A pair of bills sponsored by Sen. Victoria Gu, Rep. Terri Cortvriend and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty to strengthen access to public rights of way to the shore have become law.
One of the bills (2025-S 0716aa, 2025-H 6093Aaa) sets requirements that municipalities, private agencies and other organizations would have to follow before they could reduce or restrict parking near public rights of way designated as such by the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). These requirements would include submitting a comprehensive parking plan, analyzing the impact on accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act and conducting a public comment period of at least 30 days. It would also allow the CRMC and DEM to enforce these requirements and impose fines of up to $500 per day of noncompliance.
The bill was signed into law Friday after being approved by lawmakers June 20. “Sometimes, local governments — often pressured by nearby property owners — will remove or reduce public parking near beach access points. This makes it harder for the public to visit, since fewer people will come if they can’t park nearby. This legislation provides guardrails and a public, transparent process if there is any effort to reduce or restrict the parking available near a CRMC-designated right of way to the shore,” said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown).
Said Representative Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown), “Public access to nature has long been imperiled in Rhode Island by a lack of specific laws protecting it. In this case, we’re recognizing that needlessly making parking difficult is a back-door way of preventing the public from making use of public rights of way, and that it’s not consistent with the spirit of our state’s constitutionally guaranteed shoreline access right.”
In recent years, changes to parking near public rights of way have drawn complaints from members of the public who say that they serve to restrict public access to only those who already live on the waterfront.
Senator Gu and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown) were the sponsors of another bill (2025-H 5686, 2025-S 0626) to require municipalities to maintain and update a list of CRMC designated rights of way to tidal areas. That bill was approved by the General Assembly June 17 and was signed into law by the governor June 23.
“Public rights of way shouldn’t be a secret known only to a select group of people — they are public, and meant so everyone can access the shore. This will make it easier for people to get to our shore areas, and sends a clear message that each of these rights of way is open to everyone,” said Representative Fogarty.