Special Warrant: Defense of 100-Year Public Access to Bay View Beach
Whereas the citizens of Harwich have freely used Bay View Beach (located between Merkel and Bank Street beaches) in Harwich Port for over 100 years; and
Whereas since 1895 the Town and Commonwealth have spent over $5 million in current dollars, in coordination with the US Army Corps of Engineers, to finance, build and extend a public jetty necessary to provide for navigation into and out of one of the most secure and scenic refuges on the Cape, Wychmere Harbor, which had formerly been the enclosed Salt Pond; and
Whereas independent engineers (CLE Engineering of Marion, MA) reported to the Town that this public jetty is exclusively responsible for the addition of over 400 feet of formerly submerged public tidelands, which continues to increase by 4.5 feet a year, to the Bay View Beach; and
Whereas since 1918 the Town has owned a path to the midpoint of Bay View Beach, which has been used by Harwich citizens to reach and enjoy both the beach and ocean without restriction, and whereas this public path precedes by many years the adjoining public beaches and land registrations, all of which explicitly reference the public path; and
Whereas recently seven landowners have moved to privatize this accreted public beach, add it to their previously registered private beaches, and exclude anyone except themselves and their guests from this accreted public beach; and
Whereas the Town and individual members of the non-profit Friends of Harwich Beaches (“Friends”) have been granted Land Court permission to oppose such moves to privatize and register the accreted beach in the public tidelands; and
Whereas state and local leaders – including Senator Dan Wolf and former Lt. Governor Thomas P. O’Neill III – and all Cape Cod newspapers have spoken and carried articles and/or editorials strongly critical of the privatization attempts and strongly supporting the Town’s and Friends’ defense of public access to the Bay View Beach; and
Whereas since the 2010 Arno case, Supreme Judicial Court findings have favored Public Trust protections of the kind sought at Bay View Beach, in contrast to cases from 1933 and before cited by the private landowners; and
Whereas Town Meeting notes with regret the Attorney General’s failure to intervene in this case, it also notes that the Attorney General takes no exception to continued legal action by the Town and members of the Friends, and that the Attorney General explicitly reserves to herself the right to “reappear and resolve or litigate…any issue which may affect the interest or right of the Commonwealth”; and
Whereas Town Meeting notes with appreciation the offer of Friends of Harwich Beaches to fund any unbudgeted Town expenses in defense of public access to Bay View Beach, through a gift account established by the Town for this purpose;
Now Therefore Be It Resolved by Town Meeting Assembled:
1. That the Board of Selectmen is strongly requested to defend public access to Bay View Beach through mediation and/or continued legal action up to and including the Supreme Judicial Court and all other possible means; and
2. That in the course of any mediation or negotiation, the Board of Selectmen is strongly requested to promote solutions that resolve issues that affect the full length of Bay View Beach and in a way which continues to promote the maximum public access, and not to accept partial compromises which will undermine this objective; and
3. That the Town is authorized to accept with thanks the offer of Friends of Harwich Beaches and any other donations for any unbudgeted expenses in defense of public access to Bay View Beach.
Whereas the citizens of Harwich have freely used Bay View Beach (located between Merkel and Bank Street beaches) in Harwich Port for over 100 years; and
Whereas since 1895 the Town and Commonwealth have spent over $5 million in current dollars, in coordination with the US Army Corps of Engineers, to finance, build and extend a public jetty necessary to provide for navigation into and out of one of the most secure and scenic refuges on the Cape, Wychmere Harbor, which had formerly been the enclosed Salt Pond; and
Whereas independent engineers (CLE Engineering of Marion, MA) reported to the Town that this public jetty is exclusively responsible for the addition of over 400 feet of formerly submerged public tidelands, which continues to increase by 4.5 feet a year, to the Bay View Beach; and
Whereas since 1918 the Town has owned a path to the midpoint of Bay View Beach, which has been used by Harwich citizens to reach and enjoy both the beach and ocean without restriction, and whereas this public path precedes by many years the adjoining public beaches and land registrations, all of which explicitly reference the public path; and
Whereas recently seven landowners have moved to privatize this accreted public beach, add it to their previously registered private beaches, and exclude anyone except themselves and their guests from this accreted public beach; and
Whereas the Town and individual members of the non-profit Friends of Harwich Beaches (“Friends”) have been granted Land Court permission to oppose such moves to privatize and register the accreted beach in the public tidelands; and
Whereas state and local leaders – including Senator Dan Wolf and former Lt. Governor Thomas P. O’Neill III – and all Cape Cod newspapers have spoken and carried articles and/or editorials strongly critical of the privatization attempts and strongly supporting the Town’s and Friends’ defense of public access to the Bay View Beach; and
Whereas since the 2010 Arno case, Supreme Judicial Court findings have favored Public Trust protections of the kind sought at Bay View Beach, in contrast to cases from 1933 and before cited by the private landowners; and
Whereas Town Meeting notes with regret the Attorney General’s failure to intervene in this case, it also notes that the Attorney General takes no exception to continued legal action by the Town and members of the Friends, and that the Attorney General explicitly reserves to herself the right to “reappear and resolve or litigate…any issue which may affect the interest or right of the Commonwealth”; and
Whereas Town Meeting notes with appreciation the offer of Friends of Harwich Beaches to fund any unbudgeted Town expenses in defense of public access to Bay View Beach, through a gift account established by the Town for this purpose;
Now Therefore Be It Resolved by Town Meeting Assembled:
1. That the Board of Selectmen is strongly requested to defend public access to Bay View Beach through mediation and/or continued legal action up to and including the Supreme Judicial Court and all other possible means; and
2. That in the course of any mediation or negotiation, the Board of Selectmen is strongly requested to promote solutions that resolve issues that affect the full length of Bay View Beach and in a way which continues to promote the maximum public access, and not to accept partial compromises which will undermine this objective; and
3. That the Town is authorized to accept with thanks the offer of Friends of Harwich Beaches and any other donations for any unbudgeted expenses in defense of public access to Bay View Beach.
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