Supreme Court Blocks Champlin’s Marina Agreement — 18 Year Battle Continues

Supreme Court Blocks Champlin’s Marina Agreement — 18 Year Battle Continues

On Friday, the Rhode Island Supreme Court knocked down the mediated agreement between Champlin's Realty Associates [owners of the marina] and the Coastal Resources Management Council.

The battle over the expansion of the marina has been raging for more than 18 years and has entangled charges and counter-charges.

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha who intervened in the mediation issued a statement stating, “I am pleased with the Court’s decision to refuse to ratify and enter as an order of the Court an agreement resulting from a private mediation outside the view and without the participation of concerned stakeholders who had long been parties to the underlying litigation. My Office intervened because the process utilized here by the CRMC and Champlain’s was non-transparent, excluded these important additional stakeholders, and resulted in an agreement that failed to contain the environmental findings necessary to protect one of Rhode Island’s great natural resources – Block Island’s Great Salt Pond. 

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“I am grateful that the Supreme Court agreed with our position, and that this matter will now proceed as it always should have – with the Court’s review of the Superior Court’s well-reasoned decision denying Champlain’s marina expansion.”

Earlier this week GoLocal reported that the battle over Champlin’s has also engulfed lawyers, staff members and the board of CRMC with charges of violations of legal standards and conflict of interest.