Newport This Week — Opinion: Senators Should Pass Shoreline Access Bill

April 27, 2023

OPINION By Dennis Nixon and Thomas Gibson Jr — After decades of uncertainty, the General Assembly is on the cusp of reaffirming one of the oldest and most cherished Rhode Island constitutional rights: the “rights of fishery, and privileges of the shore,” which includes the right of access along the shore.

The flawed 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in State v. Ibbison effectively nullified many of those rights by adopting the mean high water mark as the shoreline definition, a technical definition determined by an average of high tides over an 18½-year period on a dynamic, constantly-moving shoreline. The Ibbison line, which expert testimony proved is often underwater even at low tide, causes uncertainty for law enforcement and encourages litigation since no beachgoer or property owner can readily determine the line’s location.

Last year, the House Commission on Shoreline Access reached a common sense consensus: that the Ibbison boundary is obsolete and unenforceable and should be replaced by an easily recognizable and traditional reference line that allows dry lateral shoreline access throughout the normal tidal range. A bill based on the commission’s recommendations was introduced by Portsmouth Rep. Terri Cortvriend last year and passed in the House unanimously. Unfortunately, there was no Senate companion, and the session ended without further action.

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