Projo — 'Relic of the bad old days': Why the AG has joined the push to reform RI's coastal council

At left, this aerial view of Great Salt Pond on Block Island from 2008 shows the trident-shaped piers of Champlin's Marina. Already the largest of the pond’s 3 marinas, Champlin's proposed expanding into 4 acres of public trust waters, a proposal met by fierce resistance on the island. In 2022, the state Supreme Court disallowed any expansion after disclosure of a secret side deal between the developer and the CRMC to clear a scaled–down version of the plan. John Frieda/the Providence Journal, file

April 5, 2024

By Alex Kuffner — PROVIDENCE – Two years ago, when the Rhode Island Supreme Court killed a contentious marina expansion on Block Island, the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha played a key role when it came out against a private side agreement between the developer and the Coastal Resources Management Council that would have allowed a scaled-down version of the project to go forward. 

The Champlin’s Marina deal, which excluded input from opponents of a proposal that had been stalled in the regulatory process for nearly two decades, was just the highest profile of the controversies that have swirled around the coastal council in recent years.  

Now, Neronha’s office is working with lawmakers and environmental advocates to try to ensure that more questionable decisions aren’t made by the powerful state agency whose responsibilities range from offshore wind power permitting to climate change planning. 

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