WPRI — Narragansett mulls fee hikes for town beach

Dec 1, 2022

By Sarah Doiron — NARRAGANSETT, RI — It might be more expensive to visit one of Rhode Island’s most popular beaches next summer.

The Narragansett Parks and Recreation Department is proposing raising daily walk-on and parking fees for Narragansett Town Beach.

The proposed price hikes would increase walk-on admission from $12 to $15, and parking from $10 on weekdays and $15 on weekends to $20 every day.

Narragansett Parks and Recreation Department Director Michelle Kershaw said the beach’s operating income fell by $500,000 last season.

“I think raising fees is a necessity,” Kershaw told the Narragansett Town Council Tuesday night.

Kershaw said even though there’s currently more than $4 million in the Beach Enterprise Fund, there are still a number of reasons why increasing fees would be beneficial.

Those reasons include an increase in minimum wage and the cost for beach supplies and maintenance.

“Running the beach is not ever going to cost us less,” Kershaw said. “It’s only going to cost us more.”

Kershaw also argued that the Beach Enterprise Fund could be easily depleted if the beach were to fall victim to a natural disaster, such as a hurricane.

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