ecoRI News — Resident Challenges Buttonwood Beach Association’s Right to Withhold Records

Nestled between Greenwich Bay and Brushneck Cove, the Buttonwoods Beach Association and related fire district are home to some 140 residents. (Rob Smith/ecoRI News)

Nov 7, 2022

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News Staff — WARWICK, R.I. — A prominent resident and shoreline activist is charging the Buttonwoods Beach Association with violating the state’s open records law over documents related to a traffic stop in 2019.

In a petition submitted to the attorney general’s office, Richard Langseth alleges the beach association broke state law when it declined to produce a list of its shareholders, an unredacted copy of its liability insurance policy, and the association’s related governance documents.

The beach association had previously complied with at least one of the open records requests from Langseth, sending him a partially redacted copy of its liability insurance policy, but then-association president Peter Dorsey declined to provide the rest, arguing that the Buttonwood Beach Association (BBA) did not meet the definition of an agency under the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) statute.

In his appeal to the attorney general, Langseth — a data analyst who has lived in or around the fire district area for decades — argues that because the BBA does not function as a typical homeowners association, but regulates the use of lots, homes, and public streets through its corporate and police powers, the association should be classified as a state actor and fall under jurisdiction of APRA laws.

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