Dirt Lot Pave Ditched

Paradise won’t be paved after all, but some changes still might be in store at Ditch Plains.

East Hampton Town officials have nixed the idea of paving Ditch Plains’ Dirt Lot for now, but they are considering restricting the length of vehicles that park at the popular surfing spot.

Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, the board’s liaison to Montauk’s community groups who has been working to alleviate parking congestion at the beach, said Highways Superintendent Steve Lynch will likely regrade the lot because of the potholes that developed over the winter.

The parking lot will be designated as permit parking only, requiring stickers for both residents and non-residents.

There has been discussion about restricting trailers at the lot because they can take up more than one parking space and limit the number of people who use the lot and have access to the beach, but it is only “a maybe,” Overby said.

The conversation has since veered more toward limiting the length of vehicles that park at the lot, a move that has already been enacted at Amagansett’s Indian Wells Beach with the installation of signage, she said.

“So, if a little trailer can fit, then okay,” she added.

If any changes are planned for the lot, there will be a public hearing, she said.

Plans to pave the lot were met by criticism from community members who were concerned about the effects clearing vegetation would have on the environment and how paving the lot would change its iconic rural character.

As for the second of the three parking lots, the town is looking at redoing the lot where the comfort station is located, restricting it to residents only, and completing drainage work that has to be done. The residents only parking restriction will be very similar to the setup at Indian Wells Beach, which has a booth in the front that is manned on the weekends by an attendant who checks for access stickers.

At the Otis Road parking lot, the town is adding an additional 20 parking spaces, as well as handicap parking spaces.

Less vegetation will be cleared and experimental rain gardens will be used on the northwest corner of the lot to handle road runoff. Both measures were proposed in reaction to concerns raised by the Ditch Plains Association, which has property located next to the lot.

“I think all of these things will be helpful for the Ditch Plains Association,” she said.

peggy@indyeastend.com