Swampscott beach access up for vote

SWAMPSCOTT – It will cost a lot more than a parking pass for town residents to enjoy Phillips Beach this summer, if they are even allowed to access it at all.A vote at Town Meeting on May 6 will determine that fate, with an article in the warrant calling for a two-thirds majority vote to approve the town to buy Phillips Beach for $140,000 to settle with a group of people who are claiming private ownership to the beach. The beach, which sits to the right of The Beach Club on Shepard Avenue, is a stretch of land about 3.7 acres in size that is a staple for both residents and nonresidents during the summer.?I?ve heard of towns where this happens,” said Finance Committee Chairman Don Pinkerton in a meeting April 9. “We don?t want to lose the beach. It makes Swampscott what it is.”Town Administrator Thomas Younger said the issue goes back about two years, longer than he has been in town. He explained Tuesday that the town thought it had the title to the property, but the trust claiming ownership, made up of individuals he wouldn?t name, presented their own deeds and documents that proved the property belongs to them. In the past, the owners had even tried to post “no trespassing” signs on the beach, he said.Younger said in order to avoid a land court battle and to keep the beach open for the Fourth of July, the town settled on the $140,000 in early April.Town Accountant Dave Castellarin said in the April 9 meeting that he thought the settlement was advantageous to the trust as well. “They want to get away from the liability,” he said. Castellarin said in the past, the owners had attempted and failed to develop on the beach.Younger said it?s up to voters if they want to keep the beach or not on May 6.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].