The Boston Globe — The view of R.I. beach access from a private beachfront home

Keith Wilcox on a stretch of beach by his property in South Kingstown. BRIAN AMARAL

Sep 9, 2021

By Brian Amaral — While activists are pushing for more access to the shore, property owners are trying to balance their own rights with the public’s

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RI — Keith Wilcox is the first one to tell you he loves the beach. He loves bringing his dog, an English setter named Brady, to romp off-leash in the sand. He loves the house he bought in 2004 along the beach in South Kingstown, which he calls Second Day. That is the day, in the Genesis account, that God created the seas.

He understands why everyone else loves the beach, too. What he cannot understand, and certainly does not love: People smoking cigarettes and starting fires on private land. The town of Charlestown filling its parking lot to the gills, raking in a ton of money but letting the problem spill over into adjacent South Kingstown. And the whole debate over beach access that seems to entirely miss the fact that people still have private property rights.

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