Spring Letter 2024

May 8, 2024

To Watch Hill Fire District Residents and Property Owners:

We hope everyone has had a good “off season!” Things are finally beginning to bloom here in Watch Hill and we look forward to seeing many of you soon. We write to let you know that WHFD “Spring Packets” may be picked up this year in the lower level of the Fire House between 9am and 1pm each of the three days of Memorial Day Weekend. These packets will include summer updates and Residence Parking Stickers where applicable. In addition, we are writing to briefly update you on the ongoing litigation.

As you may recall, the WHFD and The Watch Hill Conservancy (WHC) were compelled to file a complaint against the Town of Westerly with the Rhode Island Superior Court last May to prevent them from a “taking” that could result in a 20-foot wide road or right of way from Bay Street, through downtown parking, all the way through the Napatree Point dunes. While there has been much debate about the Town Council’s true intentions, the most recent documents filed with the Superior Court on February 27, 2024 on behalf of the Town of Westerly clearly state, among other things, that:

“(t)he Town alleges that Fort Road, the “Public Access Easement”, is a public road. Therefore, the rights of the public exceed what is defined in the Conservation Easement. The public may exercise rights consistent with those of any other public road. This includes the ability to walk, run, ride a bike, drive a car or motorcycle, and drive a street legal and registered dirt bike.” ¹

There can be no further ambiguity. The Town of Westerly has stated under oath that the public has the right to drive cars, motorcycles and dirt bikes through the heavily congested parking lots, pedestrian access paths and down the center of the dunes of the Napatree Point Conservation Area. These activities would do irreparable harm to this fragile ecosystem. They are not only inconsistent with the Conservation Easement and the ownership rights, they also would violate Town of Westerly ordinances and RI CRMC regulations. Neither the WHFD, nor WHC can allow this destruction to happen and we will continue to fight to preserve and protect Napatree and our community.

We continue to believe the Town’s efforts are misinformed and misguided, under the guise of promoting “public access.” Frankly, we do not believe these views represent the majority of citizens of Westerly, many of whom enjoy Napatree regularly. This is not about access. As our complaint states, “WHFD and WHC do not seek through this lawsuit to end or curtail the public’s access to the Protected Property.” We have permitted and encouraged pedestrian access, consistent with our conservation and preservation efforts, for well over 50 years and as pledged in the Conservation Easement, are committed to continue such as long as it remains consistent with the conservation efforts. Napatree Point is open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Over 40,000 visits occur annually. This is not about access.

We will continue to update you as we have more information to share regarding the litigation. Please visit the https://watchhillfiredistrict.org to stay up to date on community activities. The Spring Letters from the Park Commission and Fire Department will be posted soon to the website and included in your packets, containing more and exciting information.

We hope many of you will stop by the Fire House to collect your packets over Memorial Day Weekend. They will be held at the District Office in the basement of the firehouse at 222 Watch Hill Road. After Memorial Day weekend, through Labor Day weekend, the packets can be picked up during regular office hours Saturdays 9:00 am-noon. More hours to be posted on the website soon. To authorize someone to pick up your packet for you, or should special circumstances require a different pickup time, please email admin@watchhillfiredistrict.org or call the office 401-348-6540 to make arrangements.

Sincerely,