Neighbors warn council against marina project

Jamestown Boat Yard calls concerns ‘misleading, twisted’


The Jamestown Boat Yard wants to increase its docks by 145 feet to improve efficiency and safety for its workers, according to owner Steve DeVoe. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

The Jamestown Boat Yard wants to increase its docks by 145 feet to improve efficiency and safety for its workers, according to owner Steve DeVoe. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

The town councilors are expected to decide Tuesday whether to get involved with a protest against the Jamestown Boat Yard’s plan to dredge more than 1,000 cubic yards of sediment.

“It would be appropriate for us to do a little more research,” said Mary Meagher, vice president of the council.

Concerns about the proposal were raised by The Dumplings Association, a neighborhood group that represents 125 property owners in the area, during the Jan. 6 council meeting. The council heeded those concerns by directing town staff to conduct a fact-finding study.

The project, according to an application filed in September, would expand the floating portion of the marina by extending the dockage by 145 feet. The reason, according to attorney Christian Infantolino, is to create a fairway channel and turning basin to improve navigation within the perimeter. This would allow boats, while undergoing maintenance, to remain on working slips through a tide cycle rather than being transferred back and forth to their moorings. The project would “reduce marine traffic and create a safer environment than exists today,” Infantolino said.

The application is a scaled-back version of a plan that was introduced by the boatyard in June. The boatyard amended that proposal, which would have expanded the marina perimeter, because of the lengthy permitting process.

“I’d like to see this project happen while I’m still alive,” owner Steve DeVoe said.

The neighborhood association, however, said the amended application still threatens the unique waterfront off Dumpling Drive. Mary Marshall, a Fort Wetherill Road resident, represented the objectors.

“This would dramatically change the kind of yard that we’ve had,” she said.

According to Marshall, an expansion would create a safety hazard for swimmers and kayakers who use the harbor recreationally. She said the association believes the marina is dredging so it can accommodate boats in the 60-foot range with deep drafts. This congestion would make it “almost impossible” for boat captains to see people in the water.

“It goes beyond what anybody can prudently consider a safe situation,” Marshall said.

Secondly, the association has environmental concerns related to eelgrass and dredging. According to Marshall, dredging can release toxins submerged in the sediment of the seafioor, which contains chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. If these heavy metals are released into the water column, Marshall said, there would be no way to tell where the toxins could resettle.

“Little kids play on those beaches,” she said. “Children dig in sand and put things in their mouths that they shouldn’t.”

As for eelgrass, which has been declining dramatically in Narragansett Bay according to the Rhode Island Sea Grant, the plant will not be directly harmed by the dredging. Objectors, however, are concerned about the “unintended consequences.”

“You don’t know what the impact will be by dredging next to these eelgrass beds,” said Anne Kuhn-Hines, chairwoman of the conservation commission. “Let’s err on the side of caution.”

The third concern of the association is the over commercialization of the Dumplings. According to Marshall, Safe Harbor Marinas, the largest owner and operator of boatyards in the world, is interested in buying the property. She said the transient clientele of that company will turn a “local boatyard into a corporate enterprise.” Safe Harbor owns eight marinas in Rhode Island.

“This whole proposed expansion is closely related to their desire to sell the yard,” Marshall said.

Following Marshall’s 40-minute presentation, Infantolino said the association was making “twisted and misleading” statements. First, he said the project was presented three months before Safe Harbor approached the boatyard about buying the property. The expansion is “for the sole purpose of operational efficiency and safety,” and there has been no talk about increasing the transient mooring field. Of the boatyard’s 77 moorings, he said, 85 percent already are reserved by seasonal boaters.

Replying to the environmental concerns, Infantolino said the Coastal Resources Management Council, which has jurisdiction regarding the application, has the ability to determine if the project threatens the ecosystem.

“Leave that up to the scientists,” he said.

DeVoe then listed his company’s environmentally friendly measures, including the complete installation of conservation moorings to preserve eelgrass. The boatyard also has voluntarily eliminated all plastic products.

“When we have a party, everybody drinks out of a glass and washes their own plate,” he said.

Finally, DeVoe cautioned the council about viewing Safe Harbor as “the big, bad guy.” He said the company has a history of being loyal to the workers it acquires.

“They want the place to prosper just as much as we do,” he said. “And unless they fire me, the place will be run the same way it has been for the past 25 years.”