Sakonnet Times article: August 5, 2010

TIVERTON — The Town Council Monday night, July 19, again postponed any decision about rezoning the neighborhood along Riverside Drive in which the Tiverton Yacht Club (TYC) is located.

 

Instead the council (with five members present) continued the by now marathon public hearing to Aug. 10 at 7 p.m., in the high school auditorium.

 

That’s the arena in which on June 14, and again last Monday night for nearly three hours on each occasion the feuding combatants — the TYC in one corner and on the last occasion and its residential neighbors this time in the other — faced off.

 

Monday night was the night for the neighboring opponents to have their say. They were led by David Campbell, a lawyer who lives next door to the TYC at 76 Riverside Drive.

 

“It’s hard to say where to begin; this is wrong on so many levels” he said when he began his attack. The zoning proposal “benefits no one but the Tiverton Yacht Club.”

 

“This town has never seen a proposal like this” he said.

 

Mr. Campbell at 76 Riverside drive lives adjacent and just to the north of the TYC. His home is also directly across the street and about the same distance from the proposed Trinity marina, a multi-million dollar “world class marina and yacht yard” as its chairman Keith Laker recently described it.

 

Trinity will reportedly accommodate 74 boats some as large as 300 feet and will have parking for 100 cars.

 

The proposed change in the zoning designation is in the residential area east of Riverside drive from R-40 residential to a new category called Waterfront Related (WR). The new designation would impact the Tiverton Yacht Club and 11 or so nearby properties.

 

As things now stand the club’s properties are on both sides of Riverside Drive and carry two different zoning designations. Therein lies the root of the feud.

 

Since 2003 when its old clubhouse burned to the ground the yacht club has been engaged in an effort to rebuild. Because a clubhouse in a residential R-40 zone is a non-conforming use any effort to rebuild requires a special use permit obtained from the town zoning board of review.

 

The club’s efforts to rebuild have been thwarted many times by objections from neighbors to the north and south who have opposed its reconstruction and interim operation and repeatedly objected to requests for special use permits.

 

Under the “Waterfront Related District” category a yacht club or marina would be a permitted use and would not have to file for repeated special use permits.

 

Monday night armed with an inches-thick three-ring binder stuffed with 20 exhibits copies of which in separate binders he provided to council members, . Campbell and an array of witnesses he had marshaled for the occasion launched into a critique of the zoning proposal and the TYC.

 

Citing the club’s use of its property since the fire as it waits approval to rebuild, Mr. Campbell said, “it’s a derelict use. It’s a dump.”

“I look at it every morning when I raise the shades” he said. “The weeds are six feet high.” Mr. Campbell said he sees it every day. “There’s enough chain link fence for a zoo.” There’s “port-a-potties” he said there’s “rubble.”

 

He characterized the TYC as saying to the town council in effect "we want you to change for us against the will of everyone in the neighborhood.”

 

Mr. Campbell said the zoning change is inconsistent with the town’s comprehensive plan by promoting a “marine-related” use for a residential zone when it should be doing the exact opposite promoting such a use instead for non-residential zones.

 

Proponents of the zoning change however say that the designation “waterfront-related” is different from “marine-related” and is not as linked to working boatyards and similar uses as is contemplated by the term “marine.”

 

Mr. Campbell said the zoning proposal “is dressed up as spot zoning” and accused the town of being “incapable of saying no to the Tiverton Yacht Club.”

 

He told the council that approving the change would be “an obscene gesture to the neighborhood.”

 

Mr. Campbell had good words for Trinity Marina. They comply with requirement, they're considerate and if they do as they propose, property values should increase. “They would be a good neighbor, a welcome neighbor.”, he said.

 

Mr. Campbell closed his comments by saying "I don't want to look at a dump” and referred to the TYC at one point as “this thuggish organization.”

 

Other opponents took up the same refrain. Charlie Moran said it was illegal spot zoning. John Moran, Jr. said the club had misrepresented itself over the years and objected to a club with members who come from other towns trying to rezone their neighborhood.

 

Matthew Moran said he didn't trust the yacht club. “They want to have a four story monstrosity” he said. John Moran said "I don't trust them either.” And there were others who opposed the change.

 

Both a certified planner and a real estate broker hired by Mr. Campbell for their expertise spoke against the proposal.

 

Only a few witnesses in as many minutes were allowed to testify in favor of the proposal at this portion of the hearing as the clock ticked down adjournment for the evening.

 

On Aug. 10, attorneys for each side will have an opportunity to present their arguments. Plans call for no further testimony, though the public hearing is not closed. It is not clear whether a majority vote or a 60 percent vote of council members is required.