North Kingstown Groundwater at Risk

NORTH KINGSTOWN OFFICIALS PUT GROUNDWATER AT RISK

I recently attended the NK Ground Water Committee workshop at the North Kingstown Free Library. The Groundwater issue concerning the Tarbox Hyundai Automotive Dealership was brought up by one of the residents attending that meeting. A discussion on the Groundwater designation for that site ensued and Ms. Licardi defended the designation of that site as GW2 as opposed to GW1 thereby permitting the construction of an automotive dealership which is clearly prohibited in a GW1 district.

She and Ms. Powell also, in my opinion, incorrectly defend their position and state that the Tarbox site was changed from a Groundwater 1 (GW1) to GW2 designation at the June 11, 2007 Town Council meeting. The Minutes of that North Kingstown (NK) Town Council meeting don’t even discuss that issue and the current official Groundwater Map still indicates the Tarbox site is in GW1. Sec. 21-5 (b) of the Zoning ordinance requires that changes to the Zoning map be shall be depicted within 90 days of the authorized change. It is now 2016 almost ten (10) years after the claim that the Groundwater map was amended and yet the map remains unchanged. The reason it is unchanged is because that map was never amended and is still valid. The Tarbox site is actually still in GW1. A distorted and confusing, and intentional in my opinion, interpretation of the groundwater designation has repeatedly been put forth to allow the construction of a non-permitted use on that site. That distorted and confusing interpretation has been echoed throughout The NK Planning Department and Commission, the Zoning Board, and now the NK Water Department and Ground Water Committee. Ms. Licardi was so adamant in defense of her position she that she suggested that I challenge it in court. I was really taken aback by that comment. Is that what it takes to have the NK public officials comply with and enforce their own regulations?

What is alarming is the fact that Ms. Licardi, as head of the NK Water Department and Ms. Powell as Chair of the Groundwater Committee, and a self-proclaimed water protection advocate, is defending what is more than a questionable Groundwater designation and putting a Groundwater 1 (GW1) reservoir at risk. As the protectors of NK groundwater and water quality Ms. Licardi and Ms. Powell should be aware of the correct Groundwater designations and would make sure that the ordinance that protects that groundwater is enforced. I would think, when a questionable groundwater designation as this is, that they would at least err on the side of the groundwater protection. So far not a single commission, board or public official, and now the NK Water Department and Groundwater Committee, has taken any action to protect the NK finite and already stressed water supply. Rather they have ignored and attempted to discredit my efforts to shed light on this matter as the Tarbox Hyundai Automotive Dealership continues premature earth removal and construction operations.