AG urges R.I. Supreme Court to reject Block Island marina expansion approval pbn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pbn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The council did not respond when asked to comment on Fugate s statement.
In her February 2020 decision, Rodgers ruled that the council acted appropriately and rationally in rejecting the marina’s expansion in Great Salt Pond in 2011, and again in 2013 when it was forced to revisit the proposal amid allegations that it had treated Champlin’s unfairly.
“Champlin’s rights have not been prejudiced by any constitutional violations, error of law, or arbitrary or capricious conduct on the part of CRMC,” Rodgers wrote.
At the time, opponents of the hotly disputed project celebrated the decision as the end to a saga that by then had dragged on for 17 years and involved questions about navigational safety, use of public trust waters for private enterprise and environmental harm from expanded development.
PROVIDENCE - Senate leaders have canceled a confirmation vote for three of Governor Gina Raimondo s re-appointees to the Coastal Resources Management Council, mid-controversy - and mid-investigation - of a behind-the-scenes Block Island marina-expansion deal.
In his email to colleagues explaining why he was pulling the three names from Wednesday s Senate calendar, Ruggerio wrote: The Attorney General raised concerns regarding a closed-door mediation between the CRMC and Champlin s that would allow for a marina expansion. He asserted that the settlement agreement recently presented to the Court for approval was formed outside of the public regulatory process and does not account for the factual findings that formed the basis for the CRMC s 2011 decision denying Champlin s application to expand.
NEW SHOREHAM Opponents of a controversial marina expansion are furious about what they call a “secret backroom deal” that froze them out of an agreement to settle a 17-year-old case.
They point the finger at the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council and retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, who helped broker the agreement.
“This is a lawless attempt to fix litigation. There’s no other way to describe it,” said R. Daniel Prentiss, the attorney representing the town of New Shoreham and three environmental groups on Block Island. The opponents have raised more than half a million dollars since 2003 to fight the proposal by Champlin’s Marina on Great Salt Pond.