Boston Globe — Fight over path to prized shore access spot in Westerly heads to court

The end of Napatree Point in Westerly seen here in October, is the westernmost part of Rhode Island. Access to it is now subject to a debate in Westerly, and a new state lawsuit.BRIAN AMARAL

May 4, 2023

By Brian Amaral — PROVIDENCE — Long-running questions over control of an access path to Napatree Point in Westerly are now headed to court.

The Watch Hill Fire District and the Watch Hill Conservancy on Thursday filed a lawsuit naming the town, various town officials, and the state of Rhode Island in Superior Court over the fate of so-called Fort Road. That’s the name people in town use to refer to a path from Watch Hill to Napatree Point — a path that the two entities say is not actually a a public right-of-way.

The two entities said they don’t stop anyone from going to the Napatree conservation area through the properties they own and control. And they said they’re not going to start now. Indeed, because of conservation easements, they go out of their way to provide access as long as it’s consistent with their conservation efforts. And they said they know of no one who’s been denied access to the conservation area under these conditions. The conservation area on the more than mile-long spit, a prized spot for beachgoers, walkers, and bird enthusiasts, got about 40,000 visitors every year.

“WHFD and WHC do not seek through this lawsuit to end or curtail the public’s access to the Protected Property,” the lawsuit says.

Instead, the two entities are seeking to protect the fragile Napatree Point ecosystem “by preventing the Town of Westerly from a ‘taking’ that violates property rights and could potentially result in a 20-foot wide road or right of way through the Bay Street parking lots all the way through the Napatree Point dunes,” the fire district said in a written statement.

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