[MASSBIRD] Dispute over Access at Andrews Point in Rockport

[Barbara Volkle]

Thanks to John Nelson for this update.

Since MASSBIRD doesn't handle PDFs, here's the link to the Gloucester
Times article that John refers to:

https://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/local_news/andrews-point-talk-attracts-100-state-seeks-help-defending-public-access/article_5eeb09ec-c042-11ed-8dde-37a9586b9fbf.html


Barbara Volkle
Northborough, MA
bar...@theworld.com

*


From: John Nelson <jne...@northshore.edu>
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2023 16:53:37 -0400
Subject: Dispute over Access at Andrews Point in Rockport


There are currently two issues involving access at Andrews Point in
Rockport, an important location for winter seawatching. One issue involves
public parking, the other access to the footpaths to the rocks by the
ocean.

The footpath issue involves a 1995 lawsuit recently resurrected by
Elizabeth Fisher, the homeowner at 18 Longbranch, which would stop visitors
from using the footpaths to the ocean on either side of her house. Fisher
is suing the town of Rockport, which is being represented by asst. state
attorney general Kendra Kinscherf on behalf of the Commonwealth. To oppose
the lawsuit, Kinscherf is seeking evidence of historical use of the
footpaths by the public, including birders, especially in the 1950s and
earlier. Birding will be an important part of this dispute because,
compared to most visitors to Andrews, birders keep records. When I learned
of the lawsuit, I did some research and submitted an eight-page report that
documents, in detail, birders' use of Andrews back to the early 1920s. For
sources I relied mostly on old Brookline Bird Club bulletins and Jim
Berry's unpublished manuscript on the birds of Essex County. I explained my
report last Saturday at a meeting at the Windhover Center in Rockport that
was mobilizing people to provide evidence to oppose the lawsuit. About 100
people attended the meeting, which received front-page coverage in Monday's
Gloucester Times. I'm attaching a PDF of the Gloucester Times article. I
think that the Boston Globe will also cover this story.

I chair the Association of Mass Bird Clubs--24 clubs across the state--and
I serve on the boards of the Brookline Bird Club and Essex County
Ornithological Club, but I submitted my report as an individual, not an
official representative of any organization. I would stress that, as I've
told many people, I can't be a conduit for all birding-related material in
this case. If you can document historical use of Andrews, send your
documentation to kendra.k...@mass.gov If you have ideas about the kind
of documentation that could be submitted, try to follow through on these
ideas yourself, since there is no one to do it for you. Mass Audubon
probably has relevant records in its archives and, as far as I know, has
not submitted any data as evidence, but they may need some volunteers
to search the archives for references to Andrews. If you're willing to
volunteer for this task, contact Mass Audubon, not me.

The parking issue stems from January 2021, when the town of Rockport,
acting on a proposal by its Rights-of-Way Committee, closed down public
parking in the dirt lot on town land at the beginning of one footpath, the
place where birders have parked for decades. While it seems likely that
this decision encouraged Elizabeth Fisher to resurrect her lawsuit, which
would entirely shut down access to Andrews, I have no reason to believe
that the Rights-of-Way Committee was influenced in its decision by
Elizabeth Fisher. Rather, I think the Committee made a tactical blunder.
Their plan was to replace this lost parking area with some public on-street
parking spaces, but they closed down parking without having an alternative
in place, and the town's Traffic and Parking Committee rejected their plan
to add on-street parking. The closest available public parking is now a
dirt lot on town land at the corner of Linwood and Vine, two blocks from
Andrews Point, but there is no signage at Andrews to indicate that this lot
exists and no signage at the lot itself to indicate that it is town land,
available for parking, and not private property. The Traffic and Parking
Committee did agree to designate a handicapped parking space near the
footpath, but never did so. I have a handicapped placard, but it does me
good at Andrews Point. Now, because of the lawsuit, the town has suspended
any changes in parking in the area, but we shouldn't abandon the fight to
get the town to restore public parking in the lot traditionally used by
birders. The town has never provided any valid reason to close down parking
here.

John Nelson
Gloucester