July 19, 2023 6:02 pm • Last Updated: July 19, 2023 7:19 pm
A new Rhode Island law promises the public beach access 10-feet landward of the seaweed line in front of Taylor Swift’s mansion in Watch Hill, as it appeared July 17.
No one was using the 10-foot zone landward of the seaweed line on the Ocean House beach, as it appeared July 17, despite a new state law giving the public access, contrary to the sign posted here.
I should say right up front that I am not criticizing Taylor Swift here.
I got in a lot of trouble for that once. Indeed, I’m much better off criticizing Donald Trump. His defenders can be much less vicious.
Besides, she seems like a very nice person. Never mind her remarkable talents.
Pictures of Swift’s incredible Watch Hill mansion have turned up in some of the national coverage of Rhode Island’s new law improving public beach access.
After all, it ’s a good visual, presenting the contrast between grand oceanfront houses and the improved access that the public will have on the beaches in front of them.
The new law builds on the language in Rhode Island’s constitution that guarantees access to the shoreline to gather seaweed, walk, fish or swim.
Alas, a 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision muddied the access question, introducing a measure of property ownership by a mean high-water calculation that was hard to determine and not apparent on the beach.
The new law establishes that the public has access to an area 10 feet landward of the seaweed, or “wrack” line, on the sand.
It’s a huge win for beach access advocates in Rhode Island who have been chased off beaches in many communities, where land owners have hired guards, posted “no trespassing” signs and even called police when bathers ventured along the tide line.
Property owners have already formed an association and filed suit claiming the new law is a taking of their private property without compensation.
Their lawyers will surely make a profit, but it may be a long slog to try to get a court to renege on what the state’s constitution guarantees.
The new law assures lateral access along the shoreline, but does not provide access to the beaches across any private property or disputed public rights of way.
Different battles over that kind of access to the beaches in Westerly are beginning. The Watch Hill Fire District is suing the town over a road the town says now provides public access to Napatree Point beaches. And Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is urging the Coastal Resources Management Council to declare a dormant town road access to the main beach in Weekapaug.
The new lateral access law says that the public is not entitled to use decks, equipment and furniture that beach owners may have in the 10-foot zone above the seaweed line.
The law also excludes “legally permitted” sea walls.
That means the sea wall that Taylor Swift built some years ago at the base of her hillside down to the beach is not open to the public. There are fences and “no trespassing” signs not far up that wall, and those are still appropriately and legally suggesting the public stay out.
But there is no longer any question that the public is welcome on the sand in front of Swift’s house, and people were using it one sunny afternoon I visited this week.
Indeed, the public access at East Beach in Watch Hill is very good and welcoming, including a well-tended walk from the road to the beach, alongside Swift’s property. If you can afford $40 to park your car in the village, you’re good to go.
I noticed on my visit that the public is still respecting private beach signs posted in front of the Ocean House hotel’s extensive beachfront with its lounges and cabanas.
There was no one in the 10-foot zone between the obvious seaweed line and the nearby hotel lounges, despite the beach being otherwise very crowded.
I expect that extra 10 feet of sand will fill in soon. That will still leave plenty of room for hotel guests, who pay a lot more than $40 for a visit.
This is the opinion of David Collins
d.collins@theday.com
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