Dousing of Bonfires on the Horizon
East Hampton may ban them
In downtown Montauk and near lifeguard stands
(07/16/2009) Tighter regulations for beach bonfires are on the horizon in East Hampton Town, thanks to their growing popularity, a lack of consideration by some who enjoy them, and the town’s budget crisis, which is
 David E. Rattray
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limiting its ability to clean up after them and to enforce rules that regulate their use.
At one time, nighttime beachgoers might have encountered a glowing fire only here or there along the shore. On the ocean in downtown Montauk today, Robert Rodgers, the town’s parks and recreation chief, told the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday, “there are nights when you can go down on that beach and it’s like an Indian reservation has just moved in.”
Representing the town’s litter prevention committee, Mr. Rodgers recommended that the board ban bonfires on the Montauk beach from Eden Street to Surfside Avenue. He cited “the amount of broken beer bottles and everything,” which he said “are smashed into the fire and left there for people to walk on.”
Mr. Rodgers and the litter committee recommended that fires be banned on every bathing beach where lifeguards are posted during the day.
Technically, a permit from the fire marshal was required to have a beach fire in past years. But in 2007, recognizing that “East Hampton has a long tradition of family beach-related activity in the evenings that includes beach fires,” the town board dropped that requirement while enacting regulations governing bonfires.
The law restricted the size of a blaze to no more than 30 inches in diameter and two feet high. It also required that they be at least 50 feet from beach grass or structures, when possible (only 25 feet on narrow beaches), and at least 100 feet away from any lifeguard stand.
It also prescribed what could go into the fire: clean wood only, not chemically treated or painted wood, wooden pallets, or wood with nails, and no metal, plastic, or glass.
A pail of water must be kept within 10 feet of a fire, and blazes must be fully extinguished with water before 11:59 p.m. “No burning, smoldering, smoking, hot embers, or debris shall be left on the beach,” the law says. “No beach fire shall be buried with sand.”
“The site must be restored to its natural condition at the conclusion of the night,” the law also states.
Unfortunately, Mr. Rodgers said at the board meeting on Tuesday, that is often not the case. Increasingly, he said, daytime beachgoers are being hurt by nails left from burned lumber and other debris.
“It is increasingly hard to keep up with cleaning the beaches,” he said. Budget cuts made in the face of the town’s climbing deficit have left him with only one full-time employee, instead of two, to dedicate to beach cleaning, he said. In addition, “enforcement is down,” as the cuts have reduced the number of Marine Patrol officers on nighttime duty to check on the beaches.
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” Town Supervisor Bill McGintee said. “If you want to cut services to save money, then you’re going to have issues like this. You can’t manufacture money out of trees.”
An outright ban on fires along the entire downtown Montauk stretch would make enforcement easy, Mr. Rodgers said, allowing officers spotting a fire to know it is illicit, instead of making it necessary to check each bonfire to ascertain whether it met the rules already in place.
Town board members agreed with restricting beach fires to the areas outside the lifeguard stands on beaches townwide. But Mr. McGintee suggested that banning them all along the Montauk stretch could be excessive.
“We’re already shutting them down at midnight; we’re already limiting them to two feet,” he said. “I’m more inclined to jack up the fines on people who are burning pallets and things with nails in them, and really start coming down heavy on them, with heavy fines. Maybe that will eliminate those people that are abusing this privilege.”
In Montauk, Mr. Rodgers said, “primarily it’s kids.”
But Mr. McGintee suggested that the ability to sit on the beach around a fire might be one of the things that draws tourists to Montauk. He said he would like to confer with the Montauk Chamber of Commerce about potential new rules.
According to Mr. Rodgers, some owners of beachfront motels in Montauk do not want bonfires lit on the beaches near them, as their guests have complained about the smoke. If a particular motel wants fires to be allowed on the nearest stretch of beach, he said, “then make them responsible for cleaning the beaches.”
“I’m just trying to strike a balance between people coming out here to enjoy the place, and turning it into an armed fortress,” Mr. McGintee said.
Town board members could not recall whether or not they had voted to adopt a change to the beach fire law, which would add a starting time of no earlier than 5 p.m. Councilwoman Pat Mansir offered a resolution enacting the time restriction on fires, between 5 and 11:59 p.m., later during Tuesday’s meeting.
A public hearing had been held in April on the time limit, but it was tabled. However, according to official records posted by the town at Townclerk.com, the measure was adopted by the board in May. A second hearing was held in June.
On Tuesday, Town Councilman Pete Hammerle voted against amending the law to make it illegal to light a bonfire before 5 p.m. The limit, he said, “means you can’t have an authentic clambake anymore.”
A traditional clambake, where seafood is steamed in seaweed in a fire pit, entails starting the fire early in the day. In addition, Mr. Hammerle said, he did not want to preclude people from, perhaps, sitting around a fire on the beach on a cool or inclement-weather day.
According to the records, Mr. Hammerle was absent from the May 5 vote. Councilwoman Julia Prince voted no that day. She was ill on Tuesday and absent from the meeting when the resolution was voted on again.