From left, Kevin Cute of the Coastal Resources Management Council and Dave McLaughlin of Clean Ocean Access walk with Anne Burns, of Middletown, and her son Brian Burns, of Newport, along the public right-of-way off Tuckerman Avenue that had been the subject of legal wrangling for more than 20 years.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

MIDDLETOWN — David McLaughlin sees potential from atop this knoll overlooking Easton Bay.

There could be stairs to the rock slabs below so swimmers, anglers and long-time surfers such as he could get to the sea more easily. Perhaps a walkway on the rocks. Maybe gooseberry bushes to border the path.

Glancing at the Newport mansions across Narragansett Bay, McLaughlin laughs when he offers up his ultimate vision: “In my perfect world, there would be a cliff walk here.”

“But one step at a time,” he adds.

Cliff Walk it’s not, but the Tuckerman Avenue right-of-way — dedicated yesterday by the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council and local officials — is remarkable both for the scenic vista at the end of the 400-foot-long path and for the arduous process to make the spot accessible to the public.

While the right-of-way has a long history — some say it was used as far back as the 19th century, as a carriage turnaround — and was designated as public 20 years ago, the decades-long legal wrangling over its use only ended recently.

“This has been long overdue,” CRMC chairman Michael M. Tikoian said yesterday at the dedication.

The CRMC designated the 30-foot-wide path as public in 1981, but the Spiratos and Riesman families, whose properties abut the right-of-way, appealed the decision three times over the course of more than 20 years, with the CRMC reaffirming its designation after each appeal. Finally, in 2006, the state Supreme Court denied the abutters’ request to review the lower-court decision, squashing the neighbors’ appeal for good. Until then, a locked fence kept residents from enjoying the right-of-way.

CRMC’s legal counsel, Brian A. Goldman, said he’s been working on the case since he passed the bar in 1988.

“For years,” he said, “all I was looking at was a fence blocking this off and shrubs and debris as high as you could see.”

Clean Ocean Access, the local grassroots environmental group, and the Wallace family, who live across the street, have adopted the path through the CRMC’s Adopt-an-Access Program, and pledged to keep it clean.

“It’s great for us surfers and fishermen, and it means that others who we never even thought would enjoy this spot will have access to the coast,” said McLaughlin, co-founder of Clean Ocean Access.

Anne Burns, of the nonprofit Easton’s Point Association, which also pushed for access to the Tuckerman Avenue path, said she is grateful the legal dispute is over.

“Our lawyer said, ‘An environmental battle that you fight today is an environmental battle you’ll fight again tomorrow. An environmental battle you lose is one you’ve lost forever.’ I’ll always remember that,” she said.

“My only hope,” CRMC Vice Chairman Paul E. Lemont said yesterday as he paused at the end of the right-of-way, “is the public will respect it and not trash it. It’s something for everyone to enjoy. You always hope that everyone can dance away at the end of the movie.”

mwims@projo.com