At its Monday meeting, the Edgartown select board was given a presentation by Larry’s Tackle Shop owner Peter Sliwkowski regarding the MV Beachgoers Access Group.
Sliwkowski, who is a full-time Chappy resident, said he created the grassroots organization in the spring of 2021 with hopes to strike a balance between “responsible beach access” and active conservation initiatives, with the aim of the group becoming a “catalyst for collaboration” among various stakeholders. He said concerns regarding the Trustees of Reservations’ managed properties, particularly on Chappy, triggered the group’s forming.
Recently, the MV Beachgoers Access group became an official nonprofit organization, and has a five-member board.
Sliwkowski said that changes made in the leadership by the Trustees in 2021 affected the relationship between Chappy residents and the Trustees, partly due to the ways in which beach access was being managed. “Things like communication and transparency were not similar to what we had [in the past],” he said. “Information was not flowing very easily, and trying to get information about what was going on in terms of the beach, the birds, the access, was very difficult.”
Sliwkowski said the group also works to highlight another issue — education of over-sand vehicle (OSV) users. He said in 2020, around 3,500 OSV passes were sold, “but there was very little education about how to create responsible beachgoers and responsible OSV operators.”
Sliwkowski said after the organization commissioned an analysis of the Vineyard’s shorelines by Ground Water Studio Group, it was found that out of the Island’s 62.6 miles of outer shoreline, only 14.9 miles are actually accessible to the public.
The Trustees manage 51 percent of publicly accessible shore beaches, with 47 percent only OSV-accessible.
Pointing to a comparison with Nantucket, which has 27 percent smaller outer shoreline, the Vineyard has significantly less beachgoer access, said Sliwkowski, as Nantucket has 2.4 times more outer shoreline access on a peak summer per-capita basis.
Sliwkowski said the analysis and comparison were done in order to drive home the importance of walking and OSV beach access.
After sending out a survey to better understand people’s opinions about beach access, out of nearly 600 respondents, Sliwkowski said that a good number of people relayed the impacts of fishing from restricted access, andmany people said they would be willing to pay more for the management of the property. Among the activities affected by restrictions, Sliwkowski said, “the No. 1 activity” according to the survey respondents, was “simply going to the beach” to spend time with family and friends.
Sliwkowski said the June-released draft beach management plan by the Trustees was “radical change” regarding their philosophy and policies. He said the MV Beachgoers Access Group was concerned about how the the draft beach management plan “lacked input from any of the property owners, the state, the town, the county, and private landowners.” Additionally, Sliwkowski said, the plan “lacked any input from the community itself.”
The MV Beachgoers Access Group plans to engage the community and all stakeholders, and improve the overall management of the Vineyard’s beaches regarding access, by creating a working relationship with the Trustees.
Select board member Arthur Smadbeck thanked Sliwkowski for “all the work he’s done on our behalf and for this group. I wanted to say how much I appreciate you making this presentation today,” he said.
Select board member Michael Donaroma agreed, and said Sliwkowki “certainly has my support.”
In other business, the select board held a tree hearing Monday afternoon to address a public shade tree partially removed by homeowners of 47 Cooke St.
Tree warden Allan Debettencourt said there didn’t seem to be any “malicious destruction of the tree,” but rather, a “lack of knowledge by the individuals who were cutting the tree originally and by the homeowners” that caused the tree’s current condition.
Homeowners had initially attempted to completely remove the tree, although they did not have prior permission from the town.
Town administrator James Hagerty told the board that they could either pursue litigation against the homeowners, or require a replacement tree in kind. Hagerty advised the board to pursue the latter.
Donaroma said he was in support of a replacement tree. “If they had asked to take the tree down, I’m pretty sure we would have approved it,” he said, “I think it was just the process that was missed here.”
The board ultimately agreed to allow the finalization of the removal of the existing tree, with the understanding that it will be replaced with one of similar size — to be planted by May — and suggested that the homeowners work with Debettencourt regarding the specifics.
The trustees have an uphill climb with the public as they have showed us what they really want is no one to use the property. We were told to leave a property of theirs that had no signs about not using that part of the beach. The ranger was on a power trip and refused to give us the reason for having to leave just that he said so. Also would not give us his name or have any kind of discussion as to what we were doing that was hurting the beach. As I have told this story to others they in turn give us their stories of the rangers out of control. Thank you Peter for looking out for us all.
These rangers act like they have been entrusted with the management of the land.
The real joy of the job is watching how people use land they do not own.
Bob, the rangers are doing the bidding for the elite residents who own property within these unjustly restricted areas. These resident view the trustee land as theirs and don’t want people driving close to their homes to fish, swim or sunbath. They hide behind the piping plover excuse but if you notice they whip around those trails in their Range Rovers and Mercedes’ G Wagons like they are in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
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