It’s about to get a lot more expensive to visit the beach … unless you live within walking distance.
By Linda Felaco
UPDATE: for the outcome of the Town Council's action on beach fees, click here.
At the October Town Council Meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Primiano proposed allowing residents to purchase as many beach stickers as they had vehicles registered in and paying taxes to Charlestown, rather than the current limit of two per household. As I wrote at the time, I thought this was a good idea and only fair.
At the October Town Council Meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Primiano proposed allowing residents to purchase as many beach stickers as they had vehicles registered in and paying taxes to Charlestown, rather than the current limit of two per household. As I wrote at the time, I thought this was a good idea and only fair.
But I never heard any follow-up on the issue and it slid off my radar screen until this recent bout of springlike weather, which got me thinking about summer and beach stickers.
Then the agenda was posted for Monday night’s Town Council meeting (which, as a reminder, is being held at the elementary school and therefore won’t be live on Clerkbase, only taped). And there on the agenda were the new fees for beach stickers and no mention of raising the two-vehicle limit. Though at these exorbitant new rates, I doubt many people will want more than two and may even just limit themselves to one.
First off, the prices are being raised 33% for residents (from $45 to $60) and a whopping 60% for seniors (from $25 to $40). Daily rates are increasing by 50%, and the weekend rate at the town beach is doubling from $10 to $20.
This comes on top of the tax increase we’re already paying for the new beach pavilions.
In comparison, the rates for the state beaches are as follows:
Residents
Weekday $10
Weekend $14
Season pass $60
Non-residents (non-RI plates)
Weekday $24
Weekend $28
Season Pass $120
Seniors 65+ half price
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| Don't forget to e-mail your entry in the First (maybe Last) Progressive Charlestown Peeps contest. |
Note that a pass for the state beaches allows you to visit any state beach, including Charlestown Breachway. Though unlike Charlestown, the state does not sell resident passes to owners of RI property who live out of state.
And to top it all off, the Town Council is planning to slip these increases through under “consent agenda,” meaning no discussion, no vote, just approval. At the agenda-setting meeting on Wednesday, Councilor Lisa DiBello expressed concern about it being on the consent agenda, however, so she may make a motion Monday night to remove it from the consent agenda. If you’d like to encourage her to do so, her e-mail address is lisa.dibello@charlestownri.org.
We will try to get you more details about why the Parks and Recreation Commission proposed these large increases, if at all possible before Monday night’s Town Council meeting.
