By Alex Nunes — Westerly’s Harbor Management Commission is recommending the town council begin addressing “exclusionary” parking policies in shoreline areas. An attorney for Watch Hill property interests calls suggestions of discrimination “absurd.”

By Alex Nunes — The Rhode Island ACLU says the fire district’s lawsuit is targeting a Westerly resident fighting for a public shoreline right-of-way in a move to discourage public participation in the dispute.

By Brian Amaral — “This lawsuit is about two things: property rights and abuse of government process for political gain,” Weekapaug Fire District moderator Bob McCann said of the would-be shore access path in Westerly

By Alex Nunes — The increasingly litigious shoreline fire district wants to end a state review that could result in a new beach right-of-way being designated in Westerly.

By Alex Nunes — Advocates for coastal access point to the town’s tepid pursuit of beach rights-of-way, questionable changes to boat mooring policies, and highly restrictive parking rules in exclusive shoreline areas. Now access advocates say the general public faces a newer threat: Westerly’s own town solicitor. They say his past actions in shoreline access matters continue to raise doubts about whose interests he’s serving in critical ongoing legal cases.

By Alex Nunes — The Westerly-based fire district, a taxing entity with government authorities but no fire department, had blocked information on its website from public view.

By Alex Nunes — The disclosure contradicts characterizations of an agreement made public in July by Rhode Island U.S. Senator Jack Reed.

By Alex Nunes — Council President Edward Morrone had been under scrutiny for his ties to private interests in the Watch Hill community as disputes over shoreline access became a focal point for the Westerly Town Council.

By Alex Nunes — The Weekapaug Fire District has filed a motion in Rhode Island Superior Court, asking a judge to find the town of Westerly in contempt of a decades-old agreement that covers use of a road known as the Sand Trail that runs down the middle of the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach.

By Ryan Blessing — A public hearing on whether Westerly’s Spring Avenue extension should be designated a state public right of way is expected to begin in late June.

By Antonia Noori Farzan — The South Kingstown man just wanted some exercise with an ocean view. But seawalls, "no trespassing" signs and other barriers often block the way.

By Alex Nunes — Public records show Town Council President Edward Morrone accepted $30,000 in consulting fees to “monitor issues” for property owners in the Watch Hill vacation community, an area that's become the focal point of ongoing coastal access debates.

By Alex Nunes — A legal battle over a contested right-of-way to the beach in Westerly has become a flashpoint in the debate over shoreline access.

By Alex Nunes — The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council Rights-of-way Subcommittee will meet Tuesday about a contested path to the shore in Westerly that’s become emblematic of the debate over shoreline access in the Ocean State. If designated public, the path would open a long-closed gateway to one of the most inaccessible, undeveloped beaches in the state.

By Jason Vallee — The Rhode Island Attorney General has returned an opinion to the Coastal Resources Management Council supporting and strongly advising the council to approve and designate Spray Rock Road as a public right of way to the Westerly waterfront.

By Alex Nunes — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is getting involved in a closely-followed case over a contested right-of-way to the shore in South County.

By Alex Nunes — Voters following the 2022 elections in Westerly are witnessing something they haven’t seen in years. Candidates are widely promoting their support for public access to Rhode Island’s shoreline.

By Cynthia Drummond — … An issue that has elicited some of the strongest public engagement in Rhode Island in recent years, access to the shoreline in coastal towns, including Westerly, has been the subject of in-depth coverage by ecoRI News.

By Antonia Noori Farzan — … A few years ago, that would have been unimaginable: Shoreline access was barely on the radar of politicians seeking state-level office. But that's changing, and candidates are realizing the issue has broad popular support among voters who otherwise don't see eye to eye.

By Frank Carini — … “They have a guard posted to be sure no one walks across the walkway to the beach,” he wrote. “Next to their beach entrance is a public right of way that is blocked by a fence. … It is on town property designated as a road on older town plats.”