North Kingstown Town Council Must Be Held Accountable for Threat to Groundwater Recharge

OPEN LETTER TO NORTH KINGSTOWN TOWN COUNCIL

On November 5, 2016 I sent my Public Information request to North Kingstown (NK) Town Clerk Jeannette Alyward. My letter requested information relevant to the apparent non-compliant review and enforcement procedures concerning earth filling and grading operations at Mr. Bestwick’s property (AP 125-32) located at 4019 Quaker Lane which is being considered for a zone change at a Public Hearing on November 21, 20016.

The Tarbox Hyundai Automotive Dealership project initiated the unauthorized removal of hundreds, if not thousands, of cubic yards of earth from the Tarbox construction site to filling and grading operations at Mr. Bestwick’s property at 4019 Quaker Lane. Both Mr. Tarbox and Mr. Bestwick properties are located within a Groundwater Overlay District (drinking water). Per NK zoning ordinance each property requires an NK Special Use Permit for earth removal, grading and filling operations of more than 20 cubic yards in Groundwater Overlay Districts GW1 and GW2. The unauthorized earth removal and filling operations have been on-going for several months for which a penalty of $500 per day can be assessed. To date the NK Town Clerk has not provided my requested information that either property has been issued the required Special Use Permit. This public record information was not provided, in my opinion, because the issuance of a Special Use Permit is non-existent and if it is non-existent I should be informed of that fact in accordance with the Access to Public Records Act. Consequently this leads me to believe that a Special Use Permit was never issued for either property.

It is the responsibility and obligation of the North Kingstown Town Council to enforce the regulatory processes concerning this issue and it would be prudent to withhold or condition Mr. Bestwick’s zone change until compliance with the zoning and enforcement regulations have been confirmed or resolved and rectified. To do otherwise would raise serious questions concerning the NK Town Councils’ respect for its own regulations and could foster the appearance of complicity with the lack of action/enforcement concerning this issue by the various boards, commissions, and public officials having jurisdiction. It is disconcerting because this is not the first time I have brought this issue to the attention of the NK Town Council as well as the appropriate boards, commissions, and public officials having jurisdiction. Hopefully this will be the last time and the NK Town Council will finally take appropriate action to rectify this apparent violation.