Written by BARNES, JENNETTE
Thu, Oct 25 01
By JENNETTE BARNES
Neighbors will have
a chance to air their concerns about a plan to add 169 slips to Greenwich Bay
Marina on Monday night when the plan comes before a subcommittee of the Coastal
Resources Management Council.
The 16-member CRMC
decided with the minimum four votes to have a subcommittee analyze the proposal
when about 50 objectors attended its Sept. 25 meeting. State Rep. Eileen Naughton (D-Dist. 32), a CRMC member, asked that the
subcommittee be established.
In preparation for
the hearing, residents near the
Coalition chair
Jack Early, a member of the Cedar Tree Point Association, said the group
objects to the size of the expansion, calling it "excessive for the
area." He said Greenwich Bay Marina owner Lee Raymond already has a
"dominant market share position" based on the number of slips he owns
on
"It’s an issue
of public use being converted to private benefit. That land under the water is
for everyone, and now it’s being converted for private use," Early said.
With the expansion
to 481 slips, Greenwich Bay Marina will become the largest marina in the state.
Some of the old slips will be removed and 203 new ones added, for a net gain of
169.
Another marina
Raymond owns, Greenwich Bay North on Warwick Cove, is currently the largest
with 414 slips, according to the Providence Business News 2001 Book of Lists.
Greenwich Bay Marina is ranked fourth.
The size of the
marina, some neighbors say, will negatively affect their quality of life.
"The marina
has a public nuisance quality to it," Early said. "It affects us as
homeowners because it’s moving closer to our property. More people will be
coming down for entertainment and running their engines and creating light
pollution at night."
He said the new
coalition has retained two attorneys, S. Paul Ryan and Michael McEntee. Neither returned calls seeking comment yesterday.
The group’s plan of
action is focused on Monday’s meeting. They have passed out flyers, brought it
up at association meetings, and tried to spread the news by word-of-mouth.
Although Early said
the group would explicitly discuss the marina’s effect on their property
values, neighbors have said their bay views are threatened. Other complaints
include environmental factors, like the risk of increased oil pollution and the
shading of fish hatching beds.
The expansion will
cover just over half an acre of water, all of which is classified as Essential
Fish Habitat by the Army Corps of Engineers. But Corps of Engineers
spokesperson Michael Elliot said that the expansion plan in its current form
poses less of a problem than the original plan, which would have extended the
perimeter north toward environmentally sensitive salt marshes and Mary’s Creek,
a shallow area that would have needed dredging to accommodate large boats. The
revised plan calls for expansion over deeper waters to the east.
According to the
Corps of Engineers, Raymond will pay for four transplantations of shellfish
from the expansion area to other spots in the bay. The first will cost
$15,000-$20,000, followed by three smaller batches at $5,000 each.
Yesterday, Mayor
Scott Avedisian said that as a result of hearings
before the city’s Harbor Management Council, Raymond has already cut his
proposed slip increase by 50 percent.
"Traditionally,
CRMC will look for concessions, so they may ask him to cut the number of slips
as well," Avedisian said.
On the issue of
public use of bay waters, the mayor said only CRMC has the authority to decide
how to balance public gain and private enterprise in state waters.
Raymond argues that
by eliminating wave fences and placing culverts in the breakwater to allow more
water to flow through the area, the renovations will actually improve water
quality. He also contends that the number of slips in
CRMC Director
Grover Fugate said yesterday that after Monday’s hearing, the subcommittee
would probably schedule a workshop to evaluate the evidence before it makes a
recommendation to the full board.
Turner Scott will
chair the subcommittee, and Dave Abedon and Pamela
Pogue will serve as members. CRMC member Peter Troy, rather than CRMC board
chair Michael Tikoian, appointed the subcommittee. Tikoian has recused himself from the Greenwich Bay Marina application
because he does tax returns for Raymond’s lawyer.
The hearing is
scheduled for Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at City Hall."