Seasonal closures for village beaches end today – for some but not all villages

Today some Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches in the villages re-opened to ORVs.

Beaches in Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, and Avon close each season from May 15 through Sept. 15 for the safety of the large number of visitors on the village beaches.

Today, they are open again until next May 15. But the beaches in Frisco and Hatteras village will remain closed year-round, as they have been for most of the past several decades.

This fact does not sit well with some islanders and beach access advocates.

ORV access advocates do not argue with the seasonal closures for the safety of beachgoers, but they do believe that the villages should not be treated differently.  Most believe that ALL Hatteras Island village beaches should be open from Sept. 16 until May 15.

Yesterday, four ORV beach access advocacy groups sent an e-mail to Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent Mike Murray.

This e-letter was signed by the Outer Banks Preservation Association, The Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, and the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina.

Here is what the groups said:

     The negotiated rulemaking process for conflict resolution ended in February of 2009 but still raises questions to the continuing management of seasonal and safety closures of the seashore. Of particular interest to access organizations and Outer Banks businesses suffering economically under the ?consent decree? is the continuing closures of public beach in front of Frisco and Hatteras Villages and south of Ramp1.

      Previous public statements from the National Park Service indicated a decision would occur upon the completion of the negotiated rulemaking process. Additional statements by NPS indicated that a re-opening of the once seasonally opened beaches of the villages would constitute a precedent favoring seasonally opened beaches. In fact, what has really happened is a precedent has been set for the last 14 years to keep these beaches closed and somehow they should be treated differently. The public has endured these closures unnecessarily and unfairly in the past and consequently there are no guarantees the NEPA process will be completed on time. The current management policy favors private beaches over public beaches.  Public perception begs the question, is there a deal that has been struck between the government and private property landowners to keep these beaches closed? There continues to be a lack of public access to these areas and there are no plans in the immediate future to provide access. The original publicly approved ORV plan of the late 1970s, clearly states those beaches be opened Sept. 15 to May 15. By contrast these seasonally opened beaches have historically been opened more than closed.
 
      The National Park Service cannot continue to advocate for the enjoyment of our beaches to the privileged few over the rights of enjoyment by the public. These beaches should be opened September 15 and closed May 15 according to NPS guidelines and public record.

The history of seasonal closures is hard to trace.  Records are sketchy and the recollections of islanders differ.

This much we know:

Historically, Hatteras Island beaches were open year round to ORVs.

Sometime, perhaps in the 1970s, the beaches in the villages started closing during the summer tourist season ? all of the beaches.

Then, probably in the 1980s, the beaches in front of Frisco and Hatteras were closed year round because they were too narrow to safely drive in an ORV.

The Frisco and Hatteras beaches eventually built out and were not as narrow, but they stayed closed all year.

Meanwhile, the beach in Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo have continued to be closed in the summer season but open the rest of the year.

In May, 2004, Lawrence Belli, who was then the seashore superintendent, signed an order, Superintendent?s Order No. 7, that opened Frisco and Hatteras beaches to ORVs in the off season ? Sept. 16-May 15.

As best anyone I talked to and records can document, the Frisco and Hatteras beaches were open for several weeks in the fall of 2004.

And they have been closed year round since then.

I couldn?t find anyone who remembered exactly what happened in the fall of 2005 after Belli was suddenly replaced as superintendent, but apparently the Frisco and Hatteras beaches remained closed in the off-season, while the northern villages beaches were ? and have been since — opened to ORVs.  

Belli was succeeded by several acting superintendents until Mike Murray arrived in December of 2005.

In May of 2006, he reissued Superintendent?s Order No. 7, although it seems rather close to what Belli did.

Here is what is says about seasonal closures:

Seasonal Closures:

Seasonal ORV closures will be established annually in beach areas which by reason of heavy pedestrian, swimming, wildlife or other use are deemed seasonally unsuitable for ORV use from May 15 through September 15.

Seasonally closed areas shall consist of but are not limited to the following areas:

• Bodie Island, Ramp 1 to 0.6 miles South of Ramp 2 (i.e., Coquina Beach);
• Hatteras Island, beach areas fronting the villages of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo and Avon;
• Hatteras Island, beach from the north boundary of Buxton to Ramp 43;
• Hatteras Island, beach fronting the village of Frisco and Hatteras;
• Ocracoke Island from 0.5 miles South of Ramp 67 to 0.25 miles North of Ramp 70.

Seasonally closed areas shall be identified by signs at both ends of the area, at all other vehicle access points to the area and shall be indicated on maps available for viewing at the offices of the Superintendent, each District Ranger, at each Visitor Center and at all other public contact stations.

On the face of it, it would seem that Murray was continuing Belli?s order in closing Hatteras and Frisco beaches only seasonally.

But that is not the way it turned out.

Belli?s change in policy was not popular with some ? or perhaps many ? owners of oceanfront property in Frisco and Hatteras, who were, by now, used to having no ORVs on their beaches year round.

The most vocal of them was Stephen Kayota, a Virginia physician who owns an oceanfront house in Frisco.

He organized the Hatteras Island Homeowners Coalition to oppose ORV access at any time of the year in front of the village beaches.

Kayota went on to represent his coalition on the Park Service Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, which was to work out a long-range ORV beach driving plan.

Kayota told me during the RegNeg meetings that his group had hundreds of members, including locals who agreed that the villages should be closed all year but didn?t want their names known because many others locals disagreed.  The exact nature of his group and exactly how many members it has or had remains murky.

But this much is clear ? Kayota refused to give an inch on the negotiating committee.  His stance was that the village beaches must remain closed all year for the safety of the beachgoers and visitors. He refused to agree to any of the alternatives that were offered by the ORV access representatives on the committee.

Negotiated rulemaking on the village issue ? and everything else ? was a failure and the committee ended its work without consensus last February.

Murray, meanwhile, has continued to keep Hatteras and Frisco beaches closed to ORVs year round and the northern village beaches closed only in the summer season.

In 2006, he said that he hoped the negotiated rulemaking process would come to some consensus on village beach closures.  But, as we know, it did not.

Now, the Park Service is under the gun to complete the process required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and come up with its own alternatives and preferred option for ORV access to the beaches in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to be issued this fall.

Many islanders and access groups think that the Frisco and Hatteras village beaches should be open to ORVs in the off season, as are the other village beaches.

This has been Murray’s response to several e-mails this summer on that subject:

With regard to how ORV use will be managed on village beaches during the “off-season,” I had hoped that the RegNeg Committee, the Village Sub-committee, or the Integration Group would be able to make a consensus recommendation on how ORV use on the village beaches should be managed. I would have gladly implemented such a recommendation, but as you know consensus did not occur. Since there are obviously contradictory opinions about how the village areas should be managed during the off-season and even conflicting opinions as to what dates constitute the “off-season,” I’ve decided to stick with the status quo (i.e., how it has been managed in recent years) for one more year and use the NEPA process to make the final decision. I believe this approach is reasonable under the circumstances, avoids setting a new precedent just before and during the upcoming public comment period on the DEIS , and gives all involved another opportunity for input. When the draft plan/EIS comes out for public comment (still expected later this fall), it will have a range of options (including different approaches, dates, etc.) for managing ORV use in the village areas. After the public comment, NPS will be better able to make an informed decision in the final EIS and Record of Decision and thereafter have a long-term policy for managing the respective village beaches.

Some see Murray?s response as political, and it may well be.

However, the fact remains that he is trying to manage ORV access to the seashore when ORV access has been declared illegal by a federal judge ? since the park was required to have an ORV plan in the 1970s and still lacks one.

For sure, Murray is not wanting another lawsuit such as the one filed in 2007 by environmental groups over the lack of an ORV plan that resulted in a consent decree, signed last year by a federal judge and that requires much more sweeping beach closures for nesting birds and turtles.

Yes, he is surely stepping very carefully ? and probably with the advice of NPS lawyers — until there is a final plan.

Yes, it?s not fair that the village beaches on the island are not treated in the same way on seasonal closures.

Yes, the beaches are public ? and Murray would be the first to agree to that ? and folks should not have their ?private? beaches, as some see the Frisco and Hatteras village beaches closed year-round to ORVs.

But this is all coming to an end ? one way or the other, for the better or for the worse, depending on your perspective.

Under the consent decree, Murray is required to have a long-range plan by the end of next year and have it implemented by the spring of 2011.

The separate seasonal closure plans for the island?s villages is not right and should not continue.

But how big an issue should that be right now?

It seems to me that the much bigger and much more important issue is that we all need to stay informed about the NEPA process.  Murray has said there will be public meetings later in the fall, and there will be a 60-day public comment period also this fall.

This is where all of us ? islanders and visitors ? will have our best shot at being heard on this very important issue of access to our beaches for years to come.

This is where we can have the most impact on our future.

The Island Free Press will be publishing much more about the NEPA process, the DEIS, the meetings, and the public comment period in the weeks and months to come.