Town Wins Battle For Public Beach Access: Supervisor

EAST HAMPTON, NY — It's a victory for public beach access in East Hampton.

"The Town of East Hampton and trustees have won an important State Supreme decision announced today preserving public beach access in Napeague," East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell wrote today.

Regarding the decision of the New York State Supreme Court in the case of Seaview at Amagansett LTD, et. a. v. the trustees of the freeholders, after a five-day bench trial, the Hon. Ralph T. Gazzillo, Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, issued a post-trial decision upholding the rights of the East Hampton community to access Napeague Beach for its traditional public uses, a release from East Hampton Town said.

“The Town of East Hampton is very pleased that the Court, in the strongest of terms, recognizes the longstanding public use of this oceanfront beach in Napeague,” Cantwell said. “The court issued a common sense decision rightfully rejecting the ‘questionable’, ‘unimpressive’, and ‘contradictory’ testimony of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses, while finding those life-long community members who testified on behalf of the Defendants’ to be ‘credible’, ‘harmonious’ and ‘persuasive’," he said.

The 33-page decision, "which Justice Gazillo stated culminated his nearly 50-year career in public service, methodically reviewed the testimony of all the witnesses and found what everyone knows, Napeague or 'truck beach' is a public resource that has been enjoyed by our community for generations," the release stated.

East Hampton Town Councilman Fred Overton, who was called to testify on behalf of the town and the trustees, said, “The Court specifically found, ‘It is also clear and undeniable that in living memory — and even perhaps well before — the community has consistently used the beach as a recreation location which is open to the public.”

The Court’s decision "explicitly denied the plaintiffs’ private ownership claims of the beach, as well as their claims that the town was creating a nuisance by allowing public use of Napeague beach, the release said.

“The town will remain steadfast in protecting our public access to our ocean beaches and public land,” Cantwell said.

Attorneys for the homeowners could not immediately be reached for comment.

Photo by Richard Lewin Professional Photography, soniboy@aol.com.