No-Parking Signs Are Back on Dolphin Drive

Signs prohibiting parking along Dolphin Drive on Napeague, which were removed after a parking ban had been posted there for years, will go back up, according to a resolution passed by the East Hampton Town Board last week.

Discussion over whether the roadway, a short stretch on the south side of Montauk Highway that leads to the Atlantic shore and is bordered on the east by the town’s South Flora nature preserve, has pitted residents of the area against Zachary Cohen, a member of the town’s nature preserve committee, who believes that parking must be provided there to ensure public access to the preserve.

Residents, including Jonathan Wallace, an attorney who lives on the street and has filed suit against the town over removal of the no-parking signs, have said allowing parking will overrun their neighborhood with beachgoers and impede emergency access.

In a draft management plan issued recently to the town board for review, the nature preserve committee recommended creating several parking spaces along the eastern side of the Dolphin Drive right of way.

Elizabeth Vail, the town attorney, said after the town board vote last week that the move to replace the no-parking signs complies with the town’s legislative record regarding parking rules for the street. In light of the lawsuit, she told the board, it is “the only legal posture, for the duration, until you can consider [the nature preserve management] plan.”

Supervisor Larry Cantwell said this week that the board would consider parking for the preserve when it reviews the overall management plan.

In the meantime, Mr. Cohen is not the only one bristling at what is perceived as a move to keep outsiders out. Speaking at last week’s meeting, Loring Bolger said that she would like to take a Dolphin Drive-area resident up on his offer to those assembled to visit and see conditions for themselves, or to walk the trails in the preserve — “but there’s no place to park,” she said.

Norman Edwards, who lives in the area, demurred. Public parking is available on nearby Atlantic Drive, he said.