Rhode Island’s coastal agency followed the law when it went into mediation with a Block Island marina owner. That’s the decision released Thursday by Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear.
The mediation was aimed at resolving an 18-year battle over Champlin’s Realty Associate’s proposal to extend its marina 240 feet into Block Island’s Great Salt Pond. Local groups said that would restrict public access and harm the pond’s ecology.
The state Coastal Resources Management Council denied Champlin’s application in 2006, and the two have been litigating the case ever since. Last November, the CRMC voted to go into mediation with Champlin’s, and the two struck a deal for a more limited expansion.
The mediation was challenged by the town of New Shoreham, several local environmental groups and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. They argued that the mediation violated state law and the CRMC’s own policies because the agency did not allow public input and did not explain how the mediated agreement addressed the reasons the CRMC previously denied the application.
The Superior Court rejected the concerns raised by these groups. Lanphear wrote that the mediation “conformed to conventionally accepted standards of behavior.” But he left the door open for the opponents of the marina expansion to challenge the “fairness and legality” of the deal itself.
What’s in the decision?
The decision comes in response to a remand order from the state Supreme Court, which in June asked the Superior Court to review the “propriety and conclusiveness” of the mediated agreement.
Lanphear considered three main questions: did CRMC and Champlin’s have authority to mediate? Did they give sufficient notice? And is the agreement a final decision?
On the question of authority, Lanphear rejected arguments that the mediation shouldn’t have happened because the case was waiting to be heard by the Supreme Court. The courts routinely encourage parties to settle cases on their own, he noted.
“It is not unusual for jurors to be summoned, witnesses to be subpoenaed, and [dates] set by the courts, when—on the morning of the trial—the court is told that the case has settled over the weekend,” he wrote. “Therefore, it strains credulity when the various Intervenors here, including the Attorney General, claim it was inappropriate for the parties to even enter settlement discussions.”
He also rejected arguments that the opponents of the marina expansion were not notified about the mediation. Because mediation is an informal process, he said there are no specific requirements on how notice is given. And he pointed to several pieces of evidence that the opponents knew about the mediation, including a court filing by Champlin’s, the CRMC’s publicly available agendas and minutes, and phone calls from the mediator to the New Shoreham town solicitor.
“Due to the various communications, and the informal nature of mediation, this Court finds that the Town and the Intervenors had sufficient, advance notice of the mediation,” Lanphear wrote.
He also questioned the credibility of several witnesses from the town of New Shoreham, including the town solicitor and town manager.
As to whether the deal reached through mediation is final, Lanphear left the possibility of future challenges open. He wrote that parties who have been recognized as intervenors by the courts — as New Shoreham, several environmental groups, and the state attorney general have in this case — deserve a chance to have their objections heard.
“This Court finds that no such opportunity has yet been provided to the Intervenors here. A hearing should be held providing them with the opportunity to present evidence and have their objections heard.”
The case now goes back to the Supreme Court. The court last spring denied a joint motion to accept the settlement. The settlement would need to be accepted by the court for the case to be dismissed, according to court spokesperson Craig Berke.
Response to the decision
The attorney representing Champlin’s, Robert Goldberg, applauded the decision, and said he hoped “the ruling will resolve this 18 year dispute and allow Champlin’s to finally move forward with its modest expansion that protects the environment while also providing enhanced public access to the Great Salt Pond.”
But challengers of the mediation called the decision flawed.
“The decision fails to address the core issue, which is that the Supreme Court ruled more than 10 years ago that the clients that I represent are full parties to this case,” said attorney Daniel Prentiss, who represents the Town of New Shoreham, the Committee for the Great Salt Pond, the Block Island Land Trust, the Block Island Conservancy, and the Conservation Law Foundation.
“It is universally accepted that an agreement cannot be forced on parties through a voluntary mediation process. And so I expect that we’ll be filing papers in the Supreme Court” to continue fighting the settlement, he said.
Attorney General Peter Neronha slammed the decision, calling it “a win for deals constructed behind closed doors.”
Neronha said the decision ignored the requirements that state agencies allow for public input and explain the reasons for their decisions. And he disagreed with the court’s view that state agencies are free to resolve disputes through mediation.
“It’s not like typical litigation where there are two parties to a dispute fighting over money or some or some action, and they can mediate it, resolve it, settle it. This is different. This is a regulatory body that’s making a decision, an important decision. And under the law, it has to be transparent, allow for public input, and support its decision with findings of facts and conclusions of law,” he said, arguing that mediation shields the decision-making process from public view.
In Neronha’s view, “Rhode Islanders should be deeply disappointed by today’s Superior Court decision and rightly worried about what this decision means for us should it survive its eventual appeal.”
The CRMC was unavailable for comment.
Reporter Sofie Rudin can be reached at srudin@thepublicsradio.org.
