PROVIDENCE — Battles over beach access are raging all along Rhode Island’s coast, and two of the most recent disputes are playing out in Narragansett and Westerly.
On the Rhode Island Report podcast, Isabella Jibilian, a producer at Rhode Island PBS Weekly, and Alex Nunes, the South County bureau chief at The Public’s Radio, bring us up to date on those controversies.
In Narragansett, local officials wanted to place a three-hour parking limit on Ocean Road, a state road near the town beach.
“They think it’s too crowded and they think that they, as the local residents and property owners, deserve some priority in terms of the beach access,” Nunes said. “The reason given for the time-restricted proposal is that they felt that it would lessen traffic congestion ― that people wouldn’t be looping around Ocean Road looking for a parking spot.”
But shore access advocates said that felt like a pretext.
“Advocates for greater beach access say that parking is already restricted enough,” Nunes said, “and that if you’re going to put a time limit on it, it would just further get in the way of people’s ability to go to Narragansett Town Beach for the day.”
The dispute came to a head earlier this month when the State Traffic Commission rejected the town’s petition to restrict parking on Ocean Road and Narragansett Avenue.
In Westerly, meanwhile, a costly legal battle is escalating over access to the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach.
Shore access activists insist that a public path once existed on Spring Avenue but has since been blocked by a fence and vegetation. The Weekapaug Fire District, which represents homeowners in this southeast corner of Westerly, says they own the land and there’s no public right of way.
Jibilian said activists such as Ellen Kane view as this as a battle between “the haves and the have nots,” noting that there is public parking near the disputed area.
“One of the major pieces of evidence that is being used by activists in this case is this 1948 map that was filed with the town of Westerly,” she said. “On the map along what we call now the Spring Avenue extension there is a path to the beach, and it says ‘right of way’ on it. You can also see in other parts of the map, it says ‘private.’”
But Jibilian said property owners such as Bob McCann, former head of the Weekapaug Fire District, contend that this as a matter of private property rights.
“He says that this is private land, that no such right of way exists, and that people are unfairly calling for a right of way here,” she said. “Most of their case is really focused on proving that they own the land and control the land. So most of their case hinges upon evidence like your deeds from this land, or ’Here’s evidence that we have granted easements in this area.’ "
When asked what shore access matters they’ll be keeping an eye on in the year ahead, Nunes said, “Septuagenarian vandals ― alleged.”
He was referring to the vandalism charges filed against David M. Roth, a Westerly property owner making a legal challenge against Rhode Island’s new shoreline access law. Roth, 76, who owns a $10.8 million property in Watch Hill with his wife but resides in West Hartford, Conn., has spray-painted a beach access sign near his home four times since May, according to the police. He pleaded not guilty on all counts.
Jibilian said she will be keeping an eye on the results of town council elections in November. “Because town councilors have a lot of influence in this area,” she said.
To get the latest episode each week, follow Rhode Island Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms, or listen in the player above.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.