Aug 27, 2019 3:02 PMIn 1974, Westhampton Beach Village officials enacted a law that required surfers to have licenses in order to surf at village beaches.
Then, last month, 45 years after the law was instituted, Village Clerk Elizabeth Lindtvit received an email from Shawn Harris, a Center Moriches resident who was wondering if he really needed a license to surf there.
“I replied back saying that, as far as I know, there’s no license required — because I didn’t know there was a license required to surf,” Ms. Lindtvit said.
He then pasted the village code provision for surfing licenses into his following email. It states that anyone surfing within 1,500 feet of the village boundary must have a license, and that they must wear an identification badge while surfing. From June 1 to September 30, licensed surfing is permitted only between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m.
The code continues that the village clerk would issue licenses, for a $3 fee, only to Westhampton Beach residents or members of a surfing organization approved by the Village Board.
Ms. Lindtvit called the provision “archaic” and brought it to the attention of Mayor Maria Moore and Village Board members. Now, they are planning to remove it.
“I just started surfing, so I’ve been looking up places around the Hamptons area to go surf,” Mr. Harris said. “So, I usually just like to make sure that parking or whatever, I won’t get in any trouble. So I was looking up on their code page to see if there was anything, and I came across their surfer’s code.”
He continued: “At first, it didn’t make sense to me. I thought, maybe there was an issue in the past with surfers or something like that, so I tried to find out if there was anything news-related with surfing, and there really wasn’t. It didn’t really seem like there was a clear reason behind it.”
At a work session on Wednesday, August 21, Village Board members were in agreement to fully eliminate the license requirement. Deputy Mayor Ralph Urban explained the reason why the law was added in the first place.
“I was speaking to [absent board member] Steve Frano, and he said, anecdotally, back in the ’70s, surfing became popular. Surfers would come and park in the neighboring homes’ driveways, and then go surfing,” Mr. Urban said. “So the homeowners got upset. So that’s why this was instituted. But I don’t think we have those difficulties anymore.”
But the code cited safety concerns as the reason for its implementation, stating that without the provision, there was a “substantial hazard to persons using the waters adjacent to the Village of Westhampton Beach from surfers and their surfboards.”
Board member Rob Rubio and Department of Public Works Superintendent Matthew Smith both said at the meeting that surfers usually choose to go out in the morning to avoid sharing the water with swimmers.
A public hearing for the Westhampton Beach code revision was scheduled for the following Village Board meeting on September 5.
The village’s action to remove outdated surfing restrictions came at the same time that Southampton Village was taking similar actions of its own. Southampton Village Board members amended a section of their code on Tuesday, August 20, to allow surfing everywhere in the village at all times, with the exception of the bathing area at Coopers Beach.
Village code previously stated that surfing was prohibited on a nearly one-mile stretch of beach between Halsey Neck Lane and Old Town Road, and a small stretch at Fowler Lane, from June 15 through September 15, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Southampton Village Police enforced that restriction on a recent Saturday — leading many surfers to organize and participate in a “surf-in” protest the following day at a village beach. The mayor, Jesse Warren, attended the protest and followed up with the Village Board two days later, eliminating the law, which similarly was decades old.
Mr. Harris said he will wait until the code is changed before surfing at Westhampton Beach spots and will continue to go out around Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.
“I have really bad luck, and I’m a little worried that you might end up getting the wrong code enforcer showing up that day and get a fine,” he said. “I’m waiting until it’s completely off, or it’s revised. That way I’ll feel a little more comfortable going out there.”
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