A public path to the shore

Looking at Weekapaug, showing the breachway, jetty, channel, Fenway Beach and oceanfront homes.

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

This will drive some affluent summer people bonkers but Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Peter Neronha  rightfully expressed his “strong support” for making the “Spring Avenue Extension” and a sand path in Westerly’s exclusive Weekapaug section a state-recognized public right-of-way to the beach.

Well-heeled locals understandably have tried to block the public from this passage but there’s plenty of  historical evidence that supports the public’s right to use this route. Legal decisions and disputes involving access to the ocean in New England go back to colonial days. 

“It is time to ensure Spring Avenue is permanently and forever public and free of the private encroachments that have unlawfully hindered access to the shore in recent decades,” Mr. Neronha told the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council.

Will this be a precedent for ending other Rhode Island shoreline-access disputes?