Boston Globe — Some say Narragansett right-of-way is being used wrong

A neighborhood has been divided over a right-of-way to the shore on Mumford Road in Narragansett, R.I. They say a former councilman and his tenant are blocking it with cars, a boat and a wood pile. Doug Fisher, who lives next door, stands by the wood pile that's partially blocking access. DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

April 12, 2022

By Brian Amaral — Neighbors who complain about who has access to the path are taking their arguments to the state

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — The path off Mumford Road marked “4444″ is listed at 20 feet wide on town property maps, enough to get a kayak or a canoe down to the Narrow River at its end.

First, though, you might have to skirt a few obstacles to get there. On a recent weekday that included a truck, a boat, and then a pile of wood. That tension has become a hot potato in this coastal town: Neighbors blame a former member of the Narragansett Town Council, Rick Lema, for deliberately putting obstacles in the path. Lema lives in a house next to the path. Also, the truck that’s sometimes parked there belongs to Dean Hoxsie, the former police chief of Narragansett. Hoxsie is now the chief of the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Management.

According to people who live in the 140-home neighborhood, which locals call the Pasani plat, they were told when they bought their properties they had access to this path to get to the water. But for years, they’ve faced obstacles, including Lema telling their children they couldn’t use it, some neighbors say.

…