Obnoxious Beach DrivingEast HamptonNovember 26, 2015Dear Editor,When three pickup trucks are parked on the 100-yard-long beach near my house, they take up half the beach, including the space required for them to turn around and to accelerate off the beach. Visually, they consume the entire beach. Beachgoers who do not drive on the beach are left with the debris: exhaust fumes, noise pollution, asphalt-dust, and deep ruts in the sand. Who can deny that the town’s permitting and encouraging beach driving is absurd? The town’s plan to ask its taxpayers to pay millions of dollars to purchase waterfront property to ensure the continuation of the obnoxious beach-driving habit is irresponsible. It is unrealistic to expect local politicians to oppose beach driving. The town, however, will have a difficult time trying to convince a court that there is a substantial state interest in condemning waterfront property to accommodate beach driving, in face of the fact that the recreation erodes and desecrates the town’s most precious resource. Very truly yours,LAWRENCE J. KONCELIK JR.Share the BeachAmagansettNovember 28, 2015Dear David:East Hampton is a celebrated place, renowned for its natural beauty and stunning beaches. There are few who believe a beach swarmed with vehicles is a safe one, or a beautiful one. Yet some do. This has certainly been an issue on Maidstone Beach and Albert’s Landing. In Napeague, at “Truck Beach,” there is also significant conflict between folks with these differing points of view, and we formed Safe Access for Everyone (SAFE) to educate the public about the challenges there, and to offer solutions. Truck Beach now has 140 families living there, and the arrangement of 24/7/365 beach driving is no longer sustainable. Yet East Hampton has 22 miles of oceanfront beach, a few miles of it uninhabited and available for beach driving. Napeague State Park is adjacent to Truck Beach, and though it requires a paid permit for beach driving, the permit costs less than an S.U.V. tank of gas. And the uninhabited beach at South Flora, purchased by the town for $8.4 million, has free vehicle access and sits almost unused. All while Truck Beach has sometimes hundreds of S.U.V.s jammed onto 4,000 feet of beachfront. The local families must traverse a highway of S.U.V.s and squeeze through trucks parked like sardines to get to the shoreline. Why does one beach-going group get to subjugate another? Why can’t they both share different stretches of the same beach, separated from each other to avoid clashes?Despite the fact that the town restricts S.U.V. locations and hours elsewhere in East Hampton, and S.U.V. drivers happily comply, at Truck Beach the town has refused to discuss real solutions to the matter. Instead, it has already spent $250,000 putting S.U.V.s before sincere parental safety and sanitation concerns. (Dogs have been hit and killed; trash and human and dog feces litter the dunes.) It shouldn’t take a child being hospitalized to get some real dialogue going. The town is now threatening to condemn the beach, potentially spending tens of millions more, plunging the town into massive debt and costing taxpayers unnecessarily. And in eminent domain proceedings, taxpayers will not be given an opportunity to have public hearings about the true cost first, then decide what they want to do. The town ultimately makes an executive decision and won’t know the cost until it’s too late to back out. There are free solutions, outlined on safebeach.org. We are asking that the S.U.V.s move just a half-mile east — not to Westhampton. We think that is a reasonable, free compromise that preserves beach access for all user groups, including S.U.V.s, in the safest manner possible. CINDI CRAINAnother Hot PotatoEast HamptonNovember 28, 2015Hi David,I would like to weigh in on the issue of “Truck Beach” — another hot potato.While I see both sides of this issue, I clearly see a resolution that will not cost the town a dime and allow for only fishermen pulling in nets to continue, as the town claims has happened for many years.Nearly 30 years ago I sold both properties at the end of Mitchell Dunes Lane, the oceanfront properties. At that time there truly was only the occasional dawn or dusk fisherman casting his or her line in. Frankly, I never saw a fisherman hauling in his nets as the town describes.One of those purchasers has become a lifelong dear friend of mine and my family, so I have spent many days at that beach. The current use of the shoreline is not even remotely close to what East Hampton Town describes as its allowable use. Did you know it is the only “drive-on” beach that is not public lands? Did you also know that just to the east is New York State parkland — which is the answer!If Truck Beach were relocated to this state land, there is no issue! Private property owner rights are then not in question! The lawsuit that has cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars will cease instantly. Local residents who enjoy driving on the beach and parking there for the day will continue to enjoy the activity.A win win win situation for everyone! Property owners, taxpayers, and beach-driving enthusiasts!Town residents who wish to drive on the beach will need to get a New York State pass to drive and park there, and may even need a state fishing license. But remember, that was the original allowable use as described by East Hampton Town.I am befuddled at why this simple and comprehensive resolution has not simply been done. The existing course is a waste of time, energy, and money. Let’s get smart. Please. JUDI A. DESIDERIOFirst Two FreedomsSag HarborNovember 30, 2015Dear David,F.D.R. spoke of the Four Freedoms, which define who we are as a nation. The first two are freedom of speech and freedom of religion.Fourteen citizens were arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights on the beach in Montauk for failure to leave what has been described as a “construction zone.” The beaches are public, and this so-called “zone” was not created by any local authority or legislation. While the police were polite, they really had no authority to arrest anybody who participated in a peaceful protest. There was no lawful order that needed to be obeyed.While Mr. Trump has the right to speak his mind, suggesting that all Muslims register and that mosques be watched and even some closed shows he has no respect for freedom of religion. His ideas are not new; they sound like they came from Nazi Germany in the ’30s. I like his idea about building a wall, as long as the wall is around his mouth.In some respects, Jeb Bush was no better when he suggested entry to the U.S. be granted to Christians only. That’s just plain dumb. They just don’t get it.STEPHEN A. GROSSMANSave the BeachNoyacNovember 29, 2015To the Editor:Sitting here at the beach at Gosman’s, we mourn the recent and imminent destruction of Montauk’s town beach. Yet I have yet to let go of the idea we can still save it. Please, any celebrity reading this, stand with us and save the beach you’ve so enjoyed for your children and grandchildren. Read the “Stop the Corps, Save the Beach” Facebook page and learn what is really happening to what used to be a beautiful sandy beach. And then step up. We need you.HEIDI RAIN and TOM OLESZCZUK
Published 4 years ago
Last updated 4 years ago
Letters to the Editor: Beach Condemning 12.03.15
December 3, 2015