Sentieri Lake Access Agreement Secures Free Beach Entry and Public Works

Finally enjoying the beach without having to pay an entry fee. Most likely, starting from the next bathing season, it will be possible to freely access the public lake area of Sentieri, the zone just outside the city center walls of the capital, just beyond the parking area and sports facilities of Via Marra. The current barrier is a rural road, the strada della Bottona, whose use and ownership have long been disputed between the parties. As it is a blind alley that ends at the edge of private property, it is particularly in the summer season closed with a gate. This obstacle not only prevents tourists from freely enjoying the beach but also effectively limits many users’ requests. Inevitably, protests and tensions have arisen. Therefore, it is understandable that Mayor Luca Sebastiano is proud to have managed, after nearly half a century of disputes, to promote access to the public beach with a solution considered fair to both sides, without resorting to measures that would have prolonged the situation for who knows how many more years.

The Agreement and the Works

“With the agreement approved by the Consiglio comunale, which will be entered into with the Par Due company and provides for the exchange of private areas with public areas, I believe,” the mayor emphasizes, “that a very felt issue for the population has been resolved, as well as a matter of public interest for tourism. The pedestrian access to the lake, beyond its significant urban and tourist importance, activates the private sector’s involvement in carrying out public interest works worth around one hundred million euros, and commits it to keeping the beach tidy and ensuring safety along the lakefront. Furthermore, it is obliged to place dissuasors and to provide a call service for the transit of disabled people and emergency services during the summer season, when access to the public zone will be blocked from 00:30 to 07:00.”

In broad terms, the agreement stipulates that Par Due will transfer a five-meter-wide strip of land along the boundary with the Modena property, reaching the beach (total area 452 square meters). In exchange, the Municipality will transfer the current stretch of the Bottona road from the limit of the existing gate for an approximate surface of 860 square meters. Concurrently, Par Due commits to constructing, at its own expense, the access road to the lake, with cement blocks of a cobblestone type with a quartz-antiqued finish, public lighting, a stormwater drainage network, an access gate, and dissuasors at the entrance of the future municipal road, as well as refining the remaining rural road of Bottona.

The task of Par Due includes installing fencing to delimit private property and landscaping the lakeside area opposite the Du Parc camping ground, with crushed earth and flood barriers. Moreover, the concessionaire declares its willingness to pay for the additional surface area gained from the exchange, at a price to be determined by the Consiglio comunale. The agreement also stipulates a regulation for lake access, forbidding any motorized vehicles except those for disabled access, rescue, surveillance, and maintenance; and bans access to dinghies, boats, and lightweight craft even carried by hand.

The deadline for completing the public works is set for fifteen days after the issuance of the building permit, with a maximum of one year to finish, barring force majeure.