If we reserved spots for the residents, is it realistic for us to say we’re going to refuse paying customers just in case residents come down to fill up these extra 50 spots?” he asked. In an attempt to respond to concerns and attenuate what had become a heated conversation, Farrell spoke up: “It’s a public beach. “If you don't live in town and you don't respect the environment, you're not going to take care of the way we would.” Massa said her main concern regarding the beach’s apparent attraction of out-of-towners is due to the disrespect and lack of care she feels they exhibit toward the town. “And as I'm talking to all these different people over the course of the summer, I’m thinking: They have a state beach, why aren’t they accessing it? Why come all this way?” “I’ve met people from Berkley, Assonet, Taunton,” remarked Massa. Some residents claim that out-of-towners form a line down South Shore Road nearly an hour before the morning opening to claim their seaside spot. for out-of-towners, but the Commission urges Little Compton residents to get there earlier to beat the crowd –– the gates open at 5 a.m. I don't think it's fair.”Ĭurrently, South Shore Beach opens at 8 a.m. “Especially people that are older that have some ambulatory problems. I don't think it's fair that we have to rush to the gate to get in there in the morning,” he said, referring to the beach’s 8 a.m. “For a town who has the highest senior population in the state of Rhode Island, we need an accessible beach. She recalls that many times she attempted to give South Shore another chance, the final straw was her getting urinated on by a neighboring child “too close” to her spot in the sand.Ī final point brought up by the group was the issue of accessibility –– an area in which Raposo believes the beach lacks. Massa, a long-time Little Compton resident, said she has given up trying to get into the beach on those “ridiculously crowded” summer days, but not for a lack of trying. “None of your solutions would collect the money that we need.” these are the bare minimum costs,” she said. “Lifeguard salaries, dumpsters, porta-Johns, maintaining the parking lot. With a budget of around $230,000, Beach Commissioner Samantha Snow regarded the abundance of sticker sales as “extremely necessary.” Snow explained that stickers and camper permits are the commission's only source of income –– it is not funded by taxpayer money and is entirely self-supporting. “They just hope that everybody doesn't show up at the same time,” Massa posited. The commission confirmed that in 2021, Little Compton sold 391 seasonal passes, 3,271 weekend passes, and 6,095 weekday passes, and that the parking lot can fit 250 cars. The “incredible overcrowding” due to the beach’s “overselling” of beach stickers is something that disgruntled local, Sheri Massa, believes should be re-examined. The beach situation in Little Compton gets more and more dire every summer, agreed the group of displeased residents, and it's not just the constant accumulation of rocks that are the issue. “If you were turned around, it was because you weren’t identified properly as a town resident.” Not one resident was turned around,” Farrell insisted. Raposo and a few like-minded residents told commission members that they disapprove of the “shunning” that town residents reportedly receive when the beach parking lot fills up, a point strongly contested by Jim Farrell, the beach’s manager. And it’s very difficult for the residents to have access to beach.” “We’re not getting a good quality of life,” stated Raposo, who has lived in Little Compton since 2020. The group, led by resident Jeff Raposo, sought to inform the commissioners of their critiques on the beach’s alleged pitfalls: Overcrowding, inaccessibility, and what some say is unfair preference for out-of-towners. With the summer season rapidly approaching, a handful of Little Compton residents –– a crowd, by the small town’s standards –– sat in on the Beach Commission meeting last Tuesday to air their grievances about South Shore Beach.
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