tly crashing) - [Isabella] Narragansett Town Beach, buffeted by warm southwest winds and gentle waves, it's known as the best place in the state to learn how to surf.

- That sea wall blocks all that disruption and filters a nice little wave for kids to learn on.

- [Isabella] Conrad Ferla taught surf lessons at this beach for more than 20 years, and it's where he got his start.

- And I would take my boat down to the river mouth and would surf all day.

- [Isabella] But in the last 20 years, that's become more and more difficult.

- And I've just seen in my lifetime it become more restrictive, harder to get to, and downright kind of strange and exclusionary.

- The character of Narragansett that most Rhode Islanders or people from New England would think of when they think of Narragansett and Narragansett Town Beach is, this is a middle class vacation area.

- [Isabella] Alex Nunes has reported on the debate over coastal access for The Public's Radio.

- Now there's this perception that Narragansett is becoming something different.

People have bought these small cottages on these lots, tore them down and put up, you know, what people refer to as like a McMansion vacation home.

So there's this feeling that this middle class vacation town has been lost in recent decades, or is at least under threat.

- What are some of the developments that we've seen in recent years when it comes to access at Narragansett Town Beach?

- So in recent years, the price of admissions onto the beach has gone up.

- [Isabella] In 2011, it cost $5 per person for a day pass.

Today it costs $12 per person.

- People from out of town used to be able to get seasonal beach passes, they can't anymore.

- [Isabella] And beach parking has become more difficult for out-of-towners.

In 2011, all day parking along Narragansett Avenue became time restricted to two hours.

Then a trolley service from overflow lots to the beach was discontinued.

In the beach parking area, the Cabana, North, and South lots, which total to about 800 spaces are for residents only.

The West lot with about 180 spaces, is open to everyone else.

On weekdays, after 1:00 PM the town can open up an additional 45 spots in the South lot to the general public.

But activists say they rarely do.

- And there are some people in Narragansett who think these changes haven't gone far enough.

- [Isabella] After a fight broke out on the beach in 2021, one resident circulated an email suggesting that the town limit buses stopping in Narragansett that non-residents enter the beach through a separate entrance.

And that non-residents should have their bags checked for weapons.

(waves crashing) - It's not by design to limit access.

It's a result of the situation that we see on the beach.

- [Isabella] Tom Warren, resident and former chairman of the Narragansett Recreational Advisory Board says, "Changes like the fee increase are for practical reasons."

- So we put two lifeguards in every chair, the diesel fuel to run the tractor that goes up and down the beach and rakes the beach every single morning.

And you know these things, you know, they cost money.

The entry fee, the parking fees are funding all the activities at the beach.

There's no town tax dollars, no residential tax dollars that go into running the beach.

- [Isabella] The revenue also feeds into a fund for maintenance and repairs in case of natural disasters.

As of 2023, it has a $5.1 million balance.

And with respect to the overflow parking and trolley to the beach, Town Council President Ewa Dzwierzynski says it's a matter of fiscal responsibility.

- It's just became more of a liability issue.

And I was not about to take that risk and bankrupt our our town.

- [Michelle] As for limiting public parking to the West lot, resident Gail Scowcroft supported the move.

- As a resident living two blocks from the beach, I'd have to get to the beach at 8:30 in the morning to get a parking spot.

It's not a state beach.

Narraganset Town Beach is a town-owned beach.

And so rightly, the town prioritizes parking for town residents, which most town beaches do.

The mindblower, right, a mile down the road, there's a gorgeous state beach with plenty of parking.

- [Isabella] There may be plenty of parking, but state beaches have other issues.

- Restricting access and making it harder for kids to go learn is actually problematic for surfing, because that's where people go and you can't surf at state beaches, unfortunately.

- The dispute in recent years has really been about kind of how people view Narragansett Town Beach.

Is this a place that's for the residents primarily?

The taxpayers in the town?

Is it like their private beach for their use and their enjoyment?

Or is it more of a place that it is to be enjoyed by the larger public?

- The beach is owned by the town.

They're operating within the legal parameters that have been established through a lot of litigation over the years.

- [Isabella] Some residents point to a 1997 Superior Court ruling that said Narragansett was not infringing on public access by charging entrance fees.

- We have dedicated parking for non-residents, and yet there are towns that do not allow non-residents to park in anywhere in their beach.

And yet those towns don't get any heat at all.

And we're a target.

- If you're on the town council and you're making these decisions, you have to be accountable and responsible to your constituents.

Your responsibility isn't to make opportunities for people who don't live in town.

Your responsibility is directly to your constituents.

So that's why those decisions come out that way, that the residents get a little bit more of a priority.

I think you could expect nothing less.

- Towns have the right to regulate certain things, but leaving towns to be in charge of shoreline access can be problematic because the incentive to reduce access is always there.

- [Isabella] Coastal access advocates point to the fact that the beach is funded by entrance fees, not municipal taxes.

And the fact that it received federal funds after Hurricane Sandy, they also point to a 1985 land swap involving this strip of beach.

The deal required the beach to be committed to public access and prohibited restricting non-residents.

- If you have a public beach and you want to privatize it, but you can't, what you will do is systematically remove public parking, and then raise rates to the point where it's so expensive that working class families can no longer go.

Frankly, it hurts the entire state.

- [Isabella] It's a debate that continues to play out.

The latest clash has centered on an iconic stretch called Ocean Road that leads to the town beach.

What changes are you looking to make regarding Ocean Road in Narragansett?

- So the changes would be a three hour time limit on Ocean Road to help with the traffic congestion during the summer months and the peak season in Narragansett.

- [Isabella] The town council put up the signs in July, but quickly saw backlash.

- State stepped in and said, "This is a state road, you can't do that."

- [Isabella] The state traffic commission held hearings.

Some residents say the policy would create much needed turnover.

- People like to get out of their cars and walk along the sidewalk there.

Clearly, I think people should have the opportunity to come and go during the day so that people that are parked to be at the beach, you know, from early in the morning through late afternoon, aren't hogging all the parking spaces.

- [Isabella] While others have advocated against the measure.

On the day we went to Narragansett, it proved unpopular among some beach goers.

- I disagree with it.

There's no need for it.

It's only four weeks where it's busy here.

So no, let them park.

- Even just to walk, like when I wanna take my family for a walk along the sea wall.

I think the access, I think the three hour parking is really ridiculous.

- Why is Ocean Road parking important?

- The West lot is tiny.

That's where they put the public, that's where they put the employees, and the general public.

That lot fills up right away, usually by like 10:30 in the morning.

Growing up, you could park in the South lot, you could park in the West lot, you could park on Narragansett Avenue.

So as Narragansett's removed all that public parking, the only place left to go is the seawall.

So if you restrict all the public parking and take it away and say, "Hey, we have a parking problem," whose fault is it?

You created the problem yourself!

- [Isabella] Earlier this month the Commission made its decision.

- The people on the Commission eventually decided "We don't think it's in the public interest to restrict parking," and they turned it down.

- [Isabella] It was a victory for the shoreline activists.

But as summer turns to fall, each side continues to advocate for their position.

All eyes are on the upcoming town council election, which has the power to shape Narragansett's future beach access.