The Public’s Radio — ‘They want us out of here’: How private interests blocked the public from one R.I. barrier beach

The view towards Charlestown on the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach.
PHOTO BY ALEX NUNES

By Alex Nunes — The story of shoreline access in many parts of Rhode Island is one of haves and have nots. Come summer, fortunate oceanside property owners have it. Others have to fight for parking spots and somewhere to lay their beach blankets. The Quonochontaug Barrier Beach in Westerly and Charlestown is one place largely cut off to the public. For years, people used it freely. But today the beach is tightly controlled by a network of fire districts and conservation groups that has made it a flashpoint in the growing debate over shoreline access.

When you walk the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach, you’re hard pressed to spot signs of human development—no seaside cottages, luxurious summer getaways, telephone poles, or paved roads. Piping plovers live here, but people don’t. 

The barrier beach starts in the Weekapaug section of Westerly and is wedged between Quonochontaug Pond and the Atlantic. Look south, and you see ocean waves, boats out on the water, and Block Island on the horizon. On a clear day, you can even see Long Island. 

It feels a world away from the bustle and noise of the state beaches, and that’s the way property owners in the Weekapaug section of Westerly like it and have fought to keep it. Today, they’re in a high stakes fight to keep one contested right of way at the start of the barrier closed off to the public. 

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