Activist claims victory after 'private property' sign next to Charlestown Beach is removed

If you head to Charlestown Town Beach this weekend, you may notice something missing.

There's no longer a massive sign at the eastern end of the beach that says "Town Beach Property Ends Here – Private Property Beyond This Point – No Trespassing."

That's a significant victory, says Scott Keeley, an activist who describes the sign and the security guard who were once stationed there as "the Lexington and Concord of our Rhode Island shoreline conflict."

Keeley, who was arrested while gathering seaweed beyond the sign in 2019, had been campaigning to get it taken down for years. And he credited state Sen. Victoria Gu, D-Westerly, with helping to make that happen.

Under Rhode Island's new shoreline access law, the public has the right to use any beach as long as they're no more than 10 feet above the seaweed line. So, legally, people could walk right past the sign without trespassing on private property.

But the average beachgoer wouldn't necessarily know that – which is why activists like Keeley found the sign to be misleading and wanted it taken down.

Why the sign became a flashpoint

Rhode Island's coastline is riddled with misleading, inaccurate and illegal signs, and the one that stood at the edge of Charlestown Town Beach is just one example. But it's a case study that demonstrates how beaches get blocked off to the public and how activists are fighting back.

According to Keeley, the intimidating-looking sign appeared in 2018 or 2019. Fencing, which sometimes reached all the way to the water's edge, went up alongside it. Then, a private security company was hired to keep beachgoers away.

The sign was "the start," but the security guard was "the bridge too far," Keeley said. "It turned Charlestown Beach into 'Not yours.'"

Keeley was arrested in 2019 after the security guard called the police and claimed he was trespassing. The charges were dropped and Keeley later won a settlement, but the incident sparked a movement to reclaim Rhode Islanders' right to use the shoreline in the face of increasing privatization.

The law that passed this year was arguably the biggest victory yet — but Keeley remained frustrated by the continued presence of the sign and the security guard, which deterred people from exercising their rights.

Earlier this summer, he launched a successful pressure campaign to get rid of the security guard. And he also renewed his push to have the sign taken down.

"For years, many people – it wasn’t just me – looked at it, and said 'How could that possibly be permitted?" Keeley said.

Signage and fencing expanded over time

Before property owners can erect signs or fences on the beach, they need permission from the state Coastal Resources Management Council.

Keeley said that he and others repeatedly asked the CRMC why this particular sign was allowed, and were told it had a permit. Then, earlier this summer, he asked for a copy and was sent the full assent, which detailed all the stipulations.

As it turned out, the CRMC had approved a sign and a fence — but not the sign and fence that Keeley objected to.

Back in 2005, a Connecticut couple who owned the property next to Charlestown Town Beach had proposed installing snow fencing to protect the fragile dunes. They also asked to put up a 4-foot-high sign saying "No Trespassing – Private Property."

The CRMC gave them the OK, warning the sign could not "preclude the public from exercising their shoreline privileges that are guaranteed by the Rhode Island State Constitution."

In 2018, the property changed hands. The new sign that went up around that time had different wording, was larger than what the CRMC had approved, and was about 9 feet tall, Keeley estimates. And by the time of his arrest, the fencing wasn't protecting the just dunes, but also blocking off a large portion of the beach.

It's not clear who was behind the changes. The current owner, Stephanie Roberge of Fairfield, Connecticut, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Keeley said he'd gotten the impression that a neighborhood association put up the sign and hired the security guard, rather than a specific homeowner. (Notably, two of the directors of Rhode Island Association of Coastal Taxpayers, a new group that's suing to overturn the shoreline access law, own beachfront property beyond the sign.)

CRMC demands the sign be removed

In June, the CRMC notified Roberge that the snow-fencing wasn't authorized and that the sign didn't comply with the original permit. This month, the agency issued an official notice of violation, saying that the sign had had to be removed by Aug. 18.

CRMC spokeswoman Laura Dwyer confirmed on Wednesday that the property owner took down the sign. (The fencing is still up, Keeley said.)

"This took a lot of back-and-forth between myself, Coastal Resources Management Council of Rhode Island and the property owner, but the large No Trespassing sign right by Charlestown Town Beach is finally gone!" Gu wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. She added: "This was just one example of the many shoreline signs that mislead the public, but it was one of the most prominent."

The frustrating thing, Keeley said, was that it took the CRMC so long to act. Until Gu got involved, he said, he didn't see much progress.

"You wonder how it was up for an hour, let alone four years," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Charlestown Beach 'private property' sign is removed after controversy