TURTLE COVE: Town to Defy Feds Over Access

With the fall surfcasting season only weeks away, East Hampton has been ordered by the federal government to block access to Turtle Cove in Montauk by all vehicles except those driven by the disabled.

A plan meant to placate the National Park Service over management of the popular cove has been deemed a "skeleton document" by the federal government - inadequate, despite the fact it cost the town $100,000 to have prepared. The plan would have allowed use of the narrow, dirt road that leads to the cove and its prime surfcasting during the three-month fall run of striped bass.

"I can't believe they did this to us again. We spent $100,000 on a law firm to comply with NEPA" - the National Environmental Protection Act - "and this is what they come back with," said a frustrated Councilman Peter Hammerle during a town board work session on Tuesday.

Turtle Cove, just west of the Montauk Lighthouse and popular among surf fishermen, surfers, and birders, was deeded to the town in 1985 as part of the National Park Service's federal lands-to-parks program. The federal agency is charged with keeping an eye on its relinquished land, however, and maintains the right to take it back if it is not properly cared for.

According to the Park Service, the "use" plan agreed upon at the time of the transfer banned the use of the road by all but emergency vehicles.

In 2003, the town was threatened with just such a take-back after the town board failed in its attempt to broker a compromise with surfcasting advocates demanding vehicular access to the cove. At issue then, and now, is the use of a dirt road that leads to a small patch of land beside the beach.

In 1998 the road was widened to accommodate machinery used to buttress the bluffs on which the Lighthouse sits. Once widened, the road was used more and more by surfcasters and surfers until environmental advocates reported its overuse to federal officials.

As a result, the road was ordered closed by the federal lands-to-parks office in Boston. A gate was erected but vandals tore it down, and again the road received unacceptably heavy use, according to Elyse LaForest, manager of the lands-to-parks program, and despite efforts by the town to restrict the use of the road and of the small parking lot in the cove itself.

The plot thickened last year when disabled residents sued the town, claiming that any plan that would block their access to the cove violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.

After paying $74,171 to O'Connor and Hannon, a Washington, D.C., law firm, to defend it against the suit, the town settled with two disabled residents for an undisclosed sum. The Park Service approved the settlement and halted the process of taking the land back pending review of a new, long-term management plan which the town was asked to prepare. An earlier environmental assessment of the 17 scenic acres undertaken by the town was deemed unacceptable.

In June, the town announced its new "utilization plan." It calls for a parking lot adjacent to the cove's beach with between 10 and 12 spaces, three of which were to be reserved for the handicapped. For nine months, vehicular access to the cove would be reserved for the disabled only. The road would be gated. Keys, or the code to a combination lock, would be provided to "qualified persons with disabilities." The road would then be opened for the months of September, October, and November to accommodate surfcasters.

In an Aug. 12 letter to Mr. McGintee, Ms. LaForest informed the supervisor that the town's plan "does not fully meet the National Park Service requirements," and would need to be revised. In that a revision cannot be accomplished in time for the fall fishing season, Ms. LaForest informed the town that it must provide reasonable accommodations to enable the disabled to participate in fishing activities at the site this year. She then presented town officials with alternatives.

The town can erect and maintain a gate at the top of the access road with signs directing the disabled to a convenient facility to obtain a key or combination to the lock. Or, it can erect signs at the top of the access road announcing that it is to be used by vehicles operated by, or carrying, the disabled. She also insisted that enforcement of either option was essential.

During Tuesday's informal town board meeting, Supervisor McGintee said, "We should turn around and say, 'We've had enough of your nonsense. We'll comply with the original site plan and put a parking lot up top. If not, take it over yourself and see what a disaster you'll have.' "

Board members agreed to alert the Washington firm that prepared the plan's environmental assessment at great expense. And they agreed to go forward with the plan. "The bottom line is, in three weeks we're going to open it and we're going to manage it the way we're proposing," Councilman Hammerle said.