CCA Blog and Mail Box

When: Wednesday, July 26 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Where: Cross’ Mills Public Library, 4417 Old Post Road, Charlestown (map in post)
Registration: Please register by calling the Cross Mills Public Library at (401) 364-6211.
Cost: Free

Safe Well Water? Test to be sure.

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As the Town Council works to weaken Charlestown’s development regulations and remove local environmental protections, the legislature enacted many new land use laws that will also weaken environmental protections. This article from ecoRI News discusses some of those state legislative changes. “By erasing the part about protecting the environment in a significant manner, the General Assembly misses a key point about public health and neighborhood well-being: If we don’t protect the environment, we can’t protect ourselves.”

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When: Fridays, July 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center Archery Range, 50 Bend Rd., Charlestown
What: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with support from the RI DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife and Narragansett Bow Hunters is now offering FREE archery days this summer.
USFWS will supply all of the equipment (please do not bring your own).

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How will real discussions and debates occur when members of the public are not able to participate fully? Allowing citizens to ask questions, provide input, and offer comments is essential to an open and transparent government. Not gathering the information available and then weighing all the evidence in order to make considered decisions is not transparent, is not in the best interests of the citizens of the town, and also makes no sense.

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On May 22 the Town Council held a public hearing on the Planning Commission’s request to not accept new Public Storage Facility applications until the town has new design guidelines. On June 12 the Town Council voted 4 to 1 not to require increased residential buffers, and to allow cannabis retail sales on any lot zoned C3 or C2. The Town Council continues to propose changes to the Zoning Ordinance for the subdivision of residential land that would reduce developers’ costs, increase the number of allowed lots… Details on all of these in the post.

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Rhode Islanders’ rights to the shore are clear, but what has been less clear is where exactly you get to enjoy those rights. Legislation passed on June 15 that provides a measurable line of where public access may be exercised: “where shore exists, on wet or dry sand or rocky beach up to ten feet landward of the high tide line but not where no passable shore exists.”

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Our Mountain Laurel is particularly beautiful at the moment. It is an absolutely gorgeous experience right here just off Route 1. Laurel has an artistic architectural quality while being human scale bringing the blossoms up close. Truly breathtaking at every turn of the trail. It is at its peak this week, so don’t wait. Make sure to bring the kids, the precious fairy garden feel is bound to inspire their imaginations.

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When: Garden Tours – Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and June 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When: Presentation and Book Signing – June 24, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
When: “On the Wing” Exhibit – Now until August 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center, Bend Road in Charlestown (map in post)
Learn about planting a native garden or meadow and why our corner of the world is important to migratory birds.

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When: Sunday, June 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center, Bend Road, Charlestown
Registration: Please call 401.364.9124 to register, anytime, just leave your name and number.
During this workshop, participants will learn the basics of tree identification and then practice their new skills on a field walk.

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How to Spend a Beautiful Summer Weekend in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Beaches and hiking trails await, not to mention a unique shopping destination, award-winning Indigenous cuisine, and an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet—just a short road trip from Boston. Read the full story in Boston Magazine …

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The new ordinance eliminates the requirement that open space contain any upland (developable areas), in spite of the fact that developers of major subdivisions have been required to set aside upland areas while clustering their lots since 1988. The number of lots that a developer has available to develop has not been reduced by this requirement, but the negative environmental impact of new residential development has been reduced. There is wide agreement that this method has worked.

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UPDATE: This week the Rhode Island Legislature did pass this bill that eliminates a public process for many land development projects. We’ll have more about this in the future.
Excluding neighbors and the general public from participation and even knowledge of developments that can change the landscape and character of our community may save developers a little meeting time, but it is not good government or good environmental policy. It is certainly not democratic.

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The new Town Council majority has, suddenly, proposed drastically changing this long-standing, well-tested ordinance that protects the environment in order to provide “choice” for developers. In addition, the choice that will be provided to developers by the proposed changes will also greatly reduce developers’ costs by allowing them to design their subdivisions essentially as they please.

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Join the Charlestown Land Trust for their annual “Trust Me, You’ll Love It” 10K Trail Run
Where: Amos Green Farm, #223A Route 112 in Charlestown. Run continues on The Nature Conservancy’s Carter Preserve.
When: Saturday, June 10. Registration/check-in is 9:00 – 9:50 a.m. Runners start at 10:00 a.m. sharp, walkers at 10:15 a.m.
Registration link and details in post.

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The settlement will require Kenyon to expeditiously implement plant improvements until it achieves 12 consecutive months of compliance with its permit limits for copper and whole effluent toxicity. Failure to achieve compliance will trigger automatic monetary penalties. As an additional condition of the settlement, the company is required to pay a $10,000 civil penalty for their past violations and also pay $40,000 to the Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council who will direct the money to projects promoting the restoration, preservation, and protection of the Pawcatuck River, with a particular focus on the area downstream from the Kenyon mill.

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In the rain on May 20, the Nature Conservancy named a 3-mile loop trail for Tarzan Brown in the 1,100-acre Carter Preserve in Charlestown. This story in the Boston Globe includes a description of the day’s ceremony to dedicate the trail and a very large, immovable, stone monument. There are videos of RI TNC director John Torgan’s speech, Thawn Harris’s speech, singing, drumming and more. This is just one more reason to continue to protect the Carter Preserve from being bisected by new train tracks.

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The legislation allows the expansion of net metering as part of a deal to allegedly remove the solar incentives from core forests, but this is a bad deal for RI. The legislation defines “Core forest” as unfragmented forest blocks totaling at least 250 acres or greater, unbroken by development, and at least 75 feet from any mapped roads. Although Charlestown has many areas of unfragmented forest, much of it would not meet this definition, leaving the town open to wide-scale forest clearing.

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When: Saturday, May 20 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitors Center, Bend Road, Charlestown
What: An opening reception for the exhibit by the New England Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. This exhibit explores migratory birds and butterflies and their habitat.

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When: Wednesday, May 17th at 4 p.m.
Where: Room 35 – State House
Why: Send an e-mail to the legislature (directions on how to send the e-mail in the post)
The farmland preservation program will not be funded without a strong outpouring of public support. This spring, Rhode Island’s state funding for farmland conservation is rapidly approaching zero for the first time since 1981. There is a backlog of over 40 farms that have been approved for permanent protection, but not enough funding to protect them. Leaving the farmland protection program unfunded will halt the program altogether and leave at least $5 Million in federal funding on the table.

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When: Saturday, May 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Meet at the Kings Factory Road entrance to the Francis Carter Preserve.
Who: Everyone is invited, but dogs must be leashed.
The trail, which will now be known as the Tarzan Brown Trail, will be dedicated on Saturday with the installation of a plaque created by Ted Brown. Ted Brown is a nationally recognized mason and is the grandson of Tarzan Brown.

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Vic was elected to the Planning Commission in 2008 along with others in our first slate of candidates. Over the intervening years he donated his photography skills to make campaign photos of many of our candidates and in 2020 made candidate videos as well. He gave his time to those candidate photo shoots with amazing kindness and patience.

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The Charlestown Town Council is conducting important business in special meetings that are scheduled randomly at the call of the Council. As a result, being an informed citizen in Charlestown in 2023 has suddenly become a formidable task, and instead of fostering more transparency and more citizen participation, using special meetings for important business has resulted in less, much less, of both.

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When: Saturday, April 29 at 10:30 a.m.
Where: Cross Mills Library, 4417 Old Post Rd., Charlestown, RI
Why: This is an opportunity for the Charlestown community to bring their questions and concerns about state government and legislation to their State Representative.

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When: Monday, May 1st at 7 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
Why: Public Hearing on the Tentative 2023-2024 Municipal Budget of $15,825,425.00
The municipal budget represents an increase in spending of $764,492.00, which is a 5% increase over the previous year.

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Celebrate Trails Day is a nation-wide annual spring celebration held on the fourth Saturday of April since 2013. The celebration encourages people to get outside and enjoy our nation’s exceptional trails and trail systems. In Charlestown, getting outside and connecting with nature is easy with over twenty public open spaces located throughout our town.

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April 8 is the opening day of trout fishing season in Rhode Island and as they did last year, Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout (PRIBT) will be stationed at the most visited spot in the upper Wood River watershed to publicize and promote the adoption by Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) of PRIBT’s proposal for the cessation of stocking of non-native species at this important native brook trout habitat.

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The proposed changes overrule local regulations and effectively eliminate single family zoning in Charlestown. This increase in overall housing density is being proposed for Charlestown without any assessment of the cumulative potential impacts of the increased septage on groundwater, drinking water, and the coastal ponds and other water bodies. Putting no limit on the number of bedrooms and allowing any lot to create a new additional dwelling unit that can be used as a summer rental will impact coastal areas especially.

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The Charlestown Tax Assessor’s office has completed the 2022 Town-wide Property Revaluation Project to establish all property values as of December 2022. These new values will be used on the tax bills in July 2023, but a new tax rate will be used to calculate the tax. You can calculate your old tax bill and your new estimated tax bill and the difference using an online calculator at the Tax Assessor’s web page.

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Solar development is responsible for 69% of Rhode Island’s recent forest loss, according to DEM. House Bill H 5540 sponsored by Representative Megan Cotter will establish more responsible solar siting. Your help is needed to support this bill. We need to get it passed. Next Year is too late! Our forests cannot survive another year of clear cutting. Sample testimony in the post, and instructions on how and where to send. Written testimony must be submitted by March 30 at noon.

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Multiple bills proposed in this legislative session claim to be about affordable housing, but all that any of them achieve is an increase in the number of market-rate housing units. Increasing supply might work to lower housing costs in some communities, but it hasn’t worked yet in coastal towns. Charlestown is within 3 hours of over 25 million people. The supply of affluent people willing to pay high prices for homes and short or long-term rentals will consume the increase in housing production.

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The Southeast New England Program Network (SNEP) hosted a webinar in early March to offer solutions for the difficult problem of balancing housing needs with the protection of clean water. Increased housing growth will have a direct impact on Charlestown’s groundwater quality. State regulations alone are inadequate to protect water quality.

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When: Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
What: N.O. Bar, LLC, is requesting a Special Use Permit to construct a bar on an existing deck and appealing Charlestown’s Zoning Official’s ruling that the new use is an Outdoor Café. N.O. Bar is located at 523 Charlestown Beach Road.

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When: Saturday, February 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: At the Charlestown Animal Shelter on Sand Hill Road in Charlestown

• Come meet your forever furry valentine!
• Win a kitty or doggy gift basket.
• Free refreshments.

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The two remaining applicants, Jeffrey Allen, the town’s previous police chief, and Gary Tedeschi, chair of Charlestown’s Disc Golf Course Ad Hoc Committee, were interviewed on February 9 in executive session. At the end of the private meeting the town council announced that they had chosen Jeffrey Allen as the interim Town Administrator.

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