The drawn-out saga of a North Kingstown country club’s quest to ease development restrictions along its shoreline ended abruptly Tuesday when Rhode Island coastal regulators denied the proposal.

The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s 6-0 vote came within minutes, without questions or discussion of Quidnessett Country Club’s request to reclassify the water off its shoreline. Even more importantly for coastal access advocates, the decision appears to block any avenue for the country club to keep a  600-foot-long seawall built without permission along its northeastern property line two years ago.

“It’s been 519 days, but who’s counting?” Jed Thorp, advocacy director for Save the Bay, said in a phone interview Tuesday, referring to when regulators first caught wind of the illegal rock wall overlooking Narragansett Bay. “We’ve been saying all along the request was inappropriate. Hopefully we can get on to enforcement as quickly as possible.”

The country club erected the barrier in January 2023, seeking to protect its flagship golf course from rising sea levels. It wasn’t until state and federal regulators spotted the seawall more than six months later, issuing warnings of fines and other enforcement, that the club sought retroactive permission.

Quidnessett’s April 2024 petition asked the CRMC to reclassify a 1,400-foot-long section of the waters along its shoreline from the existing Type 1 “conservation area” to a less stringent Type 2 “low intensity use.” Under the Type 1 designation, any permanent structures like a seawall are strictly prohibited. A change to a Type 2 designation could — but doesn’t have to — allow for permanent structures like a seawall.

The move drew sharp criticism from Save the Bay and other coastal advocates whose objections were met with equally impassioned support by country club owners, members, and employees. Country club owners through a team of hired attorneys and experts implored the CRMC to consider the redesignation as a correction to a 50-year-old mistake, arguing that the area should have been under less stringent development restrictions all along.

Unpersuaded by this line of reasoning, a subcommittee of the full council voted 3-0 in December to recommend denial of Quidnessett’s petition. The full council’s vote Tuesday affirmed the position of the subcommittee and the agency’s staff report.

The council denied a request from Robin Main, an attorney representing Quidnessett, to speak before the vote Tuesday based on advice from CRMC attorney Anthony DeSisto, who cited the four prior, public subcommittee meetings as ample opportunity.

Main said in an email Tuesday night that she could not comment on the council’s decision. Janice Matthews, vice president of The Jan Companies, which owns the country club, also did not return a call for comment Tuesday night.

While state and federal regulators have issued a series of escalating warnings and threats of fines against the club for the existing stone wall, the club has not yet been forced to tear down the structure.

Thorp hoped that with the application denied, the CRMC would double down on enforcement, including forcing the country club to finally remove the seawall.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha in a statement Tuesday night pointed to the ongoing saga as further evidence of the need to reform the politically appointed council.

“The fact that the Council even considered this request, a retroactive plea for relief from the consequences of their blatantly illegal action, tells you everything you need to know about the state of environmental oversight in Rhode Island,” Neronha said. 

His office submitted legislation to state lawmakers on Monday seeking to abolish the council and reshape the agency as an administrative department.

“Because while the Quidnessett decision ultimately came down in our favor, it’s only a matter of time before the next Quidnessett,” Neronha said. “We must embrace real and lasting reform before it’s too late. And the solution is a dedicated Department with no agenda beyond acting in the best interest of Rhode Islanders and the environment.”

Similar bills introduced in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions, including with Neronha’s backing, have failed to advance out of committee in either chamber.

Updated to include a response from Robin Main, attorney for Quidnessett Country Club.