Dear Supporters of Galilee,   

Below Is My Most Recent Editorial prompting and encouraging our newly elected Narragansett Town Council to continue to Fight to Save Galilee from becoming a paved over parking lot.    The editorial was printed in the South County Independent and the Narragansett Times.   The South County Independent printed the editorial in its entirety.      

Letter: Let’s hope fight for Galilee hasn’t been in vain

With our newly elected Narragansett Town Council and legislators, may we work together to prevent the RIDEM from continuing to violate our Town of Narragansett’s Zoning Ordinances in Galilee. This year the RIDEM has continued to allow PRIX to maintain their use of parking lots on the five-acre parcel in Galilee despite their lease having expired. In addition, the parking lots are being operated in violation of our town’s ordinances.

In an email I received from former Town Council President Jesse Pugh, he noted the Narragansett Building Official’s Office notified via certified letter that on September 23, all owners of parking lots in Galilee, requiring Special Use Permit, were required to apply within 30 days or be in violation of the Town Ordinance. This includes the lot being operated by Procaccianti Developers. It is my hope our new town council will not allow Procaccianti Developers as well as all parking lot operators in Galilee to continue to blatantly ignore our Town’s Ordinances.  

 The RIDEM has also allowed Procaccianti Developers to abandon the Lighthouse Inn that is now a health, safety, and environmental hazard. The RIDEM is supposed to protect our Environment, yet it allowed Procaccianti Developers to create one of the worse eyesores and environmental hazards on state leased land in the history of the United States.   

In a recent opinion piece in the Providence Journal, Save the Bay Executive Director Jonathan Stone states “the CRMC structure is fundamentally flawed and in need of immediate correction by the Governor and the general assembly” as it was a facilitator in Champlin’s Marina to be illegally expanded upon. The illegal expansion would have increased the size (doubled) of Champlin’s Marina, as was acknowledged in research by reporter Jim Hummel. Without the Town fighting back, the Supreme Court would never have heard the case to overturn the expansion.  

I agree with Stone’s assessment of the CRMC, but I am in strong disagreement with his statement regarding the RIDEM. He notes, unlike agencies like RIDEM, whose director is accountable for agency decisions, no Council members are accountable for its decision. In my assessment, the RIDEM and its Director have been equally negligent, as were the CRMC officials regarding their lack of action in trying to stop the Champlin Marina expansion. The RIDEM Director failed to step in to object and to prevent the illegal expansion of Champlin’s Marina, even though the expansion of Champlin’s Marina would cause great harm to the fragile ecosystem of The Great Salt Pond.

I would add, the RIDEM Director, Terrance Gray, has failed mismanagement of the five-acre parcel in Galilee, as the Lighthouse Inn was intentionally abandoned by Procaccianti and Paolino, and the RIDEM announced previously that it wanted the State to pay for the demolition. However, due to the outcry of the public, the RIDEM announced it will now have the Lighthouse Inn inspected to see if it is salvageable or if it needs to be demolished due to its toxic waste. The inspection should be completed shortly. The RIDEM also generated an RFP, and it flatly rejected the Town of Narragansett’s proposal without considering any type of compromise. How can the RIDEM’s actions be beneficial to the state, town, its citizens and the commercial fishermen?  

  Most recently, the Town of Narragansett authorized the University of Rhode Island to do a research study to determine the best use for the parcel. The research will be completed in December and it is being led by Dr. Will Green and Professional Landscape Architect Charles Carberry. Let us hope our fight for Galilee has not been in vain. Let us hope our new town council and our General Assembly will not turn a deaf ear to the will of the people and the URI Research Study. Let us hope our town council will not allow the RIDEM to ignore our Town’s ordinances without consequences.  Members of this council such as Susan Cicilline Buonanno and others have led the fight for a modern, state of the art library.  Let us hope this council will not be forever remembered for saving a library but failing to save our village of Galilee.  Let’s not pave over paradise.

Dr. Albert Alba

Narragansett