2020 -- S 2927

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LC005595

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE MEMBERS OF THE EAST PROVIDENCE CITY

COUNCIL TO CONSIDER PURCHASING THE METACOMET GOLF CLUB AS OPEN

SPACE

     Introduced By: Senator Valarie J. Lawson

     Date Introduced: September 30, 2020

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     WHEREAS, The Metacomet Golf Club was incorporated in 1901 and is set on 105 acres

of peaceful rolling hills and well-maintained lush green grass located on Veterans Memorial

Parkway overlooking Narraganset Bay in the City of East Providence; and

     WHEREAS, In February of 2020, the Metacomet Golf Club announced it would sell its

property to Marshall Development with the current intent to turn the parcel from a private golf

course into a mixed-use, commercial/residential location with some public access to open space;

and

     WHEREAS, The East Providence City Council has final approval over the plan

recommendations for any zoning/comprehensive plan changes that will be made to the

Metacomet Golf Club parcel; and

     WHEREAS, This decision will have an ever-lasting impact on the future of the City of

East Providence and its residents, who have strongly voiced their opposition to the destruction of

this historic open space; and

     WHEREAS, A viable and significant ecological and environmental alternate vision for

the preservation of this parcel would be for the City of East Providence to purchase this property

through eminent domain and designate its usage as open space; and

     WHEREAS, Utilizing a municipal bond to be supplemented through RIDEM grants and

federal aid, and with the support of various conservation organizations, the "Metacomet

Conservancy Land Trust" could be formed to oversee responsibility for the parcel and preserve its

accessibility for the public; and

     WHEREAS, An essential portion of Rhode Island's mission for the use of greenspace

bond money is to fund and protect coastal features, farmland and wooded acreage all over the

state, and the preservation of the Metacomet Golf Club as open space is perfectly suited to this

cause; and

     WHEREAS, Lack of community and public access to safe open and green space is a

critical area of concern for urban residents in all of New England. These green spaces play a

critical role in helping residents and visitors get outside and become active, and improves the

urban climate, abates the urban heat-island effect by their ecological-balancer function, and

reduces environmental damages; and

     WHEREAS, It is in the very best long-term interest of the City of East Providence and

the State of Rhode Island to keep Metacomet green; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

respectfully requests the East Providence City Council to consider purchasing the Metacomet

Golf Club as open space; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Mayor DaSilva and members of the East

Providence City Council.

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LC005595

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