Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 650 - Coastal Resources Management Council › Chapter 20 - Coastal Management Program › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 5 - Metro Bay Region Special Area Management Plan › Section 650-RICR-20-00-5.13 - Compensation Options for Urban Coastal Greenway Requirements (formerly section 230)

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Compensation is
				  required whenever an applicant reduces an Urban Coastal Greenway from the
				  standard UCG width for the applicable zone or requests a variance under the UCG
				  regulations. In addition, the applicant must still meet the general UCG
				  requirements regarding shoreline features, vegetation targets, public access,
				  and minimum width as listed in §5.5.1 of this Part. Similarly, the minimum
				  15% vegetation requirement and the stormwater management requirements for the
				  development sites must be met in §5.5.1(A)(3) of this Part regardless of
				  whether or not compensation options are utilized. Compensation options will be
				  available at such time as the Rhode Island General Assembly establishes a
				  compensation statute; reductions in regulatory requirements provided by the
				  compensation provision are not available until the trust is set up.
B. The compensation requirements are intended
				  to accommodate a continuous Urban Coastal Greenway around the urban coastline
				  of Narragansett Bay, as articulated in Section 270 of the CRMC Metro Bay SAMP
				  guidance document. Compensation options for a reduced UCG width may include:
1. Urban Coastal Greenways Trust (Note: Trust
				  not established by the General Assembly)
a.
				  In no case shall the Urban Coastal Greenway width be less than the minimum
				  width defined within the applicable zone. When compensation is required, the
				  applicant shall pay a fee into the Urban Coastal Greenways Trust. In order to
				  calculate this fee, the RICRMC shall establish the representative waterfront
				  value per acre for each Metro Bay Region municipality based upon professional
				  appraisals of representative coastal parcels within each municipality. These
				  values will be reassessed by the RICRMC every 12 months. The representative
				  waterfront value will be multiplied by 50-percent to obtain the final dollar
				  amount that shall be levied per square foot of UCG lost in a given
				  municipality.
b. Compensation fees
				  paid to the Trust shall be used only for the acquisition of property interests
				  (fee simple, conservation easements, and other lesser interests) that serve the
				  purposes of coastal habitat conservation or coastal habitat restoration within
				  designated HPCA or HPRA (See §
												5.16(D) of
				  this Part (Appendix 4)) within the Metro Bay Region. The CRMC shall prioritize
				  the use of these funds based upon three factors:
(1) Habitat quality ranking where a ranking
				  of "C4" or "R3" denotes highest conservation or restoration priority and "C1"
				  or "R1" denotes lowest priority, as described in §
													5.16(C) of
				  this Part (Appendix 3);
(2) High
				  Priority Conservation Areas (HPCAs) within Area of Particular Concern zones
				  shall have priority over HPCAs within other Urban Coastal Greenway zones;
				  and
(3) Presence of a suitable
				  HPCA. Restoration activities for High Priority Restoration Areas shall only be
				  funded through this program if the CRMC determines that a suitable HPCA is not
				  available. In the case where no suitable HPCA is available, habitat restoration
				  of HPRAs shall be prioritized in the same manner described above for
				  HPCAs.