WESTERLY – In the latest of a series of shoreline access disputes, the Weekapaug Fire District has filed a lawsuit contesting a path's proposed status as a public accessway to the shore.
The lawsuit, filed on Dec. 22 in R.I. Superior Court, is the fire district's most recent move opposing the proposal and holds that a 50-foot-wide strip known as the Spring Avenue Extension has been private property since at least 1884.
But shoreline advocates and some town representatives have opposed this claim and called on the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council for further review, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Inc. has alleged that the Weekapaug Fire District has engaged in legal and ethical concerns throughout the dispute.
A Westerly town councilor previously said the community would continue to push for public shoreline access via the pathway unless a court decision prohibits this passage, according to the lawsuit.
The fire district names the town of Westerly, the CRMC and R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, as well as numerous officials belonging to each office or organization, as defendants.
Earlier this month, the ACLU of Rhode Island sent a letter to the Weekapaug Fire District alleging that the district was concealing information that should be publicly accessible on its website.
The fire district made that information available following the ACLU's warning, said ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown, with the exception of one informational link that the letter called for.
In addition to looking into the most recent lawsuit, Brown said the ACLU sent a second letter "after the district sent threatening subpoena letters to donors to a GoFundMe page to raise money in the shore access proceeding involving the district at the CRMC."
Brown said Wednesday he hasn't received a response from the district to the second letter.
In an emailed statement, Weekapaug Fire District moderator Bob McCann said the lawsuit "is about two things: property rights and abuse of government process for political gain.
"Even though the Town of Westerly has documented many times since the 1800s that this land is private, they have advocated for a CRMC process that would take away our property rights," McCann said. "By filing this suit, we are asking for relief from this abuse of government resources and asking the Court to end the posturing and this frivolous action against us."
The CRMC, Westerly Town Council and the R.I. Office of the Attorney General did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
