The problem as some see it is that beachgoers continue to set up their chairs and lay out towels deep into September and that four-wheel vehicles and free-running dogs all day long are no longer compatible with sunbathers, swimmers, and people reading books or grabbing a quick snooze. Village lifeguards, who have the frontline view and whose season has also been extended, believe that changes are needed.
Whatever is decided, East Hampton Village and Town beach rules should be consistent. It is too much to expect most residents to understand the conflicting regulations concerning time of day and between which dates they are in effect, much less grasp the meaning of the fine print on the posted, confusing signs. For example, the town’s high-season prohibition on dogs and trucks is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (except in Montauk) and the village’s is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aligning these would be an easy step. Clarity leads to better compliance and fewer conflicts among beach users.
Dogs are generally allowed on town beaches all day if they are walked on a leash at least 500 feet from road ends; the limit is 300 feet on village beaches — again, confusing. Three hundred feet seems too little to keep a speedy dog from racing into the no-pets zone to snatch someone’s lunch or tread on a nicely laid-out blanket. Whether their owners choose to believe it or not, not everyone enjoys close encounters with dogs.
In addition to coming up with a consistent schedule and distances, the various boards — town trustees, town board, and village board — should separate the beach-driving limits from those concerning dogs and other pets. (Few people take their cats to the beach, but felines are mentioned in the respective codes.) Looking at this as two different issues is important, given the village lifeguards’ observation that dogs, not trucks, are the problem.
We are in agreement with the town trustees that beach driving for the purpose of surfcasting should be sacrosanct. Early October is the start of the high point in the striped bass run, and it is our view that the village’s proposed daytime truck ban — until Columbus Day — is too restrictive. Not everyone who wants to fish is able to hike down the soft sand to the water, which raises a disability-access problem that four-wheel drives solve. A compromise Sept. 30 opening date for round-the-clock vehicle access strikes us as fair, provided speed limits are posted and enforced.
Free-ranging dogs are a different matter. We think they should be kept off the sand near road ends from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. until most beachgoers have stopped sunbathing and relaxing for the year; Columbus Day seems about right.
All of this is offered for further discussion. And, to that end, it is essential that any decisions are put off until more residents can be heard from. Beaches are among the South Fork’s most-treasured assets and can stir strong feelings from differing groups of users. There is no reason that these decisions must be made now. Our hope is that the town, village, and town trustees pause, gather more community opinion, and put the matter to the public sometime in the spring at the earliest.