Is this way a right of way?
Right-of-way plan to show islanders what is theirs for the walking
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Before the island is completely built out, selectman Allen Reinhard, chairman of the Roads and Right of Way Committee, wants to identify and map out every road on Nantucket to which the public has access.

To do this, Reinhard and his committee are working on the Nantucket Town and County Right of Way Improvement Plan, seeking to root out every trail, road, footpath, way and alley that the general public has inherent rights to.

"This really reflects a personal interest I have in rights of way," said Reinhard, who works as the middle moors ranger for the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. "As the population of the island increases, and [before] ways that people used to use to access properties [become closed off], I think now is the time to really identify where these roads are and I think it is important for the county to know where these roads are."

Reinhard said he got the idea for a right of way improvement plan about a year ago when he read of Great Britain's right-to-roam law, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) of 2000, granting the public walking rights to all private property categorized as mountain, moor, heath or down. Reinhard is not thinking about opening up existing private property to public access, but he and the Roads and Right of Way Committee want people to know what they do have access to on the island.

"What we're looking at right now, the key item, is a map, a definitive map, showing all the town roads, bike paths, trails and pedestrian ways wherever they occur all over the island," he said. "From that, we'll key off into the information piece."

In addition to a map showing all of these byways, the committee wants to mark all public ways and access points to beaches, ponds and public lands with "public way" inscribed signs, possibly similar to the concrete stanchions molded with the words "Public Way" that are in place today. Such stanchions are visible at the start of the way leading to Head of the Hummock off Millbrook Road, at the water end of North Cambridge Street and at the end of the pavement on Washing Pond Road, among other locations.

The committee would also produce an information booklet explaining each type of road, how they came into existence and why we have rights to them. These would include all known Indian trails, early colonists' road layouts and footpaths, 1799 roads, proprietors' roads, subdivision roads from 1880 to present, abutters ways and alleys, the 'Sconset footpath and 1975 road takings. It would also cover topics including the town and county's intention through Article 33 adopted at the 1996 Annual Town Meeting to provide pedestrian access to all public land, water rights for fishing, fowling and navigation to the mean low water mark, public use of private land, Chapter 91 waterfront uses and public access, historic coastlines, incomplete road and right of way takings 1880 to present, completed road and right of way takings 1880 to present and Geographical Information System and tax mapping.

"This booklet or pamphlet would clarify for the public these essential terms and explain how they came about," the committee noted in an outline of the plan. "Few people know what a proprietor's road is or what rights, if any, the public has to pass on a private road. These and other right of way and public access questions can be answered for the public benefit and would be in keeping with preserving and sharing Nantucket's history of public access."

An exhaustive list to be sure, but one Reinhard and the committee believe should be made available to the public and that could come some time next year.

"There will be a formal presentation to the Board of Selectmen once the plan is polished up and ready to be unveiled, sometime right around Town Meeting, depending on whatever else is going on,"

Reinhard said. I