PROVIDENCE — There are two different catechisms that most Rhode Islanders use in their daily lives: how many minutes away is a particular location and is there parking?

On most days it’s a self-deprecating joke from residents that shows off sarcastic provincialism, but in the General Assembly this year, it’s a serious issue under consideration.

On Wednesday the Senate unanimously voted to approve legislation (S0716) that puts guardrails on municipalities seeking to restrict or outright eliminate parking near designated rights of way to the shoreline.

“Local governments are often pressured by local property owners to reduce or restrict parking near beach access points,” said Sen. Victoria Gu, D-Westerly, the bill’s main sponsor prior to the final Senate vote. “That makes it harder for people to get to the shoreline.”

Shoreline advocates celebrated two years ago when lawmakers approved a law that would put the issue of lateral shoreline access to rest. The law passed in 2023 allows the public to walk up and down the shore within 10 feet of the lowest seaweed line without trespassing on private property.

But the law made no changes on how the public can get to the shore in the first place, also called perpendicular access. The state, via the Coastal Resources Management Council, and coastal municipalities can designate public rights of way (ROW) that guarantee public access to the shore, but private landowners looking to enclose the shoreline do their best to take away access.

One such method is parking. With transit access sparse at best outside of Rhode Island’s urban core, driving to a ROW becomes itself a key point of access to the shore, and driving there means you need to park the car somewhere.

“Removing parking is the town’s backdoor way to privatize a public area,” Conrad Ferla, the founder of Saving Coastal Access, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting the public’s right to the shoreline, said at a bill hearing in May. “Sometimes a town will say it’s a ROW, but it’s just for the people in that specific neighborhood. That’s wrong too.”

S0716 now goes to the House for committee assignment and consideration. A House version (H6093) sponsored by Rep. Terri Cortvriend, D-Portsmouth, was held for further study in April.

Lack of parking is a key issue with shoreline access, but it’s only the symptom of a larger problem. A study released last year funded by Rhode Island Sea Grant found parking to be a key issue not only for shoreline access, but other shared maritime uses as well. Newer uses, like aquaculture or offshore wind, found the most opposition when compared to more traditional shoreline uses.

It’s not the only data point on how Rhode Islanders feel about parking at the beach. A survey performed by New Jersey-based company Impact by Design and commissioned by CRMC last year found that 41% of state residents said there were ROWs they used less often or avoided due to a lack of parking, or otherwise feeling unsafe or unwelcome.

Gu’s legislation isn’t expected to completely solve the problem, but if passed it would make it more public. S0716 requires municipalities, agencies or other entities seeking to restrict parking near CRMC ROWs to submit a parking plan outlining the changes and the reason for them; to demonstrate the changes don’t reduce access for individuals with disabilities; and to hold a 30-day public comment period.

And the law isn’t without teeth. Entities or property owners found to violate the law can be charged up to $5,000 per day in fines, until CRMC or the Department of Environmental Management deems equitable access has been restored. Money collected through the penalties would go into a restricted receipt account for projects that enhance shoreline access.

It’s also not the only incremental change lawmakers are seeking to make this year to shoreline access. Lawmakers, at CRMC’s request, have introduced bills (H5686/S0626) in both chambers that would require municipalities to maintain a list of agency-designated ROWs.

The law is also meant to provide additional clarification on CRMC-designated ROWs. Finding where a ROW begins and private property boundaries end can be a lot harder in practice than it sounds.

“Not everyone knows to go on the state website for coastal access and find right of ways near them,” said Michael Woods, chair of the New England chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, at a committee hearing on the bill. “It doesn’t move the land and earth, but this is an important incremental change.”

As Gu, the Senate sponsor of S0626, said at the same hearing, “This is an attempt to make sure rights of way are accessible to regular people in our towns.”

The bills are coasting toward passage. S0626 was voted out of committee and sent to the Senate floor early last week. H5686 passed the House in early April and was voted out of a Senate committee Thursday.