The Public’s Radio — Members named to new state commission on shoreline access in Rhode Island
Private security guards patrol the beach in South Kingstown near Charlestown Town Beach.
PHOTO BY ALEX NUNES
Aug 11, 2021
By Alex Nunes — State lawmakers are taking another step forward in their plans to examine shoreline access in Rhode Island with appointments to a new House commission.
The House commission, which is being formed as the debate over shoreline access intensifies in coastal communities, will study the issue with the goal of presenting its findings and recommendations to House lawmakers next spring.
The 12 appointed members come to the commission from different areas of expertise and shoreline communities. They are:
Representatives Terri Cortvriend (D-Portsmouth, Middletown) and Blake Filippi (R- New Shoreham, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly)
Former assistant attorney general for Rhode Island Michael Rubin
Jeffrey Willis, executive director of the state Coastal Resources Management Council
David Splaine, of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors
Julia Wyman, of Roger Williams University’s Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant legal program
Dennis Nixon, of the Marine Affairs Department at the University of Rhode Island
Jonathan Stone, executive director of Save The Bay
Mark McKenney, land use attorney
Mark Boyer, of the Rhode Island Society of Professional Land Surveyors
Retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Francis Flaherty
And a member of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office with shoreline access experience
The commission evolved out of a House bill that sought to clarify shoreline rights by exempting from trespass charges people within 10 feet of the most recent high tideline. That proposal faced stiff opposition from property owners and failed to gain necessary support for passage.
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