Town and Village Residents Will Need To Pay More To Drive on Southampton Village Beaches

Southampton Town and Southampton Village residents who enjoy driving on Southampton Village beaches will have to pay more for the privilege.

On January 9, the Southampton Village Board unanimously approved a resolution to charge nominal fees for 4x4 beach driving permits. For town and village residents, a one-year permit will cost $25, and a three-year permit, good through 2027, will cost $60. The cost for a one-year senior permit is $10, and a three-year senior permit is $30. The village also will charge $10 for a replacement permit.

Residents who want to drive on any of the beaches in Southampton Town or Southampton Village will still need to purchase the driving permit from the Southampton Town Trustees, who govern the town beachfront, but anyone who wants to drive on any Southampton Village beaches will also need to purchase the village permit.

Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger said he remembers when the village used to charge residents to drive on village beaches, more than 20 years ago, during his first term as a village trustee in 2000.

Manger said that, 21 years ago, the Town Trustees let the village know that they didn’t think the village should also be charging for the driving permits, in addition to what the Trustees were charging for them. Manger said that, at the time, the village was charging much more for the permits than it will charge now.

Manger said he felt it was appropriate to start charging for a permit again, this time making it a more nominal fee.

“I reached out [to the Town Trustees] and said that we’d like to charge something, because we have people handling the administration of it, and we do enforcement on the beaches with our police department, so we should be realizing some revenue for this,” he explained, adding that the Town Trustees agreed, as long as the fees would be low.