Posted on November 20, 2024
WESTERLY — A nearly two-year process for the Watch Hill Yacht Club to get permission from the state Coastal Resources Management Council to dredge its marina in Watch Hill Cove could be over soon.
The CRMC unanimously approved the yacht club’s application to do so, following an Aug. 27 meeting in which several objectors spoke against the plan. The decision could be subject to a judicial review, if a complaint is filed in Providence Superior court by Nov. 29.
The dredging would involve removing about 765 cubic yards of sand in the marina area along the yacht club sea wall, according to the application. The work will affect about 12,200 square feet on the yacht club building’s west side and 4,200 square feet on the east side.
The yacht club is doing the work in order to make sure there is sufficient depth for its boats to dock at the club’s existing floating docks. The dredge depth will be about 3 feet, according to the plans.
The dredged sand will be hauled by dump truck through the parking lot and onto Bay Street and then to the adjacent Watch Hill Beach, where it will be spread out. The work is expected to take two to four weeks and will take place in the off-season. Similar dredging projects took place in 2007 and 1998.
The dredging plan has drawn criticism, not because of the proposed work to remove sand from the shallows around the club so that boats may dock there. Rather, concerns arose that submitted plans did not designate Fort Road, which passes by the club and the work area, as a right of way to Napatree Point. Others have concerns about tidal flooding in the work area.
“You’re going to have people walking through a flooded parking lot, and you’re going to prevent use of a right of way,” objector Matthew Ferraro told the council.
The CRMC staff addressed the concerns from objectors in the staff report, the decision says, “reaffirming that the Applicant’s proposed plan does not pose any significant or permanent negative impact to the fisheries and ecosystems. As well as stating that the Applicant has sufficient evidence proving ownership, and that the legality of the Fort Road right-of-way is outside the purview and jurisdiction of this application. It is of staff’s opinion that the project will not increase vessel traffic nor limit public access.”
The town doesn’t have any involvement in the permitting process other than being notified by CRMC of the consent permit to allow the dredging once it’s issued.
However the town is embroiled in a legal battle with the Watch Hill Fire District and Watch Hill Conservancy over the public’s right to access Napatree Point via Fort Road. The fire district and the conservancy sued the Town Council over attempts to declare Fort Road a right of way. That suit is still in court.
The Westerly Town Council adopted a resolution in October 2008 declaring Fort Road a public 20-foot-wide right-of-way to Napatree Point in perpetuity. That language does include a portion of the road that traverses a plat owned by the fire district.
It also notes that officials of the Watch Hill Fire District, which owns the majority of the land on Napatree Point and land where Fort Road intersects with Bay Street, have consistently said that the public has an unrestricted right to access Napatree Point via Fort Road.
“The fact is, the town of Westerly did designate Fort Road as a town right of way in October 2008,” objector Anthony Palazzolo Jr. told the CRMC. Palazzolo said the Watch Hill Fire District since that time “went to work obfuscating that right of way and in my opinion attempting to eliminate it.”
In addition to the application not including Fort Road, Palazzolo said he’s concerned about questions of legal liability for the CRMC by violating the property rights of the owners of the nearby Larkin Square Condominiums. The plans, he said, move pedestrian access around a work staging area and onto the condo property for safety.
“You’ve got 12 owners of these properties that may have a problem with you telling people that they’re allowed to physically invade their property,” he said.
The CRMC also has approved a request from the Watch Hill Fire District to re-install and level a split-rail fence on its property on Napatree Point in order to protect dunes and vegetation and keep pedestrians on existing paths. That request also drew opposition related to the Fort Road issue pending in court.
“I’m very concerned with what I see as a persistent attempt to erase Fort Road,” objector Ellen Kane told the council.
The approval has stipulations that would have the fire district remove the fencing and replace it with signage if the court rules Fort Road is a right of way, pending the conclusion of all court appeals.
