CT Mirror: Lawmaker Targets Exclusionary Beach Policies; NAACP: “Westport should be ashamed of themselves”
New Haven Lawmaker Would Ban Exclusionary Beach Policies
by Keith M. Phaneuf, The CT Mirror | February 2, 2020
A New Haven lawmaker is trying to stop municipalities from imposing exorbitant fees that restrict many out-of-towners from using public beaches.
Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, introduced a bill that also would prevent communities from barring beach visitors from other towns on grounds that this would prevent COVID-19 spread.
“It doesn’t surprise me that every approach that any of these communities take is to limit who can access public beaches,” Lemar said, calling these measures akin to the racially restrictive land covenants and exclusionary zoning policies that bar many poor Black and Hispanic residents from affluent suburbs.
Connecticut’s shoreline and beaches are “a core asset” that have benefitted from millions of dollars of public investments in clean air and water and park development programs, Lemar said, adding every resident should have an opportunity to enjoy them.
But some shoreline communities say that simply isn’t realistic.
Parking is limited at municipal beaches, and residents should have priority over visitors from out-of-town, some leaders said.
Westport, an affluent Fairfield County community, made headlines three years ago when local officials set the prices for a seasonal beach parking pass at $50 for residents — and $775 for visitors from most other towns. Residents of neighboring Weston pay $375.
But some communities invest more in their beaches than others do, and Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said the fee schedule is designed to spread costs fairly.
Compo Beach, the town’s main shoreline attraction, includes pavilions, picnic tables and cooking areas, restrooms, pickleball courts and a skate park, and it is adjacent to two marinas.
Adding and maintaining these amenities requires more funding than $50 local beach passes can raise. Town residents cover the bulk of the extra costs through their property tax payments, but the higher parking charges on visitors from other towns is an attempt to share some of the burden, Marpe said.
A few years ago back, “our own residents could not get to the beach because of a lack of parking spaces,” he said, adding this was unfair given that those same residents financed the beach’s development.
But Lemar said it simply isn’t realistic to expect poorer families to pay $775, adding that Connecticut’s largest cities don’t charge neighboring suburban residents for all of the benefits they provide.
“People in New Haven pay for the sidewalks, but we don’t say to the people in Milford, ‘If you work here, you can’t walk on our sidewalks.’”
“Westport should be ashamed of themselves,” said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP. “In this day and time, Connecticut should not be involved in this level of discrimination.”
Gov. Ned Lamont’s communications director, Max Reiss, declined to comment Tuesday. Lamont’s home town of Greenwich set prices in 2019 that charged non-residents $150 for a seasonal beach pass, while residents paid $35.
Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo could not be reached for comment.
Lemar’s bill also would prevent communities from selectively banning non-residents from beach use in response to pandemic. A handful of communities closed their beaches to non-residents last summer to reduce crowd size and ensure social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Lemar said the solution could be to limit overall attendance — but not by excluding out-of-town visitors.
Fairfield, which charges non-residents $250 for a seasonal beach pass — versus the $25 residents pay — temporarily blocked out-of-towners from its shores last summer.
“To me, it was a public safety issue,” said Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick. “My biggest concern was allowing people to socially distance.”
The Connecticut ACLU, which cautioned communities against these policies last summer, hasn’t reviewed Lemar’s bill to date.
But Executive Director David McGuire said fair beach access is an issue that has haunted Connecticut for too long, with most restrictive policies grounded in politics, not health science.
“We know Connecticut has a long history of shoreline towns using a number of different policies to keep a number of people off their beaches,” he said, adding that “a lot of times, these policies are nothing more than thinly veiled racist policies.”
Sitting Duck Downtown
A male mallard duck sits on the ice near the Route 1 bridge through Downtown, Westport.
Democratic Women of Westport, Staples Young Democrats Host “The Anti-Racist Policy Agenda: Education” Tomorrow at 7:30 PM
The Democratic Women of Westport and the Staples Young Democrat club will be hosting a Zoom webinar as part of their series: The Anti-Racist Policy Agenda. This conversation’s focus will be on education, and will include panel members from the local education community as well as national organizations. The previous conversation was based on Immigration, and included Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
The conversation will cover:
• What racial disparities have persisted in the educational system in the last decade?
• Can we identify state-level policy solutions to address these disparities?
• Have federal policies, like testing or curriculum requirements, exacerbated or lessened disparities and can the state ameliorate those policies?
• What would educational equity in Connecticut look like?
• Can we build political support for these solutions and make CT a model for change?
Panelists will include:
Joshua Aronson, New York University
Michael Cummings, Fairfield Public Schools
Steve Hernandez, CT Commission on Women, Children & Seniors
Eric Juli, Shaker Heights (OH) High School
Keith Little, SCO Family of Services
Moderated by Justine Marous, Marous Law
Front Yard Skating Rink Brings Wright Street Neighborhood Together
Local siblings and neighbors living in the Wright Street neighborhood spent yesterday afternoon on the ice, enjoying the outdoors and being with one another.
For nearly twenty years the Reilly Family’s front yard has been transformed into an ice skating rink, with neighborhood kids invited to enjoy it on Winter’s coldest days - combatting the doldrums of the season dominated by a pandemic. By Jaime Bairaktaris
The ice rink is custom designed and built by the family and their friends each year around Thanksgiving, allowing ample time for the water to catch a few consecutive days of freezing temperatures to create thick enough ice to skate on. Being only a few inches deep, falling through isn’t disastrous - making it a much safer option than relying on local ponds, and more accessible than the many rinks closed this season due to coronavirus.
To keep the ice smooth, mother-of-five Alison Reilly maintains it with a hot water rake (donated by neighbors) or with a propane blow torch. A true labor of love; the neighborhood tradition is more important this Winter than ever before as the World tries to remain outdoors as much as possible during the COVID-19 crisis.
After school days dominated by at-home-learning and social distancing, ice skating has been a safe way to get kids moving and to promote positive social interaction. The Mayo Clinic cited the benefits of being outside during the Winter, naming ice skating as one of their lowest-risk options to enjoy during the pandemic. Skating and other low-risk social activities are also being promoted as ways to help boost mental health amongst children and adolescents, a goal for many local parents as some push to get kids into schoolhouses full-time in order to grow their social connections and combat isolation.
As temperatures froze and Zoom classes finished, the neighborhood kids waddled down the street in their winter gear last night to get onto the ice to continue the Wright Street Winter tradition. They slipped and fell, and slid and glided, and laughed and chatted under their masks as the friends supported each other on their skates.
With families and neighbors watching from the driveway as smaller kids held the fingers of the older kids leading them around the ice, the front yard rink exemplified how a community can rise up together amidst a pandemic.
The Reilly family has always welcomed their community to enjoy the rink as a way to get kids outside and to make memories together, however never did they imagine how important this year’s memories will be in proving not all was bad during the coronavirus crisis.
With cold weather ahead, the kids on Wright Street won’t be complaining. They’ll be closing their ChromeBooks, lacing up their skates, and gliding out onto the ice.