Once again, East Hampton Town officials have been trying to figure out how to deal with the ever-increasing number of large events held here during the summer season. These fall under the generic heading of “special events” in the town code and can include craft sales, benefits, private parties, weddings, foot races, and parades, to name a few. Even during Covid, the town issued more than 500 party permits a year; now with the end of the pandemic possibly in sight, that figure is likely to climb.
To cope with the paperwork required for permits for events with 50 or more people, the town is moving the cutoff date for applications back. For the largest gatherings, those of more than 250 people, requests are due in Town Hall no fewer than eight weeks in advance. Organizers of smaller events would have more time to prepare their submissions.
One problem area that a special events committee has been talking about is events and requests for all sorts of commercial activities on town beaches. These have included for beach chair and umbrella vendors, beach fire vendors, applications for brand-promotion events that have a purported charitable tie-in, fitness classes, and kayak and paddleboard rentals and lessons. As of now, these are reviewed case by case; as the committee has suggested, an overall policy now appears necessary. From our perspective, the time has come to strictly limit the use of beaches for any organized private purpose to only a handful of people, with the exception being those, such as ocean swims, that could not be held elsewhere. Large catered parties are another issue, in that they can effectively cordon off whole sections of beaches and make ordinary beachgoers feel unwelcome. As Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said earlier this year, this commercialization “really diminishes the natural quality of our beaches. . . . It very quickly becomes a sandy shopping mall. I don’t think we want to see that, at least I don’t.”
Parking and noise are other areas of concern. Without hard caps on the number of guests, outdoor events in particular can draw hundreds of cars, which in some cases have ended up blocking emergency access for ambulances and police vehicles. Sound from amplified music and live bands is probably the most widespread annoyance. Some of law enforcement personnel are trained in the use of decibel meters, but identifying the source of noise and then holding those responsible accountable is not always easy. Plus, for deep-pocketed hosts, monetary fines after the fact are hardly reason not to throw an all-out bash. More severe penalties, perhaps including a ban of a year or two on events at the same location might be contemplated.
In the abstract, large events of this sort become part of an ongoing conversation about who local government is for — residents or revelers. As with noise from aircraft, parties help to articulate a thorny debate about our identity as a community and how existing regulations are not adequate. Some degree of disturbance is inevitable as we all squeeze onto the thin far end of Long Island, but keeping the infringements to a minimum should always be the topmost goal for us as individuals and officials alike.