Lambert’s Cove Beach will open to sticker holders this summer, but parking capacity will be cut in half, the West Tisbury parks and recreation committee decided Tuesday.
Also at the meeting, the committee voted to cancel all recreational summer programs. And all outdoor recreational places, including Seth’s Pond, playgrounds, fields and outdoor athletic facilities, will be closed until further notice.
“We don’t anticipate things getting better any time soon,” West Tisbury health agent Omar Johnson told committee members. “We need to make these decisions now.”
The town beach at Lambert’s Cove will open as scheduled on June 1 for town residents with stickers. But even before that date, the committee and town board of health were concerned about crowds flocking to the beach and cars bunching together.
Effective immediately, the committee voted to reduce the 35-car parking lot capacity to 17. A few more cars may be allowed to park on the roadsides. Face coverings are also now required while walking the path to the beach.
With as many as 400 people on the beach on a peak summer day, committee members said parking limitations are the only way to reduce capacity while not strictly limiting the number of people allowed at the beach.
“We don’t want as many people frequenting the beach as we normally would. We need to limit the number of cars parking at Lambert’s Cove . . . to do that,” Mr. Johnson said.
The committee has the authority to limit parking in the beach parking lot. Selectmen will vote next week on whether to temporarily prohibit roadside parking.
Town officials said the decision was a compromise over closing the beach altogether.
“Should we put a rope across and just close the beach right now?” town selectman and committee member Skipper Manter asked.
Mr. Johnson and other committee members agreed it was important to keep the beach open, especially as a means of outdoor activity during the current shelter-in-place order, which was recently extended to May 18.
Committee members also considered whether to prohibit beachgoers from sitting or lounging, as a way to maintain safe social distancing.
The committee was split on that and decided to reevaluate in the next few weeks. Until then, committee chairman Peggy Stone said: “You can swim, jog or sit . . . the important part is maintaining social distance.”
The committee also decided to double the number of porta-potties, clean them more frequently and post signs cautioning beachgoers of appropriate social distancing protocols.
Annual beach stickers will still be sold as usual; the committee is working to make them available for purchase online.
Corrected from an earlier version that incorrectly reported the parking lot capacity as 80 cars. It is 35, and will be reduced to 17 cars.
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