Projo — Is this wealthy RI town using parking tickets to limit the public's access to the beach?

Ken Block leans on an obelisk confirming public access to Barrington Town Beach at the end of Clarke Road. Block says Barrington is making it nearly impossible for the public to reach the beach by banning parking on streets near public-access points. PHOTOS BY KRIS CRAIG/THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Jul 22, 2021

By Antonia Noori Farzan — BARRINGTON — When Ken Block got a dog two years ago, his perspective on Barrington started to change. Tilly, a Goldendoodle, loves to swim. So Block, best known locally for his runs for governor in 2010 and 2014, began looking for spots to take her. And he quickly discovered that getting to the water was much harder than it seemed.

On a map, Barrington’s western coastline appears to be dotted with public right-of-ways that lead to Narragansett Bay. Typically found at the ends of quiet residential streets, they’re exactly the kind of place where an excitable Goldendoodle can happily spend hours bounding around in the gentle waves.

The problem, Block found, is that parking near these access points tends to be illegal. Unless you happen to live in one of the nearby neighborhoods, where homes routinely sell for upwards of $1 million, you’ll likely find yourself driving down street after street and encountering one “No Parking” sign after another.

“I was pretty aggravated that there were these public access points that I, as a member of the public, could not access,” Block said.

While Rhode Island’s Constitution guarantees the right to access the shore, there’s nothing in the law that prevents towns from making it impossible to park near the water. Wealthy oceanfront communities across the state have exploited that loophole, making it difficult for the average Rhode Islander to access large swaths of the shoreline, according to Conrad Ferla, an advocate for coastal access who lives in Wakefield.

…