Update On Burlingame North Camp – Camp Is Off The Table
Janet Coit, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), stated in a recent communication to Charlestown Town Council President Virginia Lee that DEM has dropped their plans for a reopening and expansion of camp sites in the North Camp of Burlingame. Ms. Coit also promised that if DEM ever reconsiders this option to reopen North Camp, “we would appreciate your input in the early stages so that we can come up with a plan that integrates effectively with the community.”
As Planning Commission member Ruth Platner explained in a July 8 post “Charlestown’s government and citizens learned only by accident that there was a plan to revive camping on the north side of Watchaug Pond. In response to queries, the State Parks Division of Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM) spoke of development of 96 campsites in North Camp. Some would be permanent tents on wooden platforms – others would be cleared areas where campers would park and pitch their own tents. In the days that followed the initial discovery, the DEM timeline for development moved from “probably next year” to “there isn’t a decision yet“. Whatever the timeline, it appears to still be in the early planning stage when the town and its citizens may be able to impact the final decision.” And clearly we did influence the decision!
Ruth Platner’s post “Consider The Conservation Value of Burlingame North Camp” along with other citizen comments were sent to the DEM Director after the July Town Council meeting where the proposal to develop Burlingame’s North Camp was discussed.
These citizen comments along with Virginia Lee’s work with Director Coit resulted in a decision to take the proposal to redevelop Burlingame North Camp off the table. Like any other development plan, a new Director or new administration could decide to revisit this decision.
The Charlestown Planning Commission has proposed this area of Burlingame to be designated as Open Space Conservation to make clear the community’s preference that the entire northern area of Burlingame be set aside for wildlife and passive recreation such as hiking, rather than more active recreation such as the campground proposed earlier this summer. Enshrining this preference in Charlestown’s Comprehensive Plan will give North Camp a more lasting protection that the State government has to address in their own decision making for the next 20 years. Charlestown’s Comprehensive Plan will be discussed more in the months ahead.
The banner image for this post is a photograph of Watchaug Pond in autumn by Dan Slattery
September 17, 2019 @ 9:53 am
First I would like to thank the town council for their due diligence with handling this incident. I would like to also comment that I do understand and appreciate the concern about the environmental impact a campground would have on the open spaces and the property surrounding such a proposal, however there is another impact that has not been connected to such a venture and that is the law enforcement perspective. I can personally remember when North Camp was in full operation, and at that time there was a full-time Park Police department (21 man) that took care of the law enforcement needs for the campground; that police department is no longer in existence due to state cut-backs. There is a lot more crime that goes on within campgrounds than people realize, this crime creates an impact on the town’s police department when this crime occurs; drugs, assaults, felony assaults, larcenies, sexual assaults to name but a few. Yes presently we have the state’s Environmental Police department to handle these emergencies, however the Environmental Police are sparsely distributed throughout the state (again state cut-backs) and response time to serious emergencies usually will fall upon the town’s department, or at least fall upon the town’s police department for additional police back up if it is required. In my opinion this is another perspective that ought to be addressed if another proposal of this nature arises again under a new administration.