Judge Calls Closed Meeting to Review Beach Driving Case

The Associated Press

RALEIGH

A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit over beach driving on part of the Outer Banks has called a closed meeting for Monday to review the case.

The parties to the lawsuit agreed last week to a settlement that adds new restrictions to protect endangered birds and turtles in Cape Hatteras National Seashore. U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle still has to approve the settlement.

A top park official said the agreement between environmentalists and the National Park Service will require additional personnel to enforce.

Mike Murray, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore that was the target of the lawsuit, said last week he will have to boost his staff to implement the agreement.

“We will seek some additional resources from the Park Service to be sure we have the staff to do what we agreed to do,” Murray said. “We’re in transition. We’re gearing up to fully implement it.”

The judge issued an order Friday requiring the Park Service to explain how it will control beach access at ramps on Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. The meeting will be held in Boyle’s office in Elizabeth City.

Among the seven questions Boyle asked are whether the settlement limits the types of vehicles allowed and how the service will decide that a driver is qualified to drive on the sand. He also asked if the settlement agreement requires permits for the vehicle and driver.

Boyle also expressed concern for the safety of others, asking if the settlement accounts for “public safety considerations for bathers and pedestrian beach traffic during periods of high use in the summer season.”

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said the orders were unusual.

“He’s really concerned that they get it right,” Tobias said. “It’s not like it’s between two private parties. There’s an important public interest aspect to all of this. He’s concerned about the practicality of enforcing it.”

Murray said the key item in the settlement is enforcement of buffers around nesting areas. Night driving also is barred between May and November after 10 p.m., and that will require a new strategy to enforce.

Murray said his staff monitors about 64 miles of beach from Ocracoke Island in the south to Bodie Island in the north. Plovers tend to nest in six areas, but the other endangered bird species nest anywhere, as do turtles. Personnel using all-terrain vehicles drive the beaches daily between May 1 and Sept. 15 looking for signs of turtles.

He said there are 17 temporary employees to monitor birds and turtles as well as about 17 authorized law enforcement positions, although one or two are vacant.

He wouldn’t say how many more are needed or the cost for them.

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