Beach driving drove public comment at the Aug. 20 East Hampton Town Board meeting, when seven residents from the White Sands neighborhood asked the board to do something about the amount of truck traffic on their stretch of beach in Amagansett.
“You’ve never heard of me, but I’ve been a resident for 51 years,” said Elise Platt, who lives on Osprey Road. “We have a beach that was once named the most beautiful in the country. This weekend it had 56 trucks on Saturday and 61 on Sunday. We had children who were defecating on the dunes and their parents were burying it. We have an issue.”
Residents said that trucks have historically entered the beach from an entrance along Dolphin Drive and headed east. This year, they’ve turned west instead, parking between Atlantic Drive and Dolphin.
The White Sands neighborhood was developed in the 1960s. On the blocks between Marlin, Atlantic, and Dolphin Drives sit 107 homes, all on small lots. “It’s adorable,” said Ms. Platt in a phone call after the meeting.
This all comes after a judge ruled that the 4,000-foot stretch of beach to the west of the neighborhood, known locally as Truck Beach, was off-limits to beach driving after a heated court battle between homeowners along that stretch and East Hampton Town and the East Hampton Town Trustees.
Those who once drove on that beach have dispersed to other areas where beach driving is still allowed.
“We are not the people who don’t want other people on that beach,” continued Ms. Platt. “We are people who believe that that beach is for everyone. In fact, our oceanfront people were asked to be in the lawsuit with the Napeague Beach homeowners and declined.”
“Why?” she asked rhetorically. “Because we didn’t believe that the beach should be privatized, and we still don’t believe that. We believe it should be shared, but we are being harassed. People are parking in front of the oceanfront accesses. They are honking. They are surrounding people with tents, with trucks.”
Michael Hansen, the town clerk, confirmed this week that the town issued 27,000 resident parking and 8,000 beach driving permits in 2026. He said it was an unusual year because all past permits expired on Dec. 31, 2025.
Residents and property owners pay zero for beach parking and driving permits.
At the Aug. 20 town board meeting, Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez blamed the situation on shifting sands, beach closures due to piping plovers, and confusion.
“Two things were brought to our attention about why you’re seeing more trucks in your neighborhood as opposed to going further east,” she read in a statement. “One is that the beach is narrowing. Second, there were piping plover nests at Napeague Beach State Park.”
“There has been no change to the town code governing beach driving in that area,” she added. “The confusion came from an incorrect sign that stated beach driving was prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Once the error was brought to the town’s attention, Marine Patrol removed the incorrect language and ordered replacement signage.”
The stretch of beach between the east end of Napeague State Park and the west end of Hither Hills State Park is not subject to seasonal beach driving restrictions, the supervisor informed the room.
Residents were left mystified by the town’s actions.
“Our sign has been up since I can remember,” said Ms. Platt, who, again, has been a resident since the 1970s. “First, they taped over the sign. Then four days later they removed the sign and put up a new one. For years someone spray-painted the sign. We assumed it was a trucker. For years we asked to have it replaced. Took years. Then somehow they replaced the sign in just days.”
“It just almost feels like we’re being targeted,” said Carol Herman, who stood to speak with her husband, Hank, who relayed safety concerns for his grandchildren. “Maybe other stuff’s going on that we’re not aware of, but it’s just incredibly odd that all the trucks turn this way.” She also found it strange that the sign, which she said had been in place “since the early ‘90s” was suddenly being referred to as “erroneous.”
“They’re parking very close to the dunes,” said Johanna Ellner. “I spoke to the truckers. I said why don’t you go east when you come in and they said, ‘Well, we like it better here.’ Half of them don’t even have stickers and nobody’s ticketing them. This is the first year it’s happened. There has to be at least 500 people on that beach, and it can’t hold it. It’s a very delicate area.”
“Atlantic Drive always had a sign that limited beach-driving access,” said Katie Palmer, a 25-year resident of the White Sands neighborhood. “As of a few days ago, that sign was changed.” She said residents access the beach by walking up Atlantic Drive but trucks are now using it as an entry and exit point. “It poses a serious threat to the safety of the people on the beach,” she said. Some even drove through the children’s annual sand castle contest.
Alan Coren had a foot in both camps. He lives on Osprey Road but also drives on the beach.
“The freedom of being able to drive on the beach was something that inspired me to come here,” he said. “What made it extra special was that along with that freedom came a responsibility that I was not allowed to be driving on that beach during certain hours for the safety of everybody in that community. That has been the way it was for the past nine years. This year, something changed.” He predicted a severe injury. “Is that what it’s going to take to have some common-sense concerns for everyone in that neighborhood?” he asked. “I hope not.”
Paul Edelman was also concerned about safety, specifically on Atlantic Drive.
“In order to get off on Atlantic, there’s elevation,” he explained. “There’s a slope. The trucks accelerate on the beach in order to make it. They literally missed my kids by about three feet. I thought they ran over the dog. The truck just kept going.”
Based on Supervisor Burke-Gonzalez’s prepared statement, it seemed unlikely that the town was about to change the code, with only a couple of weekends of beach weather remaining.
There was also support for truck access to the area’s beaches.
“Citizens for Access Rights remains active and steadfast in our mission to support access for all to our area’s public beaches,” said Tim Taylor, the group’s president, in a statement. “We strongly encourage all who use and value the public beaches in Amagansett to make their voices heard and share their views regarding beach access with the East Hampton Town Board.”
