Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. attorneys Daniel J. Procaccini and Colten H. Erickson, in partnership with J. David Breemer of the Pacific Legal Foundation, have secured another important victory for the constitutional rights of coastal landowners.
In Stilts, LLC v. Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (WC-2025-0369), the Rhode Island Superior Court granted a preliminary injunction on October 22, 2025, preventing the Coastal Resources Management Council–the state’s coastal regulatory agency–from enforcing unconstitutional conditions that would have forced a homeowner to open its private property to the public and to submit to unlimited government inspections as a condition of receiving a maintenance and repair permit. The Court also found that CRMC cannot impose generic conditions on homeowners. The agency must conduct individualized assessments to ensure that conditions are roughly proportional to the impact of the proposed project.
“We’re grateful the court recognized that property owners cannot be forced to surrender their constitutional rights when seeking a basic repair permit for routine work that has no impact on public access to the shore,” said Procaccini.
In a parallel proceeding, AP&S and the Pacific Legal Foundation achieved another major win for Rhode Island coastal landowners when the Superior Court ruled that a 2023 beach expansion law was an unconstitutional taking of private property without just compensation. The ruling in that case is pending before the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
In its ruling granting the preliminary injunction, the Court found that CRMC’s conduct was “offensive to the judicial process” as it appeared to be an attempt “bypass” the court’s earlier decision, which is now on appeal.
