A famous old Rhode Island country club faces $50,000 in fines because they may have broken state law to build a sea wall to save the 14th hole of the club’s golf course.
Quidnessett Country Club opened in 1960 and once hosted former US President George H. W. Bush, who held $1,250-per-plate fundraiser for the state Republican Party in 1990.
Currently, the club finds itself in a different kind of political turmoil over the par five, 526-yard 14th hole at its golf course.
The club is accused of having built a seawall along the run of the hole without getting permission.
The move is similar to one made by pop superstar Taylor Swift in 2013, who left local residents furious after erecting a wall on her Watch Hill property without any public approval.
A famous old Rhode Island country club faces $50,000 in fines because they may have broken state law to build a sea wall to save the 14th hole of the club’s golf course
Quidnessett Country Club opened in 1960 and once hosted former US President George H. W. Bush, who held $1,250-per-plate fundraiser for the state Republican Party in 1990
Swift did not have to acquire building permits from the town and only had to obtain permission from the state Coastal Resources Management Council – an environmental organization that held no hearings before granting her permission to undertake the construction – estimated at more than a million dollars.
Seawalls are generally not allowed along the state’s coastline and at the very least require a lengthy public hearing period due to environmental impact.
While the walls can stop erosion in the place they’re meant to prevent, it can speed up erosion in other areas.
‘Structural shoreline protection measures can thus be a very costly adaptation measure with little return on investment,’ Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program says.
Back in 2013, the CRMC explained Swift’s easy process to get her sea wall built by saying that she was merely bringing one that dates back to the 1930s up to standard after decades of disrepair.
Quidnessett Country Club has already been issued three $10,000 fines and been asked to stop working on the wall.
‘This activity is in violation of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program,’ said Brian Harrington, the senior environmental scientist for the CRMC in August.
They were not told to take down the sea wall in a letter to the club, but they are facing more hefty fines and more sanctions.
Currently, the club finds itself in a different kind of political turmoil over the par five, 526-yard 14th hole at its golf course
The club is accused of having built a seawall along the run of the hole without getting permission
Seawalls are generally not allowed along the state’s coastline and at the very least require a lengthy public hearing period due to environmental impact
The CRMC has the option to issue daily $1,000 fines but would need to issue a final order to the club, according to the Boston Globe.
The agency has met with the owner of the property and the club has until March 23 to respond and the wall has apparently been finished.
A lawyer for the club, who previously chaired the CRMC from 2017 to 2021, wrote a letter to the regulator’s legal team.
‘As discussed previously, we would like to engage in immediate settlement discussions to see whether we can resolve this matter through a consent agreement,’ Jennifer Cervenka wrote in October.
‘Please let me know of your and your client’s earliest availability for a call or meeting to review.’
They have yet to issue any public comment.