Toss Out State Tickets

Although a standoff between the East Hampton Town Trustees and the State Department of Parks and Recreation over beach driving on Napeague continues, all the tickets issued by the state have been dismissed in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

In July, state park police ticketed a total of 21 East Hampton residents for driving on Hither Hills State Park beach, or on an access to the beach, without a state permit.

Randy Leland of Amagansett was one of those who complained to the Town Trustees.

"I've been driving there my whole life," he told them, without being bothered. Why, he wanted to know, were the state police all of a sudden issuing tickets?

Beach Driving Rights

It was a question the Trustees' attorney, John Courtney, put to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. in a letter shortly after Mr. Leland appeared before the board.

Mr. Courtney reminded the Assemblyman of the 1990 Town Justice Court case which determined that East Hampton residents were not required to have state beach driving permits because the Trustees do not require them.

Trustees claim ownership of most of the ocean beach on Napeague, and in addition claim an easement exists on the beach that is now part of Hither Hills State Park.

The State Parks Department and the Trustees discussed beach-driving rights soon after the decision was handed down in that case. At the time, the state offered to respect town-issued resident beach parking permits on Napeague in lieu of state beach driving permits, if the Trustees would honor the state permits on their beaches.

Change Of Policy

The Trustees said no, reasoning that this would open town beaches to millions of people. The matter was left there.

East Hampton residents have driven the beaches in question with impunity until this summer. Mr. Courtney said he was unable to learn why the state had suddenly changed its enforcement policy.

But one by one during the first weeks of August, Town Justice Roger Walker dismissed all of the summer's state cases involving East Hampton residents, saying the whole question of beach jurisdiction on Napeague would have to be settled by a higher authority. Mr. Leland's case was thrown out on Aug. 12.

Secret Weapon?

According to Mr. Thiele's office, however, the state has not officially ordered its park police to stop issuing summonses to resident beach drivers.

If push does come to shove, the Trustees may have a secret weapon waiting in the wings: a 1981 letter that they recently dredged out of their files. It is from the Long Island State Park and Recreation Commission and addressed to the Our Heritage Committee, a group formed in response to an earlier attempt by the state to close off vehicle access to Napeague. Several Trustees were members of the committee.

The letter promises that the state will honor East Hampton resident beach stickers for access into state parkland (beaches) in the Township of East Hampton.

Shellfish Tags

In another matter, Town Clerk Fred Yardley came to the Aug. 25 Trustee work session to question the Trustees' decision to issue commercial shellfish tags from their offices on Bluff Road, Amagansett, instead of from his office at Town Hall, where they have been issued in the past.

Mr. Yardley argued that commercial fishermen must go to the Clerk's office to get their permits, and going to Bluff Road as well would be an inconvenience. Shellfishermen from Montauk, instead of getting their tags at the Clerk's annex on Main Street there, would have to drive to Amagansett, Mr. Yardley noted.

Diane Mamay, Trustee Clerk, countered that fishermen had to go to the Trustee office to get their mooring permits, to which Mr. Yardley responded that not all fisherman used moorings.

It was eventually agreed that the Town Clerk's office would issue a fisherman's first 100 tags, and that additional tags would be purchased at the Trustee office. Commercial license holders traditionally have gotten 100 tags for free; additional tags cost $10 per hundred.

Lazy Point Water

Job Potter, the East Hampton Town Board's liaison to the Trustees, brought up the subject of the public water system proposed for Amagansett's Lazy Point community. The Trustees own the land on which the houses stand.

Mr. Potter said the Town Board was concerned that the introduction of public water might lead to more development pressure on the environmentally sensitive Napeague.

Trustee Harold Bennett said he had heard the Town Board actually wanted the Trustees to deed their Lazy Point land to the town. Mr. Potter said he did not believe this to be the case.

In the end, the Trustees decided to ban any further development of their Lazy Point land unless there is unanimous approval by all nine trustees.

The Town Board will hold a public hearing on the subject of the Lazy Point water main tomorrow at Town Hall beginning at 10:30 a.m. The same hearing will visit the subject of Chapter 153 of the Town Code, which addresses the enforcement of Trustees regulations and permits.

RUSSELL DRUMM