Stuart’s Legacy

In a Viking-style burial at sea of his ashes in Napeague Bay, family and friends said goodbye on Saturday to the late Stuart Vorpahl. Mr. Vorpahl, who died in January, was a commercial fisherman.

David E. Rattray

Were Stuart alive today, he might be appalled by the East Hampton Town Trustees, who have been scuttling away crab-like, and as fast as possible, from what he believed

Sep. 22, 2016

Editorial

Stuart Vorpahl, who died in January, used to talk a good bit and with great common sense about the rights of East Hampton residents. Among them was the free use of the beaches, as spelled out in the Dongan Patent, a Colonial-era agreement.

Were Stuart alive today, he might be appalled by the East Hampton Town Trustees, who have been scuttling away crab-like, and as fast as possible, from what he believed. In a recent dispute among neighbors of the Driftwood Shores development in Springs, the trustees seemed more interested in figuring out who on paper “owned” a portion of beach than in upholding the centuries-old patent, which has been understood to guarantee townspeople the right of passage and other uses of the beach.

Similarly, the East Hampton Town Board has signaled that it, too, believes ownership trumps tradition in having looked to condemn portions of the Napeague oceanfront so that trucks can continue to park there in the summer. It would seem to us, and to Mr. Vorpahl, we believe, that the right was sacrosanct no matter what a contemporary title document might claim.

Time was when it was universally understood that the seaward boundaries of almost all properties in town were the beach-grass line, regardless of modern-day surveys claiming otherwise. Now the trustees and Town Hall seem to believe that whatever is stated on landowners’ paperwork is the final word, the Dongan Patent be damned. Stuart would be appalled.

To some degree, our elected officials are being influenced by the courts in tilting toward explicit beach ownership boundaries, but in doing so they are setting a risky precedent. They may be unintentionally siding with property owners by considering current title documents and surveys the determining factor. If so, this could carry a high cost — ultimately limiting the public’s access to areas clearly owned and under the control of local government.

Mr. Vorpahl’s message over the years was clear and consistent: Fight for all of the beaches. Officials should continue to keep that in mind now that he is gone.