2021 -- S 0180

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LC001166

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

REQUESTING THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION TO

TAKE ALL STEPS NECESSARY TO PREPARE AND BUDGET THE STATE’S SHARE FOR

THE ACQUISITION OF THE METACOMET GOLF COURSE

     Introduced By: Senators Lawson, Mendes, and Coyne

     Date Introduced: February 05, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     WHEREAS, Providing land for public recreation and the conservation of natural

resources promotes the public health, prosperity, and general welfare and is a proper

responsibility of government; and

     WHEREAS, The available recreational lands in our cities are not adequate to meet the

needs of the population; and

     WHEREAS, Due to the State’s small size, consideration to the special park requirement

needs of urban areas has often been replaced by the desire to develop available lands for the

purpose of increasing a tax base; and

     WHEREAS, Commercial development of available lands may have a greater economic

impact than maintaining the same lands as open spaces, and the diminishing supply of

recreational lands in the State’s urban core has a profound effect on the lives and well-being of

those urban residents; and

     WHEREAS, Lack of community and public access to safe, open, recreational and green

space is a critical area of concern for our urban residents. 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, The State should take those steps necessary to assist local governments to

acquire lands so that they may be used and preserved for future use as open, recreational and

green space; and

     WHEREAS, The City of East Providence is discussing the possibility of purchasing or

taking, through eminent domain, the Metacomet Golf Course; and

     WHEREAS, The Metacomet Golf Course was designed by Donald Ross, one of

America’s most preeminent golf architects, and abuts the sartorial splendor of Veterans’

Memorial Parkway, itself designed in the grand tradition of Frederick Olmsted as preserving and

creating public green space for the benefit for us all; and

     WHEREAS, The development of the Metacomet Golf Course for commercial and

residential purposes will have an adverse impact on the quality of life for East Providence

residents and a significant ecological and environmental effect on the surrounding area; and

     WHEREAS, Maintaining the Metacomet Golf Course as an open space, in its entirety,

helps serve as an insurance policy against climate change; and

     WHEREAS, The purchase of Metacomet Golf Course presents a once in a life-time

opportunity to preserve a unique piece of property of significance and provide a source of

recreation and green space to the underrepresented urban core; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island hereby asserts that

time is of the essence, notwithstanding the timing provisions contained in § 32-4-9 of the general

laws, and requests the Director of the Department of Administration to take all steps necessary to

prepare and budget the State’s share, as provided in chapter 4 of title 32 of the Rhode Island

general laws, for the acquisition of the Metacomet Golf Course by the City of East Providence;

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 the Governor of the State of Rhode Island and

the Director of the Department of Administration.

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LC001166

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