The Westerly Town Council is formally requesting that the U.S. government transfer ownership of a roughly 4-acre shoreline property in Watch Hall to the town instead of the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association.
The decision to seek ownership of the Watch Hill Lighthouse property came in a 5-1 vote during a special meeting convened Monday night to consider a resolution that would also support giving the lighthouse building and other structures on the property to the Lighthouse Keepers and exempting them from town property taxes.
A copy of the resolution will now be sent to U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, whose district includes Westerly, state lawmakers representing the area, the National Parks Service, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the state Coastal Resources Management Council.
Councilor William Aiello, who authored the resolution, called it “a great opportunity for everyone involved.”
Councilor Joy Cordio said she supported the move as a way to ensure public access to the property in the years to come and that passage of the resolution shouldn’t be interpreted as a reflection on the Lighthouse Keepers.
“This is about the land, and it’s not about the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association,” Cordio said. “I’m hopeful that we’re going to have a great partnership that will benefit the public.”
Councilors Dylan LaPietra, Mary Scialabba, and Phil Overton joined Aiello and Cordio in passing the resolution.
Council President Edward Morrone voted against it, saying he was opposed to the process of considering the decision at a special meeting where public comment isn’t allowed instead of at a regular meeting where the council could have heard from the Lighthouse Keepers.
“I cannot support a one-sided document,” Morrone said.
Councilors scheduled the special meeting last week because the transfer agreement between the federal government and Lighthouse Keepers is expected to be finalized soon.
Monday night’s decision reverses course from Westerly’s position under the previous town council, when the town formally supported the Lighthouse Keepers’ application to the federal government for ownership of the property.
Reed announced the impending transfer of the lighthouse property July 9, as part of a group of three approved lighthouse transfers in Rhode Island. Shoreline access advocates quickly responded by asking the current town council to intervene, because they feared transfer of the land to private hands could result in the loss of shoreline access to a peninsula that’s popular with fishermen and sightseers.
Reed’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Before Monday’s meeting, the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association President Ann Snowden Johnson and Vice President Buck Barber expressed disappointment with the current town council’s direction on the matter, saying the town was right when it initially passed on the property when it had an opportunity to seek ownership.
During a tour of the grounds, which the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association has been managing under an agreement with the federal government since 1986, Barber pointed out cracked areas in the seawall that goes around the peninsula and said repairs to reinforce the barrier are expected to cost millions of dollars over the coming years.
He and Johnson said their group was prepared to take on the responsibility of making necessary repairs and pointed out a more than 200 foot section of seawall that was rebuilt after Superstorm Sandy with state grant funding from the Rhode Island Historic Preservation & Heritage Commission and private financial support. They estimated the cost of that work at upwards of $750,000.
“We’re rebuilding what’s falling apart,” Barber said.
Johnson said, “I can’t stress enough how much this is pure devotion and love.”
Johnson said public access would be maintained at the property under the ownership of the non-profit, as required by the federal law that guides the transfer of government lighthouses.
The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act says organizations that assume ownership of lighthouse properties need to make the areas accessible to the general public “at reasonable times and under reasonable conditions.” Shoreline access advocates argue that language is vague and leaves too much open to chance in Watch Hill, where the town and state are now being sued over an access point to another shoreline area in a separate case.
The Lighthouse Keepers shared the “use plan” section of their federal application when asked for documentation on plans for public access in the future. The plan included current policies, like the hours the property is currently open to the public, but not specific commitments for public access to the land that surrounds the lighthouse going forward.
Local fishermen are particularly concerned by the prospect of the transfer to the Lighthouse Keepers because, they say, a gate to the property blocks them from fishing at night. The land is reachable by foot and only accessible by vehicle to people who are elderly or have disabilities.
Current policies posted near the entrance to the property grounds say the area is “only for sightseeing and casual strolling.”
When asked if that means fishing isn’t allowed on the property, Johnson said people can fish on the public trust land adjacent to the lighthouse property.
Johnson would not say whether she was willing to partner with the town going forward, if Westerly wants to own the land. She said she was operating under the conditions that the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association was selected to take ownership of the property and is working toward finalizing its agreement.
Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org
