$20 to $30 Million Ninigret Park Plan Unveiled

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Did you miss the November 30 meeting on the final draft of a new Ninigret Park Master Plan with the consultants working on the plan, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB)? A video of the meeting is below.

Highlights of the plan:

  • $20 to $30 Million = estimated cost to develop Ninigret Park according to the plan presented.
  • Clearing and construction of a large area for events and camping to host the current events (Rhythm & Roots and Seafood Festival) in the northern area of the park.
  • New four-lane entrance/exit and new roads.
  • Central parking area to remain in the current location.
  • Criterium Bike Course moved to a new location.
  • New Community/Senior Center and new parking lot.
  • Football field and additions to the “fitness strip.”
  • Utility area for the town’s Department of Public Works.
  • Hiking trails.

Three alternatives were offered for a new master plan: the 2008 Master Plan, the 2014 draft, and the plan described above. The 2014 draft was used as the “guiding document,” and the conceptual rendering of the “long-term vision” (shown above) was described as a response to the needs of current stakeholders (primarily Rhythm & Roots) and to regional needs.

Video of Meeting

Highlights Of The Meeting:
There was a full house with standing room only at the Charlestown Elementary School, and the consultants reported that they had received more than 60 pieces of correspondence from the public, none of which have been made public.

At the outset of the Public Comment section of the meeting, a letter sent by Diane Keith, Program Manager, Northeast Region Federal Lands to Parks, was read into the record. Ms. Keith wrote that she has followed the Subcommittee’s planning meetings streamed via WebEx, and she reiterated the concerns about lighting and other impacts on wildlife that had been expressed by her predecessor, Elyse LaForest, in 2012. She stated that an environmental assessment and federal agency review would be required once the 2023 Master Plan is finalized and adopted by the Town Council.

A number of those present also voiced the following concerns:

  • Costs/Benefits—There has been no cost/benefit analysis done and no adequate reasons given to justify the town spending the estimated $20 million to $30 million to fully develop Ninigret Park.
  • Residents’ Preferences—Residents’ preferences are being ignored. The stated reason for adding a large performance venue is to move Rhythm & Roots; however, the results of the 2021 Community Survey clearly indicate that the majority of  the town’s residents do not want a performance venue of any size. In addition, there has been no consideration given to less impactful solutions to provide access to the playground and Little Nini Pond during Rhythm & Roots, such as moving some event fencing.
  • Parking—Moving Rhythm & Roots will not solve what is described as the problem. The number of parking spaces planned (approximately 1,400 when the plan is fully built out) is insufficient to provide parking for the current events, and as it has for decades, parking “will bleed” onto the fields and into other areas in the southern portion of the park, obstructing the use of the park’s recreational facilities, including the playground and Little Nini Pond.
  • Lighting—The impacts of lighting on the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge and on the ability of Frosty Drew Observatory to operate as an observatory and educational institution have not been addressed, and, although no new lighting is explicitly planned, some of the uses will require lighting that will cause conflicts.
  • Community Center—If the new community center were located where proposed, its construction and maintenance would be paid for by Charlestown’s taxpayers, but its use would be open to all towns. Rather, placing the new community center on the 55 acres was favored, or, perhaps, locating it in the Traditional Business District where it would help local businesses.
  • Additional Events—There will likely be more events in the future. With the construction of an expensive performance venue and associated new roadways, there would be great pressure to add more large events. These events would require parking on public lands to support commercial uses, a potential conflict, and the influx of over a thousand cars for each event would generate lighting and noise that would adversely impact the federal use, especially during the nesting/migration seasons.
  • Traffic and Congestion—There are significant issues with traffic and congestion throughout town in the summer months, and these would be aggravated by intense development in Ninigret Park.
  • Economic Opportunity—An economic opportunity remains untapped. As one of two public places on the East Coast with extremely dark skies and the only one with infrastructure to support visitors, there is an untapped economic opportunity for Charlestown to become a dark sky destination.
  • Management Responsibility—The town is required to manage the 227 acres of Ninigret Park consistently with the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. This requirement is stated in the federal decision that authorized the transfer of property to the US Department of the Interior for a wildlife refuge (thereby eliminating the threat that a nuclear plant could be sited on the property) and the remaining 227 acres to Charlestown and in the Program of Utilization.
  • Scale—The plan is more appropriate for an urban community, rather than a town of 8,000 like Charlestown.
  • Phasing of Development—The removal of excess asphalt should be undertaken before any land might be cleared for a performance venue.
  • Transparency—The consultants were urged to make the correspondence they have received public, and make it a part of the final plan, so that park planners in the future will have the benefit of these opinions, history, and insight.

As a result of the thoughtful input submitted in public meetings and by email, VHB did make changes to the plan as first envisioned and clearly tried very hard to accommodate those concerns. However, they were constrained to work within the framework of the previous 2008 and 2014 plans. Those constraints continue to work to create a plan that does not meet residents’ preferences and that seems unlikely to gain approval from the US National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The banner image is a picture of the 2023 Ninigret Park Plan presented at the November 30 meeting.