The U.S. General Services Administration says the town of Westerly will be given time to research whether the public has the legal right to use an access road leading to the popular Watch Hill Lighthouse property before the federal government transfers the land and buildings to a private non-profit.
The Department of Interior recommended earlier this year that ownership of the property be awarded to the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association, which has helped manage the property since the 1980s. The General Services Administration is tasked with finalizing the transfer.
The non-profit group has told the federal government it intends to keep the property open to the public but can’t guarantee access to the land over Lighthouse Road, which the group believes is private.
“Prior to conveying the Lighthouse, the General Services Administration is waiting for the results of ongoing research and analysis by the Town of Westerly’s solicitor regarding the status of Lighthouse Road,” GSA spokesperson Paul Hughes confirmed in an email on Thursday.
The development follows discussions between state elected officials – state Sen. Victoria Gu, state Rep. Tina Spears, and state Rep. Terri Cortvriend – and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office.
Spears said this week she and others conveyed the concerns of constituents who are worried access to the property, which is an important spot to fish for recreation and sustenance, could be threatened by transferring the land to a private group.
Spears said she believes protections for public access need to be worked into the documents that finalize the transfer and that unresolved questions about public access over Lighthouse Road should be addressed before the land is given to the Lighthouse Keepers.
“We don’t want them to proceed with a bad agreement. That’s for darn sure,” Spears said in an interview this week. “We don’t want to codify anything until we have a clear history on that road, because that’s really the linchpin of all of this.”
Spears said, “It’s going to be clear that there’s full access before the federal government signs any agreement with the Lighthouse Keepers. That’s my goal.”
Spears called the lighthouse property “one of the premier spots” along Rhode Island’s coast, highlighting the historical use of the property by tourists and fishermen. She said the response so far from the public should help ensure a more thorough review.
“I think there’s enough attention to the issue, and there’s enough inquiry around it,” Spears said. “I suspect they’re not just going to run roughshod over these questions.”
Sen. Reed’s office announced in July that the federal government intends to give the property to the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association, calling the decision and two other lighthouse transfers a “win for the community.”
The announcement to give the property to the Lighthouse Keepers under a process outlined by the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act quickly sparked pushback from some shoreline access advocates, who petitioned Reed’s office, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, and members of the Westerly Town Council.
Shoreline access advocates say they are wary of the Lighthouse Keepers, in part, because of complaints about security guards and existing access restrictions at the property raised by fishermen, and the actions taken by other groups in Watch Hill they say are aimed at privatizing the area.
Earlier this year, the Watch Hill Fire District and Watch Hill Conservancy filed a lawsuit against the town of Westerly and state of Rhode Island in a separate case, challenging the public’s legal right to access Napatree Point.
The fire district told its taxpayers actions by the town “could result in a 20-foot wide road” over beach dunes, a suggestion that has alarmed people concerned about environmental conservation in the Watch Hill area. Westerly has not proposed a road project but has taken preliminary steps towards placing a marker near Napatree Point indicating a public right-of-way was designated to the beach and conservation area for the public to walk on.
Responding to shoreline access advocates’ concerns about the lighthouse property, the Westerly Town Council voted in July to formally request that the town be given the lighthouse land, reversing a previous council’s decision to take a pass on the property. Westerly’s Harbor Management Commission also recommended the town propose recreational activities the Lighthouse Keepers have not committed to.
A transfer to the town is considered unlikely at this stage in the process, in large part due to strict protocols for historic lighthouse transfer decisions under federal law.
Westerly Town Council President William Aiello said the town’s solicitor, William Conley, has begun researching Lighthouse Road and hired a title searcher.
“Things are on track right now,” Aiello said. “The research is ongoing.”
Aiello said he hoped to have an update from the solicitor at a town council meeting in November. Aiello said he currently does not consider the matter to be a source of potential litigation.
When it applied for ownership of the property, the Lighthouse Keepers group said it was unable to guarantee public access to the property, because “no express access easement of record” exists over Lighthouse Road.
Property owners on the lighthouse peninsula submitted matching letters of support for the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association, or WHKLA, saying they trust “WHLKA to manage the public access in a safe manner that balances the public interest in the historic lighthouse and grounds with the private interests of the Lighthouse Road owners.”
Rules posted at the beginning of the road say foot traffic is allowed down to the lighthouse, but vehicle use is restricted to the elderly and people with disabilities. A sign posted on the lighthouse land says recreational activities at the property are restricted to “sightseeing and casual strolling.” A notice on the Lighthouse Keepers’ website under the visitor info section says “No Recreational Activities.”
The current federal license agreement to help run the property says sport activities like frisbee, badminton and horseshoes are not allowed on the lighthouse property lawn because the protective top soil is “environmentally sensitive.” The 20-year license, signed in August 2018, says “passive recreation,” strolling, sunbathing, and picnicking are allowed.
The area is open from 8 a.m. to sunset, which fishermen say creates an impediment to fishing during prime overnight hours.
Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org
