Warwick Beacon — CRMC sees crimped shore access on Arnold’s Neck

Standing between boats stored at Safe Harbor Marina Apponaug and the two-family home belonging to Danelle DeBye in Arnold’s Neck, CRMC marine infrastructure coordinator Mason Sherman and executive director Jeffrey Willis talk with Rep. David Bennett, Councilman Jack Kirby and Sen. Mark McKenney about rights of way to the waterfront.

Beacon Media photo by John Howell

September 17, 2025

By John Howell — WARWICK, RI — Five men, two from the Coastal Resources Management Council and three legislators, stood facing one another Friday afternoon. On one side were a powerboat and a sailboat on the hard in an otherwise empty Safe Harbor Apponaug Marina yard and on the other was a white picket fence on a residential property.

“Now how’s a fire truck going to get down here?” Rep. David Bennett asked, addressing CRMC Executive Director Jeffrey Willis. Neither Willis nor any of the others needed to answer. It was apparent the passage between the boats and the residence was nowhere near wide enough for a rescue vehicle.

Bennett, who grew up in Arnold’s Neck, knows the area intimately. His mother brought him and his siblings to swim off the beach from Midgley Avenue. On occasion they would fish for blue crabs in the waters of Greenwich Bay at the mouth of Mary’s Creek. And Bennett knows the names of many neck residents, pointing out they have lived there for generations and have always accessed the bay from what is now a Safe Harbor marina. But that doesn’t appear to be the case any longer.

Danelle DeBye, the owner of the house with the white fence, brought the issue of access to the attention of the City Council during the public comment session of the Aug. 18 meeting. She and her neighbors had gathered the signatures of more than 100 residents plus an almost equal number of letters calling on the council to ensure public access to the water. DeBye’s driveway connects to the boatyard but not a street, and she has no right of way to Arnold’s Neck Road, which ends at the boatyard. No action has been taken by the City Council, nor has Councilman Jack Kirby introduced legislation, preferring to see if an agreement can be worked out.…