Ninigret Park Master Plan Meeting

When: Monday, April 15 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Elementary School, 363 Carolina Back Road.
What: The Town Council will discuss the new Ninigret Park Master Plan

Click here to read the latest version of the Ninigret Park Master Plan

The Town Council hired consultants, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB), to help update the 2008 Master Plan for Ninigret Park and directed VHB to use the 2008 Master Plan and a plan drafted in 2014 as the basis for the 2024 update. Specifically, VHB was to use the “Master Plan Project Areas” map shown on page 46 of the 2014 draft.

Highlights of the 2024 Master Plan Update:

• The areas on the Project Areas Map have been addressed by VHB, and the total cost of developing Ninigret Park according to the Update is estimated at $33 Million.
• Clearing and construction of a large area in the northern area of the park to host events, specifically for Rhythm & Roots and the Seafood Festival. $14 Million = estimated cost.
• New Roads, including a four-lane entrance/exit road and other roads to service the event area.
• Two new parking lots, which will accommodate 650 cars, constructed next to the event area, and a camping area that can accommodate an unspecified number of vehicles and campers.
• Central parking area to remain in the current location but enlarged to park 800 vehicles.
• New regional Community/Senior Center with a new parking lot adjacent to Rt. 1A. $4.5 Million = estimated cost.
• Criterium Bike Course removed in one phase and then reconstructed in a new location in another phase.
• New Football field with a parking lot. $920 Thousand = estimated cost.
• Additions to the “fitness strip,” a utility area for the town’s Department of Public Works, and a perimeter hiking trail are also planned in the Update.

Missing from the plan:

• Cost estimates present in VHB’s December draft and referenced within the 2024 Update have been removed from the current version of the Update. You can see those estimates at https://charlestowncitizens.org/2024/03/11/cost-estimates-removed-from-published-ninigret-park-plan/
• The decision rendered by the General Services Administration in 1979 that specifically eliminated the construction of a nuclear power plant on the former Charlestown Auxiliary Landing Field (CNALF) and authorized the transfer of a portion of CNALF to Charlestown should be included in the Appendix.
• Not included in the Public Comments section are a letter from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island in opposition to the installation of any lighting near the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge and a 2012 letter from the US Fish and Wildlife Service in opposition to lighting in Ninigret Park. You can see those at https://charlestowncitizens.org/2024/03/17/correspondence-on-lighting-impacts-to-wildlife-missing-from-ninigret-park-plan/
• A letter from Diane Keith, Program Manager, Federal Lands to Parks Program, Northeast Region at the National Park Service, regarding concerns about the potential impact that lighting could have on wildlife, has not been included.
• There is no mention of the requirement that any revenue-generating activity in the Federal Lands to Parks program portion of Ninigret Park needs to have a concession agreement reviewed and approved by the National Parks Service and that money collected must go directly back into the park.
• A stated goal of the 2024 Master Plan is to “Reduce Impact on Fish and Wildlife Refuge,” but there is no discussion of how this would be achieved. For example, there is no plan to control either noise impacts or lighting impacts on the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge from activities in Ninigret Park, especially during the nesting season and the spring and fall migrations.
• Fireworks, which are currently allowed during the Seafood Festival, are mentioned on page 31 as a source of debris and runoff affecting the Refuge, but there is no discussion of the fact that in 2022, they generated noise during the nesting season well beyond the level that causes flight response and mortality in birds.
• There is no discussion of the Federal Lands to Parks program portion being used for parking for commercial events.

Errors or oversights in the plan:

• Some conditions existing currently need to be updated. For example, the descriptions of the two large current events do not reflect 2023 data and instead rely on information regarding traffic, parking, and the like, gathered during the summer of 2007. In 2023, over 20,000 people attended the Seafood Festival on Saturday, the busiest day, with nearly 50,000 for the entire three-day event. Similarly, Rhythm and Roots has also grown since 2007, with about 5,000 attending per day in 2023.
• The plan acknowledges on page 12 that the entire 172 acres gifted under the Federal Lands to Parks program “is to serve as a buffer for The Refuge.” And, on page 34, the plan states, “The larger portion of the parcel [that is, land gifted under the Federal Lands to Parks program] needs to function as a buffer for the Refuge to accurately adhere to the original Goulding Decision and its covenants to maintain its designation as a Town Park.” However, the Refuge experiences intense noise pollution from existing activities within the park, and the proposed extra parking and more events will generate noise and light pollution that will affect the Refuge. The proposed small increase in vegetation on the property border with the National Wildlife Refuge will not serve to effectively buffer the Refuge from noise from existing or proposed activities.
• Plans to recycle asphalt for berms, to clear large areas, and to disturb soil do not conform with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ advice regarding the treatment of material that may be contaminated and actions that could change the hydrology. The costs of the transfer offsite of used asphalt and the cost of acquiring new, clean materials are not estimated in the plan. For more discussion on contamination in the park see our post at https://charlestowncitizens.org/2024/03/04/army-corps-presentation-on-contamination-and-remediation-of-ninigret-park/

Other required reviews:

If this or another plan is approved by the Town Council, it will need an environmental assessment and federal agency review:

• Changes to the current Program of Utilization need to be submitted to the National Park Service for review and approval.
• Changes are also subject to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) https://www.epa.gov/nepa
• A complete Environmental Assessment process requires review and approval by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the State Historic Preservation Office, Native tribal consultation, water resources review, and other federal agency review and approval as needed.
• The process will also include a public comment period through the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website.

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A note about cost estimates: Some members of the Charlestown Town Council consider any discussion of the cost estimates to be “misinformation”. VHB’s response to the Town’s request for proposals to create a new Ninigret Park Plan specifically included cost estimates. VHB included on their team a staff member who is an expert in cost estimating and has an MBA, as well as a BS and MS in Civil Engineering. He is a Lead Cost Estimator for cities, universities, Massport, RI Airport Corporation, and the Narragansett Bay Commission. VHB’s proposal was accepted by the Town Council and they delivered a plan that included cost estimates. At least 4 pages in the plan published on the Town’s website include references to the cost estimates. The December draft included the cost estimates. Before posting the March version of the Plan on the Town’s website, the cost estimates were removed. Town Councilor “Rippy” Serra says they were removed because they are only “guesses”. But they are not guesses, they are professional estimates. It is understood that an estimate is not an exact price, but knowing relative costs allows projects to be prioritized and also to be analyzed. Knowing the high cost of phase two it is unrealistic to expect that the only major events that will use the new event space will be Rhythm and Roots and the Seafood Festival. Cost estimates matter and they should not have been removed from the plan.