KENT, Conn.—Undeniably beautiful and environmentally important, the Housatonic River is still a 150-mile-long attractive nuisance, as evidenced by the number of injuries and fatalities that have been recorded along its length.
An attractive nuisance is legally defined as a dangerous condition on a landowner’s property that attracts people onto the land and poses a risk to their safety.
Since 2004, about 17 drownings were reported on the Housatonic River, seven of which happened near Bulls Bridge in Kent. Three others—the most recent being 43-year-old Simon Hernandez of Yonkers, N.Y., in July—were on other sections of the river in New Milford and Kent.
Hernandez’ death in July was the first locally in five years, the previous fatalities having occurred near Bull’s Bridge where two young Bronx, N.Y., men drowned in the swift current in 2020, only three weeks after a 16-year-old girl from Mahopac, N.Y., died near that same spot.
The dangers of the river are posted both on site and online. Organizations such as Berkshirehiking.com, for instance, are full of praise for the beauty around Bull’s Bridge, but equally strong in advice to stay away from the river’s edge when hiking or picnicking.
The National Park Service lists activities prohibited along its riverside corridor, including swimming, and warning signs in English and Spanish are posted at all sites where crowds gather. Still the death toll and physical abuse of access sites continues.
As early as this spring, because of the high levels of visitation and misuse, the Park Service listed visitation limitations at Bull’s Bridge West and East and its land along River Road in Kent.
Eversource, which as part of its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license, is required to allow public access to its land, also lists restrictions, most of which are ignored.
But, First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer says the Bull’s Bridge situation is less dire than it used to be. “The majority of people are finding other places to go,” he said. “The Appalachian Trail people monitor it, and our resident trooper goes down. People will call and say, ‘There are a lot of people down there,’ and Troop L will send troopers, but people want to get out and enjoy the river.”
One of the other places visitors have found to go is River Road and North Kent Road, where six stakeholders are concerned with management of the riverfront but where no effective means of crowd control has been devised.
Social media and public comment have been flooded with complaints this year and the issue came before last week’s meeting of the board of selectman.
One of the most vocal critics has been resident Chris Harrington and he came before the board the week of Monday, Aug. 4, to discuss the issue. He cited traffic problems when cars park on both sides of the road. “I can’t believe how many people go in and out and all hours of day,” he said. “It’s hundreds of cars. It’s pretty crazy. Monday [Aug. 4] night there was a group down there partying and the next day it was full of trash again. It isn’t all out-of-towners, it’s locals as well.”
He said even when bags are provided for garbage, the beachgoers tend to leave the bags for the town to pick up.
“The amount of garbage that is left—caps, lids, clothes, diapers, broken bottles—and someone has to come and clean it up,” he said. “It’s taking their time to do it and is an added cost to town. [Visitors] are starting fires, which is prohibited, swimming, which is prohibited, bringing alcohol, which is prohibited. They are defecating along the road or making field latrines.”
Michael Jastremski, conservation director with the Housatonic Valley Association, was more placatory, saying that the river belongs to everyone and that people will find their way to it no matter what.
“There are ways to attack this,” he said, explaining that HVA puts summer interns at unmanaged access areas along the river during the summer. “The idea is to talk to people, to talk about river safety and to hand out trash bags,” he said. “Putting in a dumpster and port-a-potty would help.”
He said monetary resources for the dumpster and port-a-potty might be accessible through the Housatonic River Commission or Wild and Scenic funding.
“The one thing to think about is recreational access to the river has been changing,” he said. “There are now uses we’re not familiar with—which is not necessarily bad. We’re trying to figure out how to accommodate that with access that is safe. Everyone has right to use the river, but it must also be sustainable.”
Years back, former first selectman Bruce Adams had a more direct answer to the problem. He simply closed the road to control partying there, but Jastremski said closing a site is “like squeezing a balloon,” and forces the population to go elsewhere. “North Kent is a good place for them to go,” he said. “It is relatively safe, and we would really like to see it remain open and to see what we can do to accommodate the neighbors.”
One of those neighbors is Jane Martin, who described a 28-year ordeal of people abusing her property and her privacy.
“I am the closest homeowner [to the beach],” she said. “I’ve lived there for 28 years, and if you close the road, they just remove barrier, or they park in my front door and walk in. The problem doesn’t stop at dusk and its music and loudness all night at my back door. You all come together to do something, but in the end you all go home, and I am still there. Your plans sound great, but they don’t seem to work. I would love for something to happen.”
Lindenmayer agreed that it is a problem that has been building throughout the season, but said it is complicated because the different stakeholders have different concerns.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has jurisdiction, but the Housatonic Railroad’s tracks run through the area, and the company must have access to serve them. The Town of Kent must maintain its roads and Eversource its power lines. Other stakeholders are the Kent Land Trust and the Appalachian Trail, while the Housatonic Valley Association, which has no ownership or regulatory power over the site, provides stewardship.
“We’re trying to figure out who can manage it,” Lindenmayer said during the selectmen’s meeting. “DEEP has overall control on how it can be managed.” But he said he has had little response from that agency. “We have not seen enough from them.”
He has asked for increased surveillance from the State Police at Troop L, “but there is the question of overtime. They are seven trooper short right now.” He said Vicki Donohoe, the town’s resident trooper, was on vacation, but would be onsite more frequently.
The selectmen discussed posting one side of the road as a no parking zone and then ticketing and towing offenders. Harrinton suggested using a camera to monitor who is littering but Lindenmayer, recalling the overwhelming vote against traffic cameras, said, “I’m not ready to put a camera there if can’t put them anywhere else. We voted there are no cameras.”
Jastremski said calming the situation this summer is only part of the problem. “The reality is people will get to the river; the question is what do we do next summer, then the next and five years out.” It is an issue shared by all river towns, he added.
