Town Will Reopen East Quogue's Hot Dog Beach Parking Lot By Month's End

Southampton Town will soon reopen the dirt parking lot at a popular oceanfront beach in East Quogue that was closed off to the public for more than a decade after a fire burned down a restaurant operating on the site.

Though they have been able to park at nearby Triton Lane over that span, visitors to Hot Dog Beach will be able to park in the beach lot itself starting later this month, according to Town Parks Director Kristen Doulos. She explained that the town purchased the 9-acre property in 2002, after a fire destroyed The Pavilion, a popular restaurant that once operated on the land.

A resolution dated December 10, 2002, and sponsored by then-Supervisor Patrick “Skip” Heaney, allowed the town to spend $4 million in Community Preservation Fund money on the oceanfront land, which was previously owned by Shorelands Inc.

After completing some minor renovations, including the replacement of boards on the boardwalk leading from the dirt parking lot to the beach and the installation of portable bathrooms, the town intends to reopen the facility at the end of June, according to Ms. Doulos.

At a public hearing on Tuesday, June 13, the Southampton Town Board will discuss amending the town code to allow those with permits to park in the new lot, which will not be paved and features about 175 stalls.

Ms. Doulos noted that many locals incorrectly refer to the oceanfront beach near Triton Lane as Hot Dog Beach. In fact, a sign near the closed off parking lot states that it is actually “William H. Swan Beach”; Ms. Doulos said that sign would be removed soon.

As has been the case, Hot Dog Beach will be an unprotected beach, meaning lifeguards will not be on duty. She also noted that an ice cream stand would be set up in the parking lot.

“I always used to hear about Hot Dog Beach,” Ms. Doulos said during a recent interview. “It’s a beloved spot.”

About a mile to the east, also on the ocean side of Dune Road, town officials recently reopened another beach whose protective dunes were leveled by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

After being off-limits for the past four years, Sandbar Beach in East Quogue reopened to the public over Memorial Day weekend. The town spent $50,000, and was later reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to have Gatz Landscaping of Mattituck rebuild the dunes at the beach.

The beach reopening was delayed, however, after initial repairs to the dunes came up short; specifically, Ms. Doulos said, some of the sand was inadvertently mixed with chunks of asphalt, so the contractor was forced to sift through the sand and rebuild the dunes a second time.

Those issues have since been addressed, she added. “It looks nice down there,” Ms. Doulos said.