Appeal Denied in Truck Beach Cases
East Hampton Town and the town trustees have lost their appeal of a State Supreme Court decision against granting summary judgment in two lawsuits seeking to prohibit vehicles on two stretches of the ocean beach at Napeague. The appeal was rejected by the Appellate Division on Wednesday.
The lawsuits, brought by White Sands Motel Holding and Seaview at Amagansett in 2009, ask the court to affirm that their properties extend to mean high-water mark, and that neither the town nor trustees could allow the public to use the area above that line.
One of the properties is a 4,000-foot stretch known as Truck Beach; both have long been popular among local residents, particularly on Sundays in the summer.
The town and trustees dispute that ownership claim, asserting ongoing and traditional use of the beach by vehicles, and noting that the area was designated in 1991 as a beach where vehicles are permitted between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the summer. The case was before State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Gazzillo, who ruled against summary judgment in June and told the attorneys not to expect a decision before Labor Day. Summary judgment would have ended the attempt to prohibit the vehicles.
In each lawsuit, the Appellate Division said the defendants "failed to establish, prima facie, that they are legally permitted to allow individuals to use the disputed area by virtue of a certain reservation clause contained in one of the deeds allegedly comprising the plaintiffs' chain of title."
"The Appellate Division is saying it was proper for the trial to proceed," Richard Whalen, the trustees' attorney, said on Thursday. "Now, we simply do what we expected to do" — await the Supreme Court's decision.
Should the property owners prevail, town officials plan to resolve the dispute by exercising the right of eminent domain by condemning approximately 22 acres of shorefront between the mean high-water mark and the toe of dunes.
During the Supreme Court trial, property owners carried out a broad attack on Truck Beach, saying it threatened public health and degraded the environment, putting upland properties at increased risk of flooding.
The property owners' attorneys also attempted to portray a dangerous environment with trucks weaving through crowds and children, and people and dogs urinating and defecating in the dunes.
The town and trustees countered with testimony from residents who recalled driving on the beach more than 50 years ago and dismissed suggestions that conditions were or had ever been hazardous. They called witnesses who adamantly testified that regulations were observed and upheld.