To the Editor:
The inescapable math attached to this injunction is clear: Loss of public access = loss of public use = theft. Like any victim of theft, I feel violated by forces seemingly beyond my control. Like any victim of theft, I seek justice.
“But you are free to walk to the public beach. Stop being so dramatic!” is the limp platitude. Yes, I am free to hope for one of only 20 spots in the only public parking lot on Chappy. Then I am free to walk 3.5 miles to the Cape Poge Lighthouse public beach. While I am freely walking the 3.5 miles, I am free to observe the 11 lucky landowners driving their unlimited vehicles over the same trail that I am walking on. The lucky 11 are free to make unlimited vehicle trips on this trail. They are also free to invite unlimited guests and unlimited staff to drive unlimited vehicles. But as a common citizen, I must find satisfaction with my freedom to walk. Somehow, I don’t feel so free when I arrive at my public beach. An existential question intrudes: “Is a beach actually public if I can’t access it?” Would South Beach be a public beach if you had to park (in one of only 20 spots) at Stop & Shop and walk the remaining 3.5 miles, while 11 lucky landowners drove unlimited vehicles past you along Katama?
I also feel confused. Judge Speicher dismissed the request for injunction in this same case in May 2022 saying “the public, on the other hand, would be irreparably harmed by a prohibition of access.” How could two Massachusetts Land Court judges be so diametrically opposed in their interpretations of the same set of facts?
Ultimately, I feel betrayed. At a foundational level, this case is about so much more than public beach access. This has affected my perception of equality on an Island so proud of its egalitarian history. This injunction creates a gigantic wealth transfer from the public to 11 lucky landowners. Seventeen percent of the total public beaches on Martha’s Vineyard have been stolen from the public and transferred to the lucky 11. The lucky 11 paid exactly zero dollars for these beaches.
Their property value will soar, but will their property tax bill? This is not acceptable, and I cannot reconcile it. A society that accepts this is a kleptocracy. But that isn’t our form of government, is it?
Rich Thompson
Edgartown
