PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on Tuesday voted to direct its legal counsel to pursue enforcement actions against a North Kingstown country club that has been ordered to tear down an unauthorized 600-foot seawall.
The action comes two years after the Quidnessett Country Club built the seawall to protect the 14th hole of its golf course.
The unanimous vote followed a one-hour hearing in which a lawyer and an engineer argued that the country club was trying to protect the signature hole of its golf course and should be allowed to replace the illegal seawall with TrapBag barriers, which have been described as “an advanced sandbag system.”
But CRMC staff contended that TrapBags are made of non-biodegradable plastics and do not meet the definition of the non-structural shoreline protection required in this area.
“They are going to look like a wall and act like a wall and cause erosion in front of that wall,” CRMC supervising engineer Rich Lucia said.
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CRMC coastal geologist Emily Hall recounted unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement with the country club, saying, “Staff can only conclude that not only did the (Quidnessett Country Club) deliberately, willfully, and knowingly violate CRMC regulations by installing an unauthorized revetment of dump stone over 600 feet in length along a type one shoreline, but that they also do not intend to comply with the council’s order to restore.”
CRMC chairman Raymond C. Coia asked if the country club would be able to continue to talk to staff about an acceptable restoration plan even if the council voted to pursue enforcement actions.
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CRMC attorney Antony DeSisto told Coia, ” Even as enforcement proceedings go forward, discussions can still take place, but enforcement proceedings go forward.”
After the meeting, Janice Mathews, vice president of The Jan Companies, which owns the Quidnessett Country Club, noted that the council had approved a previous plan for that coastal area in 2013.
“We were here in 2013, they directed us what to do, they hired our engineer to oversee it, and now they’re telling us it’s incorrect,” she said. “I don’t what else to say.”
The seawall dispute has become a flashpoint for environmental groups, which say the case underscores the need to replace the politically appointed council with a state agency run by professionals who have relevant experience.
Over the past two years, the country club and the CRMC have tried several avenues to come to an agreement. CRMC staff had previously rejected seven proposed restoration plans.
The club tried and failed to change the water classification in that area of Narragansett Bay. The council has granted extensions for the country club to submit acceptable plans for tearing down the wall and restoring coastline. And the club has filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court, challenging the order to remove the seawall and calling for the matter to be referred to an administrative hearing officer.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Save the Bay staff attorney Catherine Robinson Hall said it has taken the council far too long to enforce its regulations and to force the country club to tear down the seawall.
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“Two years is ridiculously long,” Hall said. “Every minute that a violation sits in the environment, every single minute that’s happening, there’s harm to the environment.”
She said the seawall is limiting public access to the shoreline and harming nearby wetlands.
“Every single minute there’s a pile of rocks blocking public access, there’s harm to the environment and to the public resource,” Hall said. “Every minute there’s a pile of rocks on a shore front that’s placed there illegally, there’s harm to the wetlands, to the north, to the south.
And, she said, “Every minute that there’s a violation that sits and is subject to the kind of delay tactics that have been utilized in this particular case, there’s a real lack of assurance to the Rhode Island public that the agency has their backs, and the council has perpetuated the delay.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.