State lawmakers are taking another step forward in their plans to examine shoreline access in Rhode Island with appointments to a new House commission.
South County Bureau
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Block Island weighs new mask mandate for public places
Officials on Block Island are considering whether to instate a new mask ordinance following a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases.
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Parking rates go up at Rhode Island’s most popular beach
It’s a little pricier to park at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly under price hikes approved by state lawmakers that are now officially in effect.
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‘We’re not going to allow it’: Advocates push for greater access to Rhode Island beaches
Advocates for shoreline access are continuing to draw attention to what they say are ongoing threats to beach rights in Rhode Island. Some of them gathered Saturday in South Kingstown to collect seaweed and push for legislation to better clarify where the public is allowed to be on the shore.
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R.I. House to study public access to the coastline
For years, advocates for shoreline access have clashed with coastal homeowners over where the public has the right to be along the waterfront, and fighting has only increased during the pandemic. On Wednesday, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed legislation to initiate a study of shoreline access in the Ocean State. The bill creates […]
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Rhode Island events celebrate Juneteenth holiday, a ‘national marker of the progress that we’ve made’
Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States, and events are planned around Rhode Island to recognize what’s now an official national holiday.
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‘They want us out of here’: How private interests blocked the public from one R.I. barrier beach
The story of shoreline access in many parts of Rhode Island is one of haves and have nots. Come summer, fortunate oceanside property owners have it. Others have to fight for parking spots and somewhere to lay their beach blankets. The Quonochontaug Barrier Beach in Westerly and Charlestown is one place largely cut off to the public. For years, people used it freely. But today the beach is tightly controlled by a network of fire districts and conservation groups that has made it a flashpoint in the growing debate over shoreline access.
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In coastal South County, fire districts fight shoreline access instead of fires
Rhode Island boasts of its nearly 400 miles of shoreline, yet the state’s eight public saltwater beaches border less than seven miles of that waterfront. Much of the remaining land along the shore is privately owned. The public has the legal right to the coastal waterfront, but wealthy shoreline communities are getting more exclusive. Special fire districts—which sometimes don’t even fight fires at all—are a big factor in the growing tensions over shoreline access.
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Private property owners ‘utterly outraged’ by bill to decriminalize shoreline trespassing
A bill to exempt beachgoers from trespassing charges within 10 feet of the most recent high tide line is drawing impassioned public input from both sides of the debate about shoreline access in Rhode Island.