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. 

The Rhode Island Constitution guarantees shoreline rights to the public but does not make mention of where those rights end and private property rights begin. The state’s highest court ruled nearly 40 years ago that the public needs to stay below the 18.6-year mean high tide line. Advocates for shoreline access say that boundary is too hard to identify and leads to disputes between property owners and beachgoers. 

Rep. Cortvriend, who sponsored the bill to form the commission, said rising sea levels and coastal erosion are compounding factors. 

“There are many questions about how Rhode Island is supposed to determine and protect access rights,” Cortvriend said in a press release, “and we need to identify some clearer answers.”

The new commission will meet Thursday, Aug. 26, at the State House.

Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org.

Alex oversees the three local bureaus at The Public’s Radio, and staffs the desk for our South County Bureau. Alex was previously the co-host and co executive producer of The Public's Radio podcast,...