Opponents of the Sapowet Cove oyster farm have asked state regulators to deny the project application, citing a new state law that limits development in the area. (Jocelyn Jackson/Rhode Island Current)
Even state lawmakers who sponsored the 2024 legislation limiting development along the Sakonnet River are not confident that the now-law prohibits a proposed oyster farm in the area.
The question now is for state regulators, who will consider and possibly decide whether the law applies to the pending project application. Monday.
It is expected to be as controversial and confusing as the past four and a half years of hearings, letters and organized protests over the Sapowet Cove oyster farm.
The one-acre lease application submitted by John and Patrick Bowen in 2020 would, if approved, be one of the smallest commercial oyster farms in the state. Yet it has a mountain drawn There is opposition from waterfront residents, fishermen and even the state aquaculture association, who feel that the wading cages are an obstacle to fishing, boating and recreation along the coastline.
The final twist came in a Joint motion of July 25 by a group of waterfront property owners, who asked state regulators to end the public review and reject the proposal. The memo specifically mentions the law that was passed on the last day of the legislative session which means that part of the Sakonnet River – including the site where the oyster cages would be built – cannot be used for anything other than “passive outdoor recreation.”
Rep. Jay Edwards, the Tiverton Democrat who sponsored the House version of the bill, insisted during legislative hearings that the policy was not about the oyster farm. Instead, Edwards and Sen. Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, emphasized the need to preserve the sensitive waters immediately adjacent to the federally recognized Sapowet Swamp Management Area.
The bill overwhelmingly accepted in both chambers, and became law on June 29, without Gov. Dan McKee’s signature. This despite objections from the Bowens and from Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council Executive Director Jeffrey Willis, WHO warned lawmakers that the policy would “undermine” the oversight body’s authority and cloud its judgment.
Willis reiterated this sentiment in an interview on Friday.
“The agency still believes that we should move forward with this [review]”, he said.
Waterfront homeowners, through their attorneys, do not share Willis’ concerns.
“This language could not be clearer,” the July 25 motion reads. “A commercial aquaculture lease in Sapowet Cove would be in direct violation of the statutory prohibition against commercial development. The CRMC is now legally prohibited from granting approval for a commercial aquaculture lease in Sapowet Cove.”
DiPalma also said in an interview Friday that he “assumed” the bill would block the oyster farm, though he had not consulted the Assembly’s legal staff.
Protecting the ‘freedom to fish’
John and Patrick Bowen claimed the exact opposite. In a response dated August 5they wrote that regulators must review their application based on the policy in effect at the time of the 2020 application. The response also alleges that the new law violates the state’s constitutional protections for the right to fish and incorporates provisions under the Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663.
“Under the banner of ‘Freedom to Fish on the New England Coast,’ the Rhode Island Royal The Charter states: ‘that these gifts shall in no way constitute an obstacle to our loving to prohibit any subject whatsoever from engaging in or carrying on fishing upon the coast of New England, in America,” the complaint said.
Opponents of the motion requested the council, through the hearing officer, to terminate the assessment and deny the application, on condition that applicants not submit a new application.
However, according to Patrick Bowen, their underlying motivation is to continue to prolong the debate, in the hopes of appeasing him and his brother.
“The reason this has taken so long is that objectors have hired lawyers to delay this,” Bowen said in an interview Friday. “If they want to hire lawyers, let them spend their money. We are not going away.”
Bowen also accused the objectors of reaching into their pockets to influence lawmakers. Campaign finance records show that one of the leading objectors, Kenny and Elizabeth Mendez, each donated $150 to DiPalma in May. Another objector, Donald Libbey, donated $250 to DiPalma that same month.
DiPalma denied Bowen’s allegations.
“I don’t do something because someone gave me a dollar, $1,000 or 50 cents,” he said. “This bill tried to codify federal grants that were received decades ago that were intended to protect this area.”
DiPalma, on the other hand, criticized state coastal regulators for allowing a proposal to build an oyster farm in such an environmentally sensitive area, forcing lawmakers to enact new policies.
“The CRMC is not listening,” he said. “We felt that legislation was the only thing that would help them understand what needs to be done.”
Willis declined to comment on DiPalma’s statement.
Libbey and Marisa Desautel, the attorney representing the Mendezes, also did not respond to requests for comment. Attorney Dean Wagner, who represents a group of other area property owners included in the joint motion, said he could not comment without his clients’ permission.
A September 16 update on the opposition-run Save Sapowet for All website provides some additional commentary on the “common sense” argument for rejecting the application.
“A continuation of the administrative process conducted by the CRMC is a waste of the state’s administrative and legal resources, in addition to the legal costs incurred by private citizens to enforce a new state law,” the post, which does not list an author, states: “Our community has been waiting for over four years for this application to be denied by the CRMC due to the significant conflict the proposed location would create with the recreational use of those waters, among many other issues.”
The CRMC meets at 4:00 p.m. on Mondays in the William E. Powers Building in Providence. The meeting is also streamed via Zoom.
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