Rockport…it begins again

[divin'dog]

I thought that was California that was supposed fall off in a earthquake

It is... There is also a prophecy for the East coast to fall into the ocean too...

 

[Bubblesong]

Kurt Vonnegut’s book Galapagos predicts the human race reverting to Oceanic Seal creatures, so us Scuba Divers are ahead of the evolutionary curve.

 

[TuckerIdaho]

It's fun watching people talk about MA shore access rights without actually knowing MA shore access rights.

Keep going.

RI is such a mecca it has lawsuits even more fun than the bored Rockport attny.
R.I. beach access case settled for $25,000, but underlying issue is still in the weeds

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

None of it comes true anyway. We were all suppose to be dead from starvation brought on by the overpopulation of the coming 3 billion people. The Jupiter Effect was going to cause the earth to self destruct from the gravital forces when all the planets aligned, well they, did long ago and here we are. Forty years ago we had a coming ice age then the planet was warming up now the climate is changing not hot, not cold, ?changing? and it's going to be the end of humanity.

Years ago my crazy mom heard from some shaman guru hokus pokus weirdo that the Earth was going to lose it’s gravity for ten minutes on a certain date at a certain time, so she spent two days tying everything down and taping everything down so it wouldn’t float away. Of course it never happened.
How many times have the religious jealots told us the world was going to end on such and such a date?
I’m starting to feel all this is about the same thing.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

In California we have a lot of privatized coastline with no access to beaches too.
That’s what boats and kayaks are for, to come into the private coves from the outside. Not a damn thing the land owners can about it either.

 

[Damselfish]

https://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/two-of-nine-back-beach-neighbors-counts-dismissed-in-beach-ownership-trial/article_a4083568-ecc1-11ec-919e-772d86ff19d5.html

 

[Damselfish]

I can’t find an article directly but this was posted in NE divers fb group-

ROCKPORT — A federal appeals court panel has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a group of residents living near Back Beach who say the town is ignoring their concerns over divers in the area.
The ad hoc Back Beach Neighbors Committee, an unofficial group of property owners, filed suit in 2020, alleging, among other things, that the town was violating their equal protection rights by failing to enforce rules and bylaws in their neighborhood the same way it would in other parts of town.
But in a decision released last Monday, First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch, writing for the three-judge panel, concluded that the Back Beach group has failed to show there is any other part of town where the circumstances are similar — a beach with public parking and restrooms.
She went on to write that the group’s attorney, Michael Walsh, “misconstrues” a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2008 when he argued that the neighbors no longer have to show there are any other “similarly situated” neighborhoods.
The decision is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the group of residents and the Town of Rockport over the use of the beach.
The property owners say the town has failed to consistently enforce rules and bylaws concerning beach access and hours, parking and diving, which has led to the area becoming a popular spot for scuba divers.
That, they say, has led to noise from “clanging tanks” keeping neighbors awake, divers “engaging in actual public nudity” while changing into diving suits, which they say is upsetting to both the neighbors and “impressionable” children and grandchildren; trash; and parking issues such as blocked driveways or hindered access for emergency vehicles.
They also contend that some divers have harassed or retaliated against neighbors who have called the police by “doxxing” a resident by posting personal information on an online diving forum.
They say that by failing to “mitigate the harmful effects” of divers using the beach by enforcing the rules, the town is essentially encouraging divers to use Back Beach instead of other locations in town.
“Even if, as the (Back Beach Neighborhood) Committee contends, the town’s public beaches are appropriate units of comparison in the class-of-one equal protection analysis, the complaint falls short of plausibly alleging that the town’s other beaches are similarly situated to Back Beach,” Lynch wrote.
The judge noted that the existence of public parking, in particular, differentiates Back Beach from other beaches in town, which lack that amenity — and thus would not be subject to parking enforcement.
Lynch noted in a footnote to her decision that during arguments on the appeal, Walsh suggested the town’s creation of public parking at Back Beach but not at other beaches was also an equal protection violation.
Walsh said his clients are “disappointed” by the outcome.
“It’s hard to see yourself and your neighbors being treated differently from other residential coastal neighborhoods in town and not feel that it’s unfair,” said Walsh in an email. He suggested that while the group is exploring its remaining legal options, it may turn instead to a political remedy “in asking the town’s fellow residents for sympathy.”
“The residents in Rockport, as a whole, are civic-minded and active in their government,” Walsh said. “Town Hall doesn’t push them around. My clients, like their neighbors, will continue to advocate for Rockport to be a quiet residential community with the charming downtown well-known to all.”

 

[AfterDark]

I can’t find an article directly but this was posted in NE divers fb group-

ROCKPORT — A federal appeals court panel has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a group of residents living near Back Beach who say the town is ignoring their concerns over divers in the area.
The ad hoc Back Beach Neighbors Committee, an unofficial group of property owners, filed suit in 2020, alleging, among other things, that the town was violating their equal protection rights by failing to enforce rules and bylaws in their neighborhood the same way it would in other parts of town.
But in a decision released last Monday, First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch, writing for the three-judge panel, concluded that the Back Beach group has failed to show there is any other part of town where the circumstances are similar — a beach with public parking and restrooms.
She went on to write that the group’s attorney, Michael Walsh, “misconstrues” a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2008 when he argued that the neighbors no longer have to show there are any other “similarly situated” neighborhoods.
The decision is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the group of residents and the Town of Rockport over the use of the beach.
The property owners say the town has failed to consistently enforce rules and bylaws concerning beach access and hours, parking and diving, which has led to the area becoming a popular spot for scuba divers.
That, they say, has led to noise from “clanging tanks” keeping neighbors awake, divers “engaging in actual public nudity” while changing into diving suits, which they say is upsetting to both the neighbors and “impressionable” children and grandchildren; trash; and parking issues such as blocked driveways or hindered access for emergency vehicles.
They also contend that some divers have harassed or retaliated against neighbors who have called the police by “doxxing” a resident by posting personal information on an online diving forum.
They say that by failing to “mitigate the harmful effects” of divers using the beach by enforcing the rules, the town is essentially encouraging divers to use Back Beach instead of other locations in town.
“Even if, as the (Back Beach Neighborhood) Committee contends, the town’s public beaches are appropriate units of comparison in the class-of-one equal protection analysis, the complaint falls short of plausibly alleging that the town’s other beaches are similarly situated to Back Beach,” Lynch wrote.
The judge noted that the existence of public parking, in particular, differentiates Back Beach from other beaches in town, which lack that amenity — and thus would not be subject to parking enforcement.
Lynch noted in a footnote to her decision that during arguments on the appeal, Walsh suggested the town’s creation of public parking at Back Beach but not at other beaches was also an equal protection violation.
Walsh said his clients are “disappointed” by the outcome.
“It’s hard to see yourself and your neighbors being treated differently from other residential coastal neighborhoods in town and not feel that it’s unfair,” said Walsh in an email. He suggested that while the group is exploring its remaining legal options, it may turn instead to a political remedy “in asking the town’s fellow residents for sympathy.”
“The residents in Rockport, as a whole, are civic-minded and active in their government,” Walsh said. “Town Hall doesn’t push them around. My clients, like their neighbors, will continue to advocate for Rockport to be a quiet residential community with the charming downtown well-known to all.”

Evidently, they don't get over to Folly Cove much. There were divers all over that place last time I was there.

 

[BoltSnap]

Holly flounder, this has been going on since my days diving there starting in 1984 and even much earlier. My OW dives were at back beach in April 1984. This "love" never stopped.

 

[formernuke]

I keep saying everyone needs to boycott rockport. I mean everyone.

The entire economy is based on tourism. If no one goes there maybe they will learn to treat the people they relay on properly.