Newport Daily News — Middletown Council to Address Inaccessible Shore Rights-of-Way
A sign marks a shoreline public access point in Rhode Island. Will Richmond/Newport Daily News
Sep 21, 2023
By James Merolla — Newport This Week Staff — When is a public right-of-way to the shore not a right-of-way?
When, over time, it has been impeded, overgrown, sits on or near private property, or becomes unsafe.
A presentation to the Middletown Town Council on Sept. 18 showed how at least one of the town’s 10 rights-of-way no longer allows residents to reach the shore, a right established decades ago by the state through the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).
Advocate Melissa Welch, during the public forum of the meeting, showed how a right-of-way off the Esplanade area labeled Y-5, had a stairway that was cut off and damaged, with a severe drop-off, overgrowth and other impediments. She told of a resident who recently attempted to get to the rocky beach below and was arrested for trespassing.
The incident, she said, created “disparaging remarks on social media,” with comments “about the town’s [poor] management of [the area].”
At other rights-of-way, Welch added, people are scrambling down the hills to the rocks below.
Welch then cited CRMC findings and a 2017 memo, signed by town officials, CRMC and Clean Ocean Access, to adopt an access program that assured safety and unobstructed views. Clean Ocean Access was supposed to monitor the site, she said.
She then showed slides where the town built an outflow pipe project into the jetty at a right-of-way, and a berm filled in behind the pipe, cutting off public access.
“It’s going to get worse,” said Welch.
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