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There is something so glorious about standing on that edge between land and sea, earth and water, and looking out on a world entirely different from our everyday lives.
There is always something new to see -- the tide has changed, a storm is moving in, or a sailboat race moves slowly across your view. And whether you want to launch a boat or walk the shore, simply getting to the ocean is special.
Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more difficult to reach the coast. A combination of private landownership and development, tourism pressure, and lost knowledge of public rights of way have closed out many of the traditional access points.
Public Lands
Though it might seem that the coast has been balkanized into a never-ending string of McMansions, there are some rays of hope. In some towns, there are still many places to access the sea -- you just have to look for them.
For example, Gloucester, Massachusetts, owns miles of oceanfront beach and parkland that is highly publicized, including the wonderful oceanfront walk along Stacy Boulevard (photo at right) and the adjacent Stage Fort Park.
However, anyone who digs deeper can learn about 25 city-owned "public landings," strips of land where you could walk to the shore. Gloucester's Harbormaster and the city's Waterways Board are charged with maintaining access at these public landings.
There are also many privately owned holdings that are open to visitors, like the MassAudubon property adjacent to Eastern Point Light. Together, these pieces of land allow the general public to access the sea at a large number of locations throughout the city, even if the pieces are small and far between.
We at NESK strongly support the efforts of municipalities and private conservation groups to protect open spaces and allow public access. We expect that all visitors will treat such property with respect, and adhere to the tenets of Leave No Trace when appropriate.
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NESK also supports any reasonable effort necessary to pay for such conservation, including minimal admission or parking fees. If we want to enjoy open spaces, we must be willing to pay for the privilege in order to ward off the developers' irresistable Siren song.
Rights of Way
Rights of way are created by clauses inserted into property deeds that allow public passage across a portion of the property. Once deeded, rights of way are supposed to be permanent, but it is easy for a future landowner to physically block the route and close the right of way if there is no oversight.
Perhaps the most outstanding example of a right of way is the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. This 4-mile trail passes through the backyards of some of the most extraordinary homes in the country, but numerous court battles have held that access is guaranteed by the Rhode Island state constitution.
Even rights of way as popular as the Cliff Walk have seen encroachment. In 1965, owners of a private beach at the southern end of the walk erected a fence in 1965 to keep cliff walkers and locals off their property.
According to Vic Farmer of CliffWalk.com, after researching the deeds the City of Newport realized that "the southerly end of Bellevue Ave., as established in 1852, extended westerly as a 50 ft. public right-of-way to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. This revelation cut an impudent swath in the main area of SRBA's 'private' beach."
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