Oct 29, 2019 12:02 PMSouthampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren’s recent proposal to lift surfing restrictions from the law books was met with opposition from two former village mayors last week, yet neither was able to convince their 36-year-old successor that he should consider otherwise.
The Village Board held a public hearing on Tuesday, October 22, on a measure that would abolish a law from the 1970s that prohibits surfing between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from June 15 through September 15, and instead would give the board the ability to place surfing restrictions on certain beaches in the village, but only when needed.
“I would love to have this language lifted from our books,” Mr. Warren said, acknowledging that the code was not relevant at this time of year. “I don’t like the language that is in our books.”
Former Southampton Village Mayor Michael Irving spoke out against the measure during a public comment portion of the meeting and said that as a surfer who has been surfing in the village since long before Mr. Warren was born, he understood the inherent safety issues when surfers and swimmers share the water.
While many surfboards are made out of fiberglass or epoxy, those made of soft foam — the same as boogie boards — appear safer than the real deal. Either board, however, could pose the same threat if they get loose and strike a swimmer in the head.
“If you are going to have someone swimming at a beach and another person surfing, [when] that board comes in … [and] you get hit with those, you’re out of commission,” Mr. Irving said. “The purpose of the previous law was so we could designate areas to surf. There was never, in Southampton, a moratorium on surfing. This way, we could control the safety issue of surfers and swimmers.”
In August, many surfers were stunned when Village Police officers began enforcing a section of the code that prohibited surfing along a nearly 1-mile stretch of beach between Halsey Neck Lane and Old Town Road during the summer months.
Mr. Warren chose to support the surfers rather than the police department and has since been moving toward the abolishment of surfing restrictions altogether.
He has also been moving toward allowing numerous surf schools to operate in the village, as opposed to just one, which is what has been done in the past.
Mr. Irving said if the schools are getting beach parking passes and taking up many of the available spots for residents to park, it can become an issue.
“If you plan to promote surfing and promote the surf camps, you’re going to have chaos between parking and safety issues,” he said.
Former Mayor Mark Epley also spoke during the public hearing and asked the sitting board what the current status of the lawsuits surrounding driving on the beaches was.
The village was named in two lawsuits when Mr. Epley was mayor that aimed to stop beach driving at the Picnic Area in the western portion of the village. The people who filed the lawsuit against the village, the Southampton Town Trustees and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, claimed that it was unfair to allow beach driving at the Picnic Area during the day in the summer months when it is banned everywhere else in the town between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the same months.
When none of the board members could provide Mr. Epley with a status of the lawsuit, he explained that his administration did not make changes to the surfing restriction portion of the code because of the lawsuits — any changes to the section of code were reserved until the lawsuits were resolved.
“You have the ability already in the code to do a resolution to identify beaches, exactly how you are talking about,” Mr. Epley said. “Now you’re modifying the chapter in here that is currently under fire in a lawsuit, the beach driving lawsuit, and I would say stay away from it.”
But his plea fell on the current mayor’s deaf ears.
“There you have it — our two former mayors giving us some advice,” Mr. Warren said. “The good news is that we do have a new board, so we can make our own decisions.”
When it came to the board taking action to lift the code, though, everyone besides Mr. Warren chose to hold off.
Village Board member Mark Parash said he was not in favor of repealing the law because not having a law did not make sense — Village Board members Richard Yastrzemski and Kimberly Allan agreed.
“We don’t want lawlessness,” Mr. Parash said. “It’s not hurting us right now.
Village Board member Andrew Pilaro echoed Mr. Parash and said, “having a law is better than not.”
Although Mr. Warren was ready to take action and approve lifting the restrictions, he agreed with the other board members to adjourn the public hearing on the matter until November 26 at 6 p.m.
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