A Tiverton lawmaker who has long opposed a plan to establish an oyster farm off Seapowet Avenue has submitted legislation that would prohibit all commercial activity in the area where it would be developed.

House Bill 7060, submitted earlier this month by Rep. John G. Edwards, would prohibit any commercial development at the 296-acre Sapowet Marsh Management Area, and would designate the area as open space to be utilized only for passive outdoor recreation. The legislation would add Sapowet Cove, the site of the proposed oyster farm, to the adjacent area already under the control of the Department of Environmental Management.

The bill is the third Edwards has proposed in as many years in hopes of blocking Little Compton brothers Sean and Patrick Bowen from establishing a small oyster farm just southwest of the Seapowet bridge at Sapowet Cove.

Earlier bills used a different strategy — if passed into law, they would have prohibited aquaculture 1,000 feet seaward from the median high tide line along the entire length of the Sakonnet River.

The new legislation differs in its strategy and scope by restricting all commercial development within the management area.

“The original reason the area was purchased was to preserve this critical marsh area to keep it free of commercial and residential development, and to allow continued public access for (recreational) hunting, fishing, shellfishing and general recreation for future generations,” Edwards said.

But the Bowens said this week that Edwards’ “poorly written” bill misses a point — the Sapowet area is already home to significant commercial farming activity:

The “Sapowet Management area, already protected by RI DEM, leases significant acreage for commercial, terrestrial farming as an integral part of their conservation plan,” they wrote to the Sakonnet Times when asked to comment on Edwards’ legislation.

“The tax payers of Tiverton might have expected more ... Mr. Edwards seems more interested in serving a small, mostly season special interest than he does in supporting the hard working people of Tiverton.”

The Bowens’ application for an aquaculture lease, now four years old, remains under review by the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).