Surfrider Asks Rhode Island Supreme Court to Uphold Public Access Along Beaches

The Surfrider Foundation has urged the Rhode Island Supreme Court to uphold the public’s longstanding right of passage along Rhode Island beaches, including the right to walk or otherwise pass along dry sand above the water. Earlier today, on behalf of its Rhode Island Chapter and University of Rhode Island school club, Surfrider filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief with the State’s highest court, encouraging the Court to uphold a 2023 law that recognizes and protects that right. The 2023 law clarified the landward extent to which Rhode Islanders and visitors can enjoy lateral access along the state’s beaches - articulated as generally 10 feet inland from a visible mark on the ground, such as seaweed, indicating the high tide line. After the bill passed, some beachfront property owners sued the State, arguing that it takes away their private property right to exclude, without just compensation. However, no right to exclude exists where Rhode Island’s background principles of property law, as recognized in the State Constitution and judicial cases, have provided that public right of passage for generations. 

With our recreational user perspective, Surfrider’s brief tells the Court about the numerous traditional beach uses that stand to be impacted. For generations, Rhode Island beaches have been a traditional place for the community to gather, with individuals and families seeking out the sand for quiet rest and relaxation, recreation, and fishing. Surfrider members, who include parents and families, surfers, marine biologists, educators, students, watermen and women, fishers, and other beach lovers, enjoy strolling on the beach for meditation, recreation, exercise, or to simply soak in the sunrise or sunset and sound of the waves. Surfrider members also pass along the beach while providing coastal stewardship, whether testing water quality at 25 popular Rhode Island beaches, or cleaning trash from the sandy and rocky shores at bi-monthly beach cleanups. All of these activities stand to be impacted by this Court’s decision in this case.

Surfrider’s brief also tells the Court how the State law creates certainty for our members as to the upland boundary of the public’s use rights. Beachgoers are unable to determine the “mean high water line” boundary, a line mentioned in court decisions representing the boundary between public and private beach ownership, which (1) can only be determined through specialized surveying equipment, (2) varies based on the local beach conditions, and (3) is underwater for several hours each day. Instead, the 2023 law allows beachgoers to determine, with their eyes, and based on physical markers such as seaweed, shells, or other debris left by the tide, where they can be on the beach (check out Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s summary of the law and diagram here). Surfrider’s brief explains to the Court how striking down the current framework would unfairly place the burden of uncertainty on the public. This could have negative repercussions on the state’s coastal recreation and tourism economy. 

Surfrider was pleased to file the brief jointly with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and is grateful for Rhode Island attorney Sean Lyness’s generous representation on the brief.