The Boston Globe — Life, liberty, and the right to a beach cabana?

Written By Cate Brown
For $2,500 a year, residents can rent a beach cabana at Narragansett Town Beach. But a pages-long waiting list, and barely any turnover, means most won't ever get the chance. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF

For $2,500 a year, residents can rent a beach cabana at Narragansett Town Beach. But a pages-long waiting list, and barely any turnover, means most won't ever get the chance. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF

Aug 25, 2021

By Brian Amaral — Some Narragansett residents up in arms over the possibility of term limits for coveted cabanas.

NARRAGANSETT, RI — Melissa Kells-Burdick put herself on the waitlist for a Narragansett Town Beach cabana right around the time her youngest son was born. She had two other little kids at the time, and a cabana would have been a convenient way to store her stuff while she was toting her youngins to the beach.

Her youngest son is now 13. Her other children are 16 and 18, now too old to be toted anywhere. And yet she’s still on the waiting list — closer to the top, tantalizingly close, but not close enough to actually get there: She’s No. 17 out of 348 people who want a prized beach cabana. They cost $2,500 a year to rent, but in addition to the storage space and showers, they include a dedicated parking spot by a more secluded stretch of sand, as well as guest passes.

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Cate Brown
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