Edgartown will make a pitch to the Dukes County Commission to take over the management of Norton Point Beach, which is currently overseen by The Trustees of Reservations.

In an email sent to Trustees Islands Director Darci Schofield Monday and shared with the Gazette, Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty informed The Trustees that the town parks department intends to broach the subject Wednesday with a formal presentation to take over operations of the beach — a storied, ever-changing spit of sand that is both one of the Island’s most accessible and also most fragile shorelines.

The presentation will take place at the Dukes County Commission meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, according to Mr. Hagerty. 

“I wanted to give you the professional courtesy, and let you know that the Parks Department will be approaching the County Commissioners on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to propose taking over the operations of Norton Point Beach,” Mr. Hagerty wrote to Ms. Schofield. “I am available at your convenience to discuss, and I hope you understand the Town’s financial and operational thought process.”

Ms. Schofield said in a statement provided to the Gazette from a Trustees spokesman that the organization has dedicated resources and expertise to managing the unique barrier-beach ecosystem for 15 years. 

"We have embraced this opportunity...investing in and managing ecologists, stewards, rangers, and volunteers, in order to maintain [over-sand vehicle] access and recreational opportunities in balance with conservation needs and requirements, including caring for protected and endangered shorebirds," the statement from Ms. Schofield said. "We are also engaging in a collaborative process with an on-island working group to hear feedback and draft a new beach management plan that will help us better steward Norton Point today, and in the future.”

A highly visible stretch of beachfront that links Edgartown and Chappaquiddick, Norton Point has been managed by The Trustees since 2006, offering a dynamic coastal habitat that is home to rare shorebirds and popular among sport fishermen and recreational beachgoers.

The beach is owned by Dukes County and managed by The Trustees — a statewide conservation non-profit that also oversees management of more than 600 acres of pristine Chappaquiddick coast, including Wasque Point, Leland Beach and Cape Pogue. The Trustees own Wasque and Cape Pogue, while the state owns Leland Beach.

Nearby South Beach, located just west of Norton Point, is owned by the state and managed by the town.

The Dukes County Commission and The Trustees have a management contract for Norton Point that is set to expire in 2023, according to Mr. Hagerty. As part of the contract, The Trustees offer over-sand vehicle permits for purchase, costing $500 for access to all Chappy beaches managed by the organization. Edgartown park rangers and The Trustees enforce other beach management rules at Norton Point, which this summer included rangers escorting over-sand vehicles to avoid nesting shorebirds.

The Chappy beaches and Norton Point are the only public properties on the Island that allow beach driving. Sales of oversand vehicle stickers have provided significant revenue for The Trustees throughout the years — although recent numbers have not been made available, The Trustees said they sold 3,355 over-sand vehicle permits in 2020.

Edgartown’s pitch to take over management of the beach comes at a particularly fraught time for the Norton Point and Chappaquiddick shore front, as coastal ecologists, beach managers, recreational beachgoers and sport fishermen have jockeyed intensely over issues of access and conservation.

Norton Point sits at the intersection of those issues, where the beach’s easy access from Katama makes it a popular destination, even as it remains subject to overwash, breaching and erosion from storms. It also plays host to a fragile habitat for piping plovers and other rare shorebirds that have made a comeback in recent years, prompting increased scrutiny on the delicate balance between recreation and ecology.

Earlier this summer, The Trustees scrapped a draft management plan for its beaches, including Norton Point, that had proposed sweeping changes to over-sand vehicle routes and banned dogs, among other things. The Trustees pulled the plan after it was met with fierce backlash from recreational beachgoers, as well as a former Islands director for the organization, who felt it didn’t emerge from a robust public process.

In the months since, The Trustees have convened meetings to discuss a new management plan with various stakeholders, including the town of Edgartown, Chappaquiddick residents and a beach access group that includes members of the fishing community. The organization acknowledged the working group in its statement, and said it has more meetings scheduled throughout the winter.  

Mr. Hagerty did not provide further details on the town’s proposal to take over management of the beach on Monday. The proposal is the first item on a publicly posted Dukes County Commission agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.

Updated to include a statement from The Trustees.