Legislative Commission To Study Shoreline Access In RI

PROVIDENCE, RI — A special legislative committee has been named to study the issue of public access to the shoreline.

Legislation passed by the House in June authorized a 12-member special commission to provide recommendations relating to lateral access along the Rhode Island shoreline, with a goal of reporting back to the General Assembly next spring.

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi announced the members today:

• Rep. Terri Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown)
• Rep. Blake A. Filippi (R-Dist. 36, New Shoreham, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly)
• Michael Rubin, who will serve as a resident of a coastal community
• Coastal Resources Management Council Executive Director Jeffrey Willis
• David Splaine, representing the Rhode Island Realtors Association
• Julia Wyman, representing the Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant legal program at Roger Williams University
• Dennis Nixon of the Marine Affairs Department at University of Rhode Island
• Save The Bay Executive Director Jonathan Stone
• Land use attorney Mark P. McKenney
• Mark Boyer of the Rhode Island Society of Professional Land Surveyors
• Retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Flaherty
• A representative of the Attorney General’s Office with experience in shoreline access issues, to be appointed by the attorney general.

An organizational meeting is planned Thursday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. at the State House.

The right of Rhode Islanders to access the shoreline was written into the state constitution in 1843. Yet conflict remains over the legal boundary between public shoreline and private property.

The state Supreme Court in 1882 established the boundary at the mean high tide line, defined as the average of high tides over an 18.6-year cycle. As such, the boundary is constantly changing and hard to define. In 1986, voters supported an amendment to the state constitution strengthening the description of the privileges to the shore enjoyed by Rhode Islanders. Yet conflict has been escalating in shoreline communities in recent years.

“There have been disagreements about where the public’s access ends and private property begins for centuries. While there have been efforts to clarify the public’s rights over the years, rising sea levels and erosion are changing the coast, and creating more conflicts along the way,” said Rep. Cortvriend, who sponsored the legislation. “There are many questions about how Rhode Island is supposed to determine and protect access rights, and we need to identify some clearer answers. I very much look forward to the interesting and important work of this commission.”