Last week, I attended a public Zoom session hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection regarding public beach access on Chappy. The DEP listened to comments by various stakeholders, including the Trustees, the Edgartown Conservation Commission, the Massachustts Department of Marine Fisheries and a Cape Pogue resident’s group.

The session was not intended or designed to receive input from the public at large, and this is completely understandable given the immense public interest in this

topic. The DEP analyst patiently and graciously listened to each group. Each party was given ample opportunity to share their input, and the meeting lasted almost two hours.

I feel compelled to share my observations from the session.

1: The representative from the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries pointed out that the Commonwealth purchased a large section of the Chappy beaches using Federal funds, and those funds were provided with the explicit right of public access. Any elimination of public access would result in a substantial financial obligation to the Federal government. But this point involves only dollars, not common sense or common courtesy, as you will see.

2: The speaker from the Cape Pogue resident’s group suggested that the public, instead of driving to the beach, should use “sailboats, horses and cross-country skis” to access the public beaches of Chappy. I don’t own the first two of those items, nor do most citizens of the Island. And none of us want to ski on a beach in July.

3: The speaker from the Cape Pogue resident’s group advocated for “a gate system” and “boots on the ground.” Chappy is a sublime refuge, not a military installation. Surely we can arrive at solutions that will not impede on the peaceful seclusion of Chappy that we all cherish.

4: The speaker from the Cape Pogue resident’s group suggested implementing vehicle limits on Chappy beaches that are comparable to a beach in Maryland, some 500 miles away. Why not look two miles to the south at Noron Point? It is the same town, the same beach system and regulated by the same entity. Norton Point sold 2,700 OSV permits for 1.5 miles of beach last year. Chappy sold only 1,400 permits for 4.5m miles of beach. Chappy is clearly underutilized relative to the other OSV beach in our town.

The “solutions” from the Cape Pogue resident’s group are in search of a problem. It is time to move on from this embarrassing episode and begin the reconciliation process that all Island residents deserve. Public access to a public beach should never involve this level of legal entanglement and animosity.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Rich Thompson

Edgartown