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Southampton Village Looks To Limit Number Of Vehicles Allowed On Beach At Picnic Area

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authorGreg Wehner on Apr 15, 2016

Southampton Village Board members have scheduled a public hearing to discuss changing the number of vehicles that will be allowed to drive on the beach during the day at the Picnic Area—a 2,000-foot-long section of beach that runs between the village’s western boundary and Road F—between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The hearing, which will take place on May 12 at Village Hall, will allow members of the public to weigh in on a proposal to limit the number of vehicles on the only stretch of ocean-facing beach in Southampton Town that people are permitted to drive on between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the summer months, to 175 vehicles.

The village plans to police the number of vehicles allowed on the beach by setting up a single access point at the heliport between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

At a Village Board meeting on Thursday night, Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley said the access point at Road F will be gated off during the day and that a physical barrier will be put in place to block vehicles from entering the area from the Shinnecock East County Park, located at the village’s western boundary.

Once the vehicle limit is reached, Mr. Epley said, those with beach driving passes will be allowed to park in the helipad parking lot on Meadow Lane, which is currently being expanded by an additional 75 spaces, although the pass will not allow them to park in any other village lots, like the one at Coopers Beach.

The proposed change comes after a recent lawsuit filed against the Village of Southampton, the Southampton Town Trustees and the State Department of Environmental Conservation alleging that the village and Trustees were unfairly and illegally allowing vehicles on a small portion of the beach during the day in the summertime, while excluding them from other beaches. The suit, which was filed by attorney Nica B. Strunk on behalf of property owners Kathleen Araskog Thomas, Andrew S. Thomas, Rand V. Araskog and Jessi M. Araskog on October 21, 2015, is still pending.

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