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I just submitted this as part of my weekly column. It's beyond an important issue, so I'm reposting it here. What Brookhaven is doing is BS and can't possibly be legal.
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This past Saturday, I read a posted report on noreast.com from an angler who went to the Brookhaven Town public beach at Shoreham to find that the Town had banned fishing there. I found the report difficult to believe, so before writing this column, I took a drive there to see what I could learn. Sure enough, on an official Brookhaven Town park sign were the words ?No Fishing?. I spoke to the parking lot attendant who guards the path leading to the beach. He told me that no one is permitted to carry a fishing rod to the beach ? even if that person intends to walk far away from the town beach to fish. He told me if someone disobeyed his instructions, he would have to call Brookhaven Town Public Safety. The Shoreham Town Beach is bordered on the west by a stretch of beach that runs unobstructed for about 7 miles to Mt Sinai Harbor. There is approximately a mile of beach to the east that is interrupted by the jetty at the Shoreham power plant.
As I wrote about in last week?s column, beachfront property owners, including the Town of Brookhaven, own only the land above the Mean High Water Mark (MHWM). This line is calculated by an average of all high tides, including the unusually high tides that occur near the Full and New Moons, and the often very high storm-driven tides. Since these extreme highs are averaged in, the MHWM is well above the weed line that is deposited by typical high tides. The beach below the MHWM belongs to the state, and the public?s right to access it is protected under the Public Trust Doctrine.
The essence of the doctrine is that the waters of the state are a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, conducting commerce, fishing, recreation, and similar uses and that this trust is not invalidated by private ownership of the underlying land. Note the reference to ?fishing?. As long as anglers stay below the MHWM, they can fish legally anywhere along the beach. I?m not an attorney, but to me, Brookhaven?s attempt to prohibit fishing looks like a clear violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.
If unchallenged, Brookhaven?s actions set a very dangerous precedent. How long will it be before other towns cave into influential property owners and outlaw fishing? I hope someone challenges this law. It will take nothing more than an otherwise law-abiding taxpaying Town of Brookhaven resident to politely and calmly commit the apparently illegal act of going fishing on a beach paid for by his or her tax dollars. Then the summons would need to be challenged in court. If any attorneys would be interested in defending such a summons on a Pro Bono basis, please email me at [email protected].
I no longer live in the Town of Brookhaven, but I grew up there at a time when anglers could drive on the beach. That was taken away in the early 80s. I was among the many anglers who packed Town Hall for the meeting at which a handful of property owners convinced then Town Supervisor Henrietta Acampora and the Town Council to take away that beach vehicle access. Since then, most of the near beach parking has been taken away too. Now the taxpayers of Brookhaven Town are being told it?s illegal to fish at one of the few areas they do have access to. I would normally advocate calling Town Hall to complain about an issue such as this. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian Foley?s phone number is 631-451-9100. It?s always worth making a call to complain, but in this instance, I believe it?s going to take a legal challenge to change anything.
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This past Saturday, I read a posted report on noreast.com from an angler who went to the Brookhaven Town public beach at Shoreham to find that the Town had banned fishing there. I found the report difficult to believe, so before writing this column, I took a drive there to see what I could learn. Sure enough, on an official Brookhaven Town park sign were the words ?No Fishing?. I spoke to the parking lot attendant who guards the path leading to the beach. He told me that no one is permitted to carry a fishing rod to the beach ? even if that person intends to walk far away from the town beach to fish. He told me if someone disobeyed his instructions, he would have to call Brookhaven Town Public Safety. The Shoreham Town Beach is bordered on the west by a stretch of beach that runs unobstructed for about 7 miles to Mt Sinai Harbor. There is approximately a mile of beach to the east that is interrupted by the jetty at the Shoreham power plant.
As I wrote about in last week?s column, beachfront property owners, including the Town of Brookhaven, own only the land above the Mean High Water Mark (MHWM). This line is calculated by an average of all high tides, including the unusually high tides that occur near the Full and New Moons, and the often very high storm-driven tides. Since these extreme highs are averaged in, the MHWM is well above the weed line that is deposited by typical high tides. The beach below the MHWM belongs to the state, and the public?s right to access it is protected under the Public Trust Doctrine.
The essence of the doctrine is that the waters of the state are a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, conducting commerce, fishing, recreation, and similar uses and that this trust is not invalidated by private ownership of the underlying land. Note the reference to ?fishing?. As long as anglers stay below the MHWM, they can fish legally anywhere along the beach. I?m not an attorney, but to me, Brookhaven?s attempt to prohibit fishing looks like a clear violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.
If unchallenged, Brookhaven?s actions set a very dangerous precedent. How long will it be before other towns cave into influential property owners and outlaw fishing? I hope someone challenges this law. It will take nothing more than an otherwise law-abiding taxpaying Town of Brookhaven resident to politely and calmly commit the apparently illegal act of going fishing on a beach paid for by his or her tax dollars. Then the summons would need to be challenged in court. If any attorneys would be interested in defending such a summons on a Pro Bono basis, please email me at [email protected].
I no longer live in the Town of Brookhaven, but I grew up there at a time when anglers could drive on the beach. That was taken away in the early 80s. I was among the many anglers who packed Town Hall for the meeting at which a handful of property owners convinced then Town Supervisor Henrietta Acampora and the Town Council to take away that beach vehicle access. Since then, most of the near beach parking has been taken away too. Now the taxpayers of Brookhaven Town are being told it?s illegal to fish at one of the few areas they do have access to. I would normally advocate calling Town Hall to complain about an issue such as this. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian Foley?s phone number is 631-451-9100. It?s always worth making a call to complain, but in this instance, I believe it?s going to take a legal challenge to change anything.
