Sale of Stratford beach makes sense

7/27/08
The town of Stratford should approve the sale of Long Beach West to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It’s the best plan for everyone involved.
It’s been a long haul to reach this point, but the community has a genuine opportunity. The objections are hard to pin down, but they seem to revolve around unfounded fears that the beach’s federal caretakers would exclude people for the benefit of wildlife, and that access would be significantly curbed. Those fears are misguided.
To start with, take a look at the current state of Long Beach West (not Long Beach proper, the community’s well-used public waterfront to the east). At present, Long Beach West is accessible only by walking across the sand for up to a mile. There are no amenities, no roads and no indication that the town could afford to put them in.
Farther down the sand sit a group of abandoned cottages. For years, they provided a pleasant getaway for their owners. But since the bridge to adjoining Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport burned a decade ago, there is simply no practical way to get out there. No emergency services or public vehicles can reach them. The town had no choice but to bar people from using them.
But now, they just sit there. This deal with the federal government presents an opportunity to remove them at no cost to Stratford. As it stands, they are an invitation to liability lawsuits. They must be removed, and the town can’t afford to do it alone.
There’s also the question of access. The wildlife service would be committed, in writing, to establish access, most likely a boardwalk, of some sort to allow pedestrian and handicapped access to the far reaches of the peninsula. People are disappointed that there is no final plan for such a boardwalk available, but that’s simply how it works — nothing can be built without going through an approvals process, and there’s no telling exactly how the structure would look after that process.
The potential deals for Long Beach West and Pleasure Beach are connected, but not contingent on one another. That’s a good thing, because they present starkly different questions. Bridgeport’s side has serious questions about access and public use. But those are questions for another day.
On the Stratford side, those questions have largely been answered. Access will improve, and the cottages, which must be removed, will be taken down.
Finally, the notion that the wildlife service will limit people in favor of birds is based on nothing more than misguided fears. There is no evidence that people will be unduly limited, or that restricted areas will prohibit people from vast stretches of sand, as opponents seem to fear. Yes, there will be some space set aside for endangered species to live and grow, but the fears of bans on people are far overblown.
This is a deal that makes sense for Stratford. There is little to no downside. At the very least, the town will rid itself of the nettlesome problem of the uninhabitable cottages. In the most likely scenario, the town will receive a multimillion-dollar payment for improved access to one of the state’s waterfront treasures.
It’s a deal Stratford can’t afford to miss.