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Old Saybrook

"De l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace."
Town of Essex stands up for public rights.
We are proud to present our first Medal for Courage in Defense of the Public Trust to the town government of Essex. As reported in a Hartford Courant story, the Essex Board of Selectmen has put some riverfront property owners on notice that the town will not tolerate attempts at confiscation of public land, or theft of public property.
Your tax money (in the form of a DEP grant) was used to establish a number of places in the town of Essex where you (the general public) can walk down and look at the river.
But some Essex residents have attempted to block access to these places. Worse, they may have destroyed public property by removing the signs for these access points. (Lawsuit deflection disclaimer: Someone else could have stolen these signs for some other reason; we're not accusing anyone of anything.)
Bravo to First Selectman Peter Webster for his public stance and plain talk, and to Harbor Management Commission Chairman Jeff Gowing and Public Works Director David Caroline for their support in enforcing the public's right to access to the river..

It's great to see public officials standing up for the rights of the public. Many other local officials try their best to do this as well, and could use public support for their efforts. Perhaps this news will give a boost to Deep River's fight to keep public-access land from being taken away from the public (click here for more on this story). And theses things have a snowball effect; the town of Old Saybrook has recently taken similar action regarding Long Island Sound public access areas. Click here to see more on that situation. And don't forget to go to the email-o-matic page for an easy way to send the towns a message showing your support for their efforts.

Here's a map that show public river access points in Essex.

Go to Essex. Buy lunch from a local business to help boost the town's income from tourism. It's a great little town. Buy something else from one of the stores if you can.

Go to several or all of the public access points, and find one you like. Eat your lunch there, and enjoy the view that you paid for.

You can get a copy of the DEP's outstanding map of public coastal-access points, just by sending them an e-mail. There are some places where you have to pay to park (the local towns need the money to maintain the beaches and pay the lifeguards, so that's fair).

Don't let anyone take your river
away from you.

This story © 2001, The Hartford Courant, reproduced with their kind permission. Please respect the Courant's ownership of this material. You may print this page for your personal use, or refer others to this page, but may not otherwise copy or retransmit this information in any form.

River Access Rights Boosted
By CHARLES STANNARD
The Hartford Courant
July 5, 2001
ESSEX - The board of selectmen has decided to more aggressively
enforce the town's public access rights along the Connecticut River.
The board Tuesday endorsed a call from First Selectman Peter Webster for
stronger enforcement at nine locations along the riverfront and its coves.
"The abutting property owners need to know we won't permit any
encroachment of these access points,'' he said.
Webster said the locations were surveyed and marked in 1991 through a
state Department of Environmental Protection grant to the town harbor
management commission. The access points are at Novelty Lane, Nott
Lane, Mack Lane, Collins Lane, Scholes Lane, Little Point Street, Main
Street, Ferry Street and Teal Avenue.
Webster said some abutting property owners have planted bushes and
made other improvem ents to create the impression the access points at
the end of each street are private property. He said signs marking the
access points have disappeared in recent months.
"We will try to secure these public access signs so they don't sprout legs
and walk away,'' he said.
Jeff Gowing, chairman of the harbor management commission, said the
access points are mainly for use by pedestrians because there is no
parking at most of the locations. "It's visual access that is very important for
people taking a walk,'' he said.
Webster said he would inspect each access point with public works Director
David Caroline to ensure there are no obstructions to the riverfront. He said
the town's resident state trooper and constables would become involved in
the enforcement effort if necessary.
"We'll go as fast and as legally as we can,'' Webster said.
Selectmen also agreed to request a $5,000 appropriation from the board of
finance to fund preliminary engineering for a new town boat launch at the
end of Main Street. Webster said the preliminary engineering would allow
the town to apply to the state DEP for a permit for the boat launch and put
the project out to bid.
"This is not going to be an inexpensive project,'' Webster said.

 

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