Keep Metacomet Green fights on for “peaceful quality of life” over concrete development

Efforts to save the Metacomet Country Club grounds are not dead – yet. Keep Metacomet Green, Inc. in late February, decided to voluntarily withdraw its complaint in Superior Court against the City of East Providence and Metacomet Properties, LLC (formerly Marshall Properties), due to financial considerations. This suit (PC 2021-5412) was filed in August of 2021, subsequent to the City Council’s vote in July to rezone the former Metacomet golf course property from Open Space to a Sub-district of the East Providence Special Development Waterfront District. A companion ordinance to amend the City’s Comprehensive Plan to incorporate this new Subdistrict was also approved by a majority of the Council members.

The group is quick to say that although the current court battle has ended, “the lawsuit was just one tool in KMG’s toolbox”. Keep Metacomet Green began their efforts in the summer of 2020, with the group conducting rallies and holding up signs, hoping to sway popular opinion as they informed their community about what was happening to the property. They had success with the first petition brought by Marshall properties to rezone, but less than 18 months later, the company returned with another application, too short a period of time as noted in the East Providence City Ordinances – except under unique instances. KMG failed to convince the Council that circumstances had not warranted reconsideration so soon.

KMG testified before the Planning Board, bringing out their facts and position, along with testimony provided by abutters and others. However, the board decided the matter should go before the City Council. KMG again testified and presented their information and positions, along with some testimony they describe as “heartrending testimony from residents”. However, the Council voted to rezone the property. KMG notes that “one Council member fantasized about a Mediterranean hotel and a water taxi, and other members expressed their anxiety over what could happen to the property if they didn’t vote to rezone, a vote clearly based on fear, not findings of fact”.

KMG says they want the community to know that while their decision has been made to end the lawsut, “it is not the end of our efforts, but instead leads us into another phase in our fight to save the Met from development. Going forward, KMG will use every available tool in the box to save our community’s peaceful quality of life from those who prefer concrete to grass. KMG is still here and is not going away”.

Contact: [email protected], 401 749-8586

Keep Metacomet Green (KMG) was formed as a Facebook group by five East Providence residents on July 3, 2020, in response to a Planning Board recommendation to the East Providence City Council to approve Marshall Properties’ petition to rezone the Metacomet property from Open Space to Mixed Use and to move the parcel into the city’s Waterfront District, under the authority of the Waterfront Commission. The group’s mission then, as now, is to work together “in opposition to any plan that will turn the iconic Metacomet golf club into a concrete jungle. Metacomet is an expanse of green, open space that our community has enjoyed for generations, and our goal is to save it for generations to come.” Over the ensuing 12 months, KMG membership has grown from five to 2800, and an associated change.org petition has gathered over 5200 signatures. In addition, several hundred concerned citizens have signed paper petitions.

In June 2021, KMG filed successfully to become a nonprofit corporation under the General Laws of Rhode Island, with the five founding members of KMG designated as directors. The corporation’s “specific purpose” pertains to “concerns with quality of life issues in East Providence including the protection of Open Space as an essential element of a community.”