salt Pond) to approve a 156-foot dock expansion into the Great Salt Pond, will not be allowed.
Thank you to all of our friends and members for your passionate support of our position. A Champlin’s appeal of a February 2020 RI Superior Court decision still rests with the RI Supreme Court and we will keep you informed of progress on this case.
BIC’s Opposition to the Champlin’s Marina Expansion
The Coastal Resource Management Council, the state regulatory agency that controls waterfront permitting, unanimously denied Champlin’s proposed expansion in 2011 and 2013. In 2020, the Rhode Island Superior Court denied Champlin’s appeal. Currently, Champlin’s subsequent appeal sits with the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Despite all this, in late December 2020, the CRMC entered into closed-session mediation with Champlin’s Marina and granted them a significant dock expansion. Only the Town of New Shoreham had been invited to participate in this mediation session and declined because CRMC had no jurisdiction over the case as it still remains with the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The Town Council was assured by CRMC’s counsel that no mediation would take place if they did not opt to participate. None of the other groups (the Committee for the Great Salt Pond, the Block Island Land Trust, and the Block Island Conservancy) was ever notified of the mediation.
On February 16, 2021, the Town of New Shoreham, Committee for the Great Salt Pond, Block Island Land Trust, and Block Island Conservancy filed an objection with the Rhode Island Supreme Court to the agreement reached by Champlin’s and CRMC. You can read a press release detailing the filing under “Recent News”.