Milford Stowe Beach Access to be created

• Plans to develop the first new public beach here in 50 years are moving forward, and the 200-foot-wide Stowe Beach could be available this summer. The city received a $14,000 grant from the Long Island Sound Fund managed by the CT DEP and will match it with money from its federal Community Development Block grant.
• The Park, Beach and Recreation Commission reviewed the plans for Stowe Beach, now strewn with boulders and once the site of two waterfront homes. The commission told Ivers that it would not be able to provide lifeguards.
• "The houses that were there were washed away in a hurricane a long time ago," Ivers said. "Maybe the Hurricane of 1938. This would be a neighborhood beach with no provided parking, and just posting that there is no lifeguard on duty would be enough."
• William McCarthy, the city's recreation director, said the last public beach developed was the Hawley Avenue Beach in the late 1950s.
• The beaches were always there and were always available to the public — if someone could get to them. "What we're going to be doing is creating access," Gregory said. "Stowe Beach will serve the people in that neighborhood, but most likely anyone else would go to Walnut Beach, which is right nearby."
• Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said the plans include building a ramp, allowing disabled residents to get down to the water. (Frank Juliano, Connecticut Post)