The East Hampton Town Trustees, meeting via video conference on Monday, were of two minds about a proposed East Hampton Village law to extend the prohibition of dogs and trucks on village beaches from Sept. 15 to Columbus Day. The trustees, who own the beaches on behalf of the public, will seek to meet with village officials to find a compromise benefiting all beach users.
The village board extended the beach season from Sept. 15 to Columbus Day three years ago, but on Jan. 16 held a public hearing on amending the code to disallow dogs and other animals between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from May 15 to the second Monday in October. The legislation would also prohibit vehicles during the same hours and days. A second public hearing was held that same day, about extending the requirement of a village beach-parking permit to Columbus Day; neither hearing drew public comment.
Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said at the village board’s meeting that beach staff, including lifeguards, had recommended extending the prohibition on animals and vehicles, noting that the beaches draw people into October, particularly on weekends. The lifeguards, he said, “have been finding that it’s not the dogs that are a problem so much, but it’s the trucks.”
Back at the trustees’ meeting, “My concern,” said Francis Bock, the clerk,
“My only concern,” said Celia Josephson, a trustee, “is that a lot of people are used to the Sept. 15 date where they can walk their dogs and also drive their trucks on the beach. In terms of taking a step beyond that, there may be some popular pushback. . . . We may decide that all things considered, this is okay to do. On the other hand, I think we really have to take the public’s feelings about it into consideration.”
Carrie Doyle of the village board had also voiced objection, at the Jan. 16 meeting, to pushing back the date at which dogs can be taken to the beaches during daytime hours. She herself is among those residents who “go to the beaches Sept. 15, as soon as I can, with my dog,” she told her colleagues.
“There’s lots of people — I talk to them all year long — they wait for those dates, and on the weekdays it’s crickets at the beach,” Ms. Doyle added. “There’s no one there. I think we all feel a collective sigh of relief after the summer season, when people — the traffic and noise — has abated and we can bring our dogs.”
Having lifeguards on hand to protect bathers is an important consideration, said John Aldred of the trustees. But Sept. 15 “is a traditional time that a lot of
Christopher Carillo, the trustees’ attorney, commented that as a town resident, he and his peers “have that day circled” on the calendar, that Sept. 15 is a popular date for families to take the afternoon off and enjoy the beach after most summer visitors have departed.
“I’d rather they don’t restrict parking beyond Sept. 15,” Mr. Aldred said. “It’s not out of bounds for the trustees to feel as though town residents have long been able to access our beaches through the village this way. This would be a restriction on town residents’ access to beaches.”
User groups including surfers, fishermen, dog walkers, and beach enthusiasts look forward to Sept. 15, the trustees agreed, while acknowledging the potential for conflict between trucks and beachgoers. The legislation could be crafted to allow driving on the village beaches but not within a specified distance from lifeguarded areas, Mr. Carillo said. He suggested an in-person meeting with village officials be scheduled.
Mr. Bock directed the trustees to express their individual concerns to the body’s beaches committee, which includes Ms. Josephson as well as Jim Grimes and Tim Garneau, neither of whom attended the virtual meeting. That committee, said the clerk, will present the trustees’ position to the village board.
