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Tiverton council to send letter and prepare petition asking CRMC to dismiss Bowen lease
Summary
Following presentations by objectors, the council voted to send a formal letter to the Coastal Resources Management Council and pursue a formal Administrative Procedures Act petition and possible DEM petition to seek dismissal of Bowen Agricultural Lease No. 2020O4037.
The Tiverton Town Council voted to send a formal letter to the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) asking it to dismiss Bowen Agricultural Lease No. 2020O4037 and instructed staff to pursue a formal petition under the Administrative Procedures Act, councilors said.
Donald Libby, who identified himself as an objector to the Bowen application, urged the council to do more than send a letter and to file a formal petition with CRMC and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM). Libby argued the new statute disallows commercial development in the specified area and said, in his view, the applicants have no vested rights. “There should be no commercial development at any time or the change of its natural state,” Libby said, urging a petition to ensure the CRMC treats the submission as a formal pleading.
Council members discussed the legal strategy, the possibility of a conflict of interest because the CRMC solicitor also serves Little Compton, and the merits of pursuing both a letter and a petition. After discussion, the council voted unanimously to send the letter and to pursue a petition in proper form; Libby offered to assist with drafting and legal timing.
The council did not receive a legal finding at the meeting; councilors said they will coordinate with the town solicitor and may ask outside counsel to prepare the petition. The outcome is a council direction to pursue both a formal petition and a letter notifying CRMC of the town’s position.
